2.18.2014

February 17, 2014

White Dog barked a warning but it was unnecessary. We all heard the click. click. click. sound of the dead battery. Steve last night had pulled his classic Mercedes onto the end of the drive to placate a neighbor who complained that it was parked on the street. This afternoon he went out to run an errand, and decided to take the Grandpa Mobile as we call it. Click. click. click.

Pumpkin, the van, was parked in the middle between the dead MB and our electric car on our very narrow drive. And its nose was facing toward the house, not toward the dead car behind it. Steve did a professional's job of adeptly maneuvering the van 180 degrees so the two vehicles were nose-to-nose. He came in to tell us what we already knew.

White Dog and Puff went out with him to raise the hoods and pull out the jumper cables. WD hopped into the van to supervise the action from that perspective and Puff took the console seat of the sedan. With White Dogs in place, Steve started the van and then went to the car. Click. grrrrrrr.g r r r r r. g   r   r   r   r.click.
he paused and tried again. Same results.

He looked under the hood and adjusted the cables. Both White Dogs were standing with feet on the dashboards trying to get a better view. He looked toward the house. Taiko was singing a piteous song of exclusion. Steve came inside. "Want to help?" he asked his shadow as he clipped a leash on his boy and took him out to ride shotgun in the car. Bella sat in the window watching from inside. Oso was in my arms craning his neck to see out. YoYoMa stood at the door. White Dog mojo was focused on the battery turning over!

click. click. nothing. Steve waited a few minutes with the cars running and tried once more with the same results. The White Ones waited and prayed over the cars while Steve came in for a quick strategy session and to raid the "egg" money.

First, before anything could happen, the sedan had to go back on the street. It was nose first in the drive so all of the repositioning would be done by backing up. The driveway severely slopes toward the street and to park in front in front of the house meant turning tightly to back down our street which was severely sloped downward as well. Once the car was as close to the curb as gravity and Steve's brute steering force would take it, the vehicle would have to be pushed back UPhill to make sure it was properly parallel parked. This meant calling on Michael for his assistance.

With strict instructions to wait on the porch until Steve had coasted the car to a stop, Michael wondered why HE had been singled out to not ride in the car along with WD, Puff, and Taiko. I am not sure he understood the importance of a light load, but he waited and then with three floofy white faces staring out of the back window, he pushed the bumper while Steve pushed from the side frame and turned the steering wheel.

EVERYONE did get to go with to purchase a new battery. When Team White Dog returned, Steve told them that they had all earned special treats and suggested they come inside while he installed the new battery and made sure all was well at street side.

Munching treats and filling the windows until they heard the Grandpa Mobile roar to life, the WDA were ready with a congratulatory swarm when Steve came in.

5 comments:

Angels Amber and Max DaWeenie and Mom said...

YIPEE....Success! That calls for a nice ride to the ice cream shop!

:)

Brian's Home Blog said...

That was great team work and the treats were a nice reward!

Random Felines said...

what an adventure....yay for new batteries and treats all around. :)

KB said...

Glad it all worked out for the Grandpa Mobile :)

bichonpawz said...

Very glad to hear that the MB got all fixed up!! It is such a hassle to have cars that break down...which seems to be happening much more around here lately...