Magic Beans

Remember that fairy tale about the kid who goes to town to sell the cow? Well, today, I took the rental Volvo back to the dealer to exchange it for our personal Volvo, which was in the shop getting an oil change and a couple of minor mechanical quirks worked out.

Now, it has taken the service department a couple months now to figure out why our driver's-side mirror readjusts itself skyward every time we open the driver's door, so I took the precaution of checking to see that the problem was fixed before I drove off. Good move on my part, because sure enough what they did to fix the problem seemed to have no effect on the actual problem, so the Volvo Service Manager agreed to see the car again on Thursday to take a better look at the issue. I put the date in my Palm, and turned the key in the ignition to drive off.

CLICK!CLICK!CLICK!CLICK!CLICK!

What better place to have your battery die than right there in the service bay? Mr. Volvo sheepishly arranged for me to get a gratis rental until they figure out why the battery holds a charge for 12 seconds at a time.

So this morning, I left home with a shiny black 2004 turbocharged Volvo, and came back with a beige Pontiac and these 3 magic beans.