Damsel in Distress

“Damsel in distress” is just not a term people would associate with me. Thank God!

But last Friday, I probably acted like one. And I’m not proud of it. But heck, I should cut myself some slack, shouldn’t I?

Anyway, I was all ready to go to work (as usual) but my car just won’t start. I turned the key, the lights came on, and the engine came to life but then sputtered and died. Yeah! Grrr … I turned the key again and this time the lights came on, I heard the “click” sound but then … nothing. My heart dropped.

“This is so NOT happening to me,” I thought.

But no matter how many tries I made, the engine just won’t start. My first thought was to call Dad. After all, he used to take care of all my car service needs. Unfortunately, all my attempts only got me through to his voicemail. I then tried calling my sister’s place in the hopes that he would be there, but no one picked up the phone.

“OK girl, you are now on your own,” I thought.

At this point, one would ask why I did not call AAM. Well, for the simple reason that this is a company car and it’s not registered with AAM. One would also further ask why I did not call the nearest mechanic. Well, the car is relatively new (barely two years old) and is still under warranty. In addition, it’s one of those continental contraptions ~ good to look at; complicated to work on with all the high-tech, advance, electronic gadgets ~ with limited authorised workshops around.

I digress. Anyway, I got down the car and tried to open the bonnet, in the hopes of finding a loose wire connection or something. OK. This might not seem like the brightest idea but several years ago, I was in a similar situation (but it was a different car, a Japanese one) except that the engine just went flat ~ no lights, no warning, nothing! I thought it was the battery but it turned out to be a loose wire connection then. Hence, the above attempt.

But alas! I found the latch to the bonnet but couldn’t unlatch it. Before one starts on any dumb blonde jokes (since I am neither dumb ~ I probably need more conviction after this incident ~ nor blonde!) and in my own defence, let me say that a Peugeot car latch is a bit different from the local or Japanese ones.

In desperation, I called my friend who owns a Peugeot to figure out how to unlatch the bonnet. In the midst of our conversation, I heard someone called to me. Neighbours! Help! Yes! Helpful neighbours! My heart lifted when I saw them walking towards my car. Gosh! Am I in need of help!

The hubby helped me figure out how to work the latch and voila! the bonnet was finally opened. They made a call to another neighbour (who is more into cars) to seek confirmation as to the car’s “ailment”. Yup! It was confirmed ~ all indications that the problem was the battery.

They then woke up another neighbour, borrowed his jump-start cables and his labour, and got my engine revving. Aww … the sweet sound of a revving engine was music to my ears! Never thought I’d say that! I managed to get my car to the workshop ~ got the battery changed and the car serviced. (Incidentally, I was just a little over the service period!)

In any case, I am incredibly grateful to my neighbours especially the wife who was late for work that day because of my car problem! I owe you one folks!

All I can say is:
Thank God for helpful neighbours!
Thank God for a helpful friend (who tried to help me through the mobile).
Thank God for Dad (who I finally got hold of and who fetched me from the workshop).

Lesson learnt:
I need to find an authorised workshop that does “house calls”. This means I’d have to hunt for another authorised Peugeot workshop just in case. Also, despite how busy I am or how difficult it is to get an appointment with the authorised workshop, I’d better ensure I get my car serviced way before due date. One never knows with these continental models.

There you go … one reluctant damsel in distress!