Leinninger.com

Refer to this handy map during this news update:

Today started simple enough. Gina and I woke, made some breakfast, and headed out to pick up our dry cleaning. We’re attending “Rent” at the Masonic tonight with 3 other couples, and want to look out best. We were planning on some snow, and Mother Nature delivered. About 8 inches fell overnight and a few more were expected.

(1.) We jumped into Gina’s 2000 Impreza RS, and traveled about a mile to Irv’s Deluxe Cleaners. The roads were treacherous, but the trip was short and we had the beauty of All Wheel Drive on our side. A few minutes, and we were in and out of the cleaner. Time to go home… but the car won’t start. Could the cold have killed the battery? Did something get wet during our four-wheel drift heroics and blow a fuse? Regardless, we were stranded. So, we called our local hero, Brad.

Within a few minutes Brad arrived… in style. There’s something to be said about performing surgically precise doughnuts in a bright purple pickup… in the middle of a main street. We attempted a jump start… with no luck. We assumed that the battery was, indeed, toast. Then it occured to me that a fuse might be to blame. (Gina has no voltmeter in her dash, but the interior lights, headlights, etc. were still working.) I checked the 2 main breaker locations and found nothing wrong. Then, I checked the fuses for her security system and keyless entry. Behold, a very blown fuse. (2.) Brad piled the three of us into his 2 seat truck and we were off (once again, in style…).

(3.) Back home, we cleared off my car and headed off to (what we thought was) the nearest auto parts store to buy some 10 amp fuses. After our stop at Autozone, we headed back to Irv’s Deluxe Cleaning… where every fuse we tried immediately blew. While practically standing on my head installing fuses, it occured to me that I might be able to use the security bypass. I tired, it worked, and we caravan-ed back home (4.). As we left the cleaner, we noticed… with pains of irony, that an auto parts store was, in fact, right across the street (see Stealth Auto Parts Store on map,

We ran to the front door, and I reached into my jacket pocket for my house keys, and found nothing. Somewhere during our adventure I had lost my keys. I did the practical thing and began to panic while swearing. Back to the cars. No keys to be found in either one. (5.) Back to Irv’s. After a minute or two digging through the snow where I had perfomed my fuse installation headstands, Gina found my keys.

(6.) Once again, we drove home and got back to the mundane things that have to be done on the weekend. Such as laundry and the ceremonial soaking of fragile electronics. (I left my cellphone in my jeans pocket while they were in the washing machine.) I realized this, rescued the phone (although it might be too late), and it is now recuperating (hopefully) in front of a hair dryer.

I only hope that our outing to the theater tonight is far less eventful.