Goin' Metric

I had made it home from work last night and was about to eat dinner when my cell phone rang. Looking down, I could see it was from my wife, Karen, who had told me she had some shopping to do and to go ahead and eat without her. Figuring she was about to tell me what a great deal she had gotten on something (wife speak for "I just spent a lot of money"), I flipped open the phone to answer it. "Honey", she said (now I knew she had just maxed out the credit card), "I can't get the van to start."

Since I had come home very hungry, I gave her the standard "man answer" to all questions when we're trying to buy some time. "Wait about 15 minutes and try it again. If it doesn't start then, give me a call back."

She replied that she'd do that and would probably wander around some stores (more money spent) while she waited for the van to revive itself. "Well, you know, five or ten minutes should really be enough", I replied, thinking I could swallow my dinner whole if needed to keep her out of the stores.

Sure enough, about 15 minutes later, she called again saying that the van would only click when she turned the key and the lights would dim after a few seconds. Yep, dead battery, I thought.

Since she didn't have any jumper cables with her and I had "loaned" mine to my business, I headed out the door, grabbed my toolbox and socket set and stopped by the local auto parts store for a new battery.

Another 20 minutes later, I arrived at the parking lot and found Karen waiting for me. She popped the hood and I started to disconnect the battery. So... "started" may be a bit of a stretch. In my haste to get out the door, I had grabbed my SAE socket set. Of course, my wife drives a Honda Odyssey - a Japanese company who uses all metric parts. After trying to use an adjustable wrench, busting my knuckles and cussing under my breath, I realized that I was getting nowhere. Fortunately, a short trip to Lowe's for a metric socket set (just like the one setting on my tool bench at home), I was able to get the old battery out and the new one in.

So the lesson for today is to always take the time to think about your project before you start it and make sure you have the right tools to complete it. It certainly would have saved me about half an hour, $12, bloody knuckles and a reprimand from my wife from cussing at an inanimate object.