Plan go kaput

Well, I wasn't going to start this blog until en route to first destination (Iceland) -- and there will be a more traditional "intro" post (probably) to this blog -- but in typical Baum fashion, nonsense happens.

Only took 40 min to find this spot last night.

My mother travels a lot. She often leaves her car at the airport. When I or one of my sibs fly back to Connecticut, we often can just pick mom's car up, use it for the week/weekend, then return it to airport so as not to strand said mom when she returns.

It's a battle-tested and time-honored tradition in this family. It has never failed. Until now.

Getting ready to head to airport. Car won't start. Not out of fuel, battery not dead, it's trying to turn over... but no. Maybe the alternator? Do cars still have alternators? 93 percent of my limited car tech knowledge came from my '88 Corsica (CORSICA!!!). Not sure how much of it still applies.

Anyway, it's a Saturday, so repair shop options are limited. Do I ...

a) find a shop and have car towed there, then leave it there?
b) find a shop, try to get it fixed today (if possible) and leave car at airport?
c) leave car at mom's house for her to deal with and find alternate transportation out of here?
d) curse a little bit and resist urge to hit something?

OK, I already did "d" -- now it's between the other options. Mom's currently traveling to a giant arch or something (McDonald's?), so I'll probably wait until she lands and do exactly what she tells me. Like any grown 37-year-old man should do.

But I did get to see Jess Klein last night. The rest is gravy. Granted, a kind of rancid and rotten gravy with bits of something that can't easily be identified -- and for sanity's sake, probably shouldn't be -- but gravy nonetheless.