soc_puppet | Well, this has been a "fun" couple of days

A tale of tragedy and woe that began as early as Sunday evening: I was absolutely convinced I was working Sun/Mon/Tues, off Weds, working Thurs. I behaved under this assumption. Unfortunately, when I got to work on Monday morning and tried to clock in, I was informed that no, I was actually off Monday, and instead working Wednesday. I decided to drop in and say "hi" to my coworkers as long as I was in, because I thought it would fun.

Turns out, one of my other coworkers had called in sick, and the coworkers who were there were feeling slammed. Could I maybe please stay and work after all?

Coworker M called up my boss and got the go-ahead (while also clearing some stuff up about a recipe), so I indeed stayed and worked from roughly 11am to 3pm. I was officially scheduled off at 4pm, but there was hardly anything left to do at that time, and considering I wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, my coworkers generously let me leave a little early. Had I but known, dear readers!

I got home on time to get in a nice evening nap without feeling rushed. When I woke up, I did some cuddling with the dog, and around 10:30 I decided I was just going to go out and buy some tea to take to work instead of making some myself. Plus, I wanted to fill up the gas tank as well. It was only a little over half empty, but it couldn't hurt, and the gas station was only a stone's throw away from the grocery store to boot.

So I filled up my gas tank, and cleaned off my windows for good measure. Only... my car wouldn't start. I checked in the gas station, just in case there was anyone there who could possibly jump start my car (I was dearly hoping this was the issue), but no luck; I honestly can't say I was expecting it at around a quarter to eleven at night, but it didn't hurt to ask. Following that, I got on the phone with AAA, and arranged to have someone come by.

I then waited in my car about an hour, through two automated calls from AAA explaining that things were very busy just then and I'd need to wait a bit longer. At almost midnight, I sent an email to my boss's work account, explaining that I was having car trouble, and while I dearly hoped it would be fixed in a jiffy, it was possible that I wouldn't be able to make it to work in the morning, and wanted to give her a heads up. (A heads up that didn't involve calling or texting in the middle of the night.) I included a promise that I'd text at a more reasonable hour to let her know whether I would be coming in or not.

A few minutes after sending the email, out of a combination of desperation and boredom, I tried to start my car again. Lo and behold, it worked! I drove my car a short distance from the gas pump and called AAA back to inform them that they could cancel my ticket after all, then drove home and basically collapsed in bed.

This morning, I woke up with high hopes about my car working. Alas, it was not to be! The same thing happened as last night: The dash lights and accessories came on, the engine did not. I gave my mechanic a call, found out that they didn't have anyone to send to get me, and tried AAA again. Luckily, I'd learned last night that AAA can change batteries during the day, in addition to doing jump starts. Even more luckily, the AAA person showed up just over an hour after I made my call, rather than the originally predicted two hours and fifteen minutes. Much less luckily, it turns out the battery was not the culprit.

Amazingly, I did manage to get my car started again, once again by having waited a good hour after my initial try (and after the battery guy helped check stuff/clean off a little residue/etc). I left it at my mechanic's, checked in with my boss, and went home. I offered to still come in and work, but my boss said they had things covered today, though she'd appreciate if I could stay a little late tomorrow (which honestly would have been my next offer if she hadn't requested it first).

Mom is lending me her car for my work needs over at least the next couple of days; we'll see what my mechanic can figure out about my car. Fingers crossed I don't need to buy a new one.

Edit: Surprise! Turns out it was the battery after all. While it's frustrating to have been working off of incorrect information, I'm at least glad it wasn't a more serious problem after all.