With a Little Help from My Friends

I am addressing this to KB9RDO:  Okay, Mike.  You were right!  I needed a new battery in my car BEFORE it went dead today!  You aren't an I-told-you-so kinda guy, are you???????

Here we are, expecting a "record-breaking" snowstorm that we have been warned about for days and days.  The weather forecasters have changed the story dozens of times.  Rain, freezing rain, then snow.  No...just snow.  Maybe both.  Supposed to start last night.  No...supposed to start at 7:00 tonight.  No...won't start until later tonight.  Six-12 inches.  No...less than 3 inches.  No...5 to 7 inches.  No...back to 6-12 inches.  What is a person supposed to believe?!

I had promised to bring a mag-mount antenna to school today for my newly-licensed student, KC9KSZ...but I forgot it.  On the thought that we might not have school tomorrow, I decided to dash back home on my free period this afternoon to get it.  After school, I gave it to him, found an antenna adaptor for it, and sent him on his way to wrestling practice while we continued with our BARC meeting.  (Bulldogs Amateur Radio Club.)  That ends at 3:30, and I wanted to hit the road in time to get a package in the mail to my grandchildren before I was to meet my Hendricks County Amateur Radio Club friends for dinner and then a tour of the National Weather Service facility near the airport.  AS IT HAPPENS, when I got out to the car...<click>...the battery was dead.  (No, I hadn't left anything on!  It was the vehicle's original battery, and the car has 115,000 miles on it.  It just gave up the ghost, as KB9RDO said it would.)

Back to the building.  One of the maintenance guys jumped the battery and the car started right up, but I knew that I was living on borrowed time with it--especially with the storm and sub-zero temperatures coming.  I drove right to Wal-Mart in Plainfield to get a new battery.  There was a line...at least 6 cars ahead of me for one service or another.  A gal came out and took inventory of what was needed.  She told me it would be at least three hours.  Ham radio to the rescue again!  KB9PGG picked me up at Wal-Mart and took me home.  N9XOQ picked me up at home and drove me to the restaurant.  KC9HZW drove me (and others) to the NWS facility...then delivered me back to Wal-Mart afterward.  The car was ready, so I drove home.  Door-to-door service!!  No down time!  Thank you to all of my friends, without whom I don't know where I would be!!

So now we sit and wait to see what the weather will do.  As of this writing, we have a very light dusting of snow.  Maybe here it comes?