Had someone walked up to me a year ago and said….”Right after your 50th birthday, there will be a virus unleashed on the planet that is so aggressive and contagious it will cause entire countries to stop everything they are doing and you will be sheltering in place for weeks on end while the scientist and health care workers battle to develop a vaccine and save those that they can” I’m sure I don’t know what I would have said. I’d probably cautiously believe them. Only because the experts have been warning us for years about such a possibility. While I am not a hoarder or a prepper, I don’t like being caught off guard and I want to make sure that my family is prepared to weather the storm. We are ok. We’ve only left the house a handful of times in the last 6 weeks and each time we have a delivery arrive we follow the recommended precautions to the letter.
The kid completed the driving class by the end of February and was supposed to be driving with an instructor so she could get her permit. Well, all that is on hold. So, I told her that over the weekend, we could begin her at home training. I would teach her how to physically drive the car and she could then feel more confident driving with the instructor later. Saturday morning, I went out to move the little green car down to the street so that we could begin our training. Click…click….click….I tried the Jeep. Click…Click…Click. At first, I thought … what the hell?!? Is this the bermuda triangle? Then I remembered we haven’t really gone anywhere. The Jeep battery just needed a charge. I put it on the charger and it was good to go. The battery for the green car would require a replacement. I got online, ordered the battery and drove the 5 miles over to the parts store where a big fella carried my new battery out and loaded it into he back of my truck. When I got home, I informed the kid that her driving lesson would begin with some basic Auto Maintenance 101. How to change a battery. While this was not a part of her plan, she correctly assessed that it was necessary in order for her to get to drive. She did fine, learning how to pop the hood, remove the bar holding the battery in place and removing the terminals. Putting the new battery in was a challenge. I explained that there is an order for hooking the battery back up and that it may spark a little if….that was all I needed to say. She was 15 feet away from me. I suspect she wanted to watch in case something blew up in my face, but be far enough back so that she was unharmed. She stood there nervously giggling with her hands half over her face. Then I heard her ask….”Can’t I just call you if this happens?” “NO!” I replied. “I’m going to be on a beach in Maui. You need to learn!” She returned to the car…slowly. The first lesson went fine. Learning how to comfortably seat yourself into the car and acclimate yourself to the cars dashboard and features. We adjusted mirrors, seat and steering wheel. Then it was a circle or two around the Rec center parking lot. That was plenty for day one. She’s going to be a lead foot. I can just feel it. I politely reminded her….”AAA will come out and change a tire, bring you gas and a new battery. But they won’t get you out of jail for driving 75MPH in a 35MPH zone. And neither will I.”
The Medlin School of Driving….education mixed with a healthy dose of fear and anxiety.