$40 lesson

After I get over the irritating parts, I have chalked this up as a "lesson". I got into my car this morning, thinking, "YEAH no car pool, no kids, I can go straight to work." Put the key into the ignition, start the car and........it dies. Oh lovely. Got it started again, long enough to back out of the drive way. (fast forward) Got the neighbors to help push it back into the driveway. Got a ride to work and called a tow truck. (Thank God, the adjoining business, to my job, is a car repair and I know the mechanic well enough to trust!) Talked to the mechanic, actually begged him, to have it done by the end of the day. I have finals, tonight (can we say "panic"!?) After eliminating most issues, I was guessing it was the starter...Oh joy $180.

On my lunch, I went over to the shop to see what kind of progress they had made. He got into the car, using my spare set of keys, it turned right over. At this point, I'm thinking I've totally and completely lost my mind. He asked it this was the key I was using this morning. No, I use the other key everyday. After checking my other key, he gets his little computer out and hooks it up. (btw, Mom, the "check engine" light is due to a catalytic converter issue) Turns out, my car is so anti-theft, it wouldn't let me turn it on this morning. For some reason, it didn't recognize my key.

So the good news is: it's not a starter issue. $40 lesson: someone can't use a master key and take off with my car.