car talk

Back from Finland. More later on that.

Coming back on the train, we arranged for a taxi to meet us and take us to pick up our car--now clad with license plates and equipped with a new battery.

The conductor came on and said we would be arriving 40 minutes late--at 14.00. Since we were scheduled to arrive at 14.25, I guessed that he meant we were arriving at 15.00--and hadn't bothered to change his watch.

So, we changed our taxi. And, since we'd learned that our car was not working, we changed the destination at the same time. (She says as if this were easy-peasy lemon squeezy. You, discerning reader, know by now that nothing here is easy.)

We arrived at 14. 27. Sigh. No point in changing it now, so we waited. I didn't help someone make a phone call (and felt really guilty that loaning him my phone didn't even occur to me) but did help a babushka down the snow-covered steps (and heard a horrible story about her being attacked by "gypsies" in a similar circumstance). By this time, we had heard that our car was working. So, when the taxi arrived, we went to the consulate and picked up our car.

After minimum three-stooging (they locked my keys in the car with the car running--and low on gas) Lexi and I drove home. It took us 50 minutes. It's a 20 minute WALK for me when I'm on my own.

The next day, we headed out to do some shopping--and it was a good thing. We had eaten through our stores in both 'fridge and pantry, had neither laundry detergent nor Fairy liquid for washing dishes, and were down to a roll and a bit of loo roll.

The car didn't start.

We walked to a nearby store and got some essentials. Then, a four-hour adventure of waiting for roadside assistance, jump-starting car, nail-biting will-we-run-out-of-gas-before-we-get-there drive on a motionless Nevsky Prospeckt, and walk/metro/walk home ensued. Lexi, who loves the metro was "so excited!".

The next day, yesterday, our principal took us shopping. That afternoon we heard that our car was fixed. (The problem was not, as we were originally told, the fact that my car still had "summer gas" in the tank. You can imagine how my confidence soared with that dx. There is something very disquieting about knowing more than the experts do--in a situation where you most certainly should NOT. The cracked battery had left some residue that needed to be cleaned. That was my guess,thank you very much. I'm under strict orders to drive it 30 minutes every day. Sigh. I continue to believe that if it were fine, as they say it is, this is unnecessary--and not a Russia-specific requirement.)

Today we reversed the walk/metro/walk and slow-drive-on-Nevsky and brought our car home. It's parked...but with recent snow and rain I don't know if we'll be able to get it out.