Mrs. HM Goes To Town

Temperatures fell into the teens on Friday night, making our two inches of sleet/snow turn crunchy. Little melting took place on the porch rail, even though the sun was bright on Saturday, with the high reaching 33 degrees. I know that sun on blacktop will help the melting. Especially if the roads had been treated. So I texted Farmer H at 3:00 to see if I should go to town.

"Yes. I'm on my way home now. But you can go no problem at all."

He was in the Mansion before I left, and told me that there was an icy patch on Mailbox Hill, and an even slicker spot on the other side going down. He said I shouldn't need 4WD, but to put T-Hoe in AUTO, so any tire spinning would activate the 4WD. And also, that I should probably go out the other way, across the bridge by Mailbox Row. It's not as hilly, but takes extra time.

 

I backed T-Hoe out of the garage. I had on my gloves. Put on my sunglasses against the glare of the soon-to-set sun. Got the garage door closed after a couple of tries with my low-battery opener/closer. Going up the driveway at a slow pace, I put T-Hoe in AUTO. That's the good thing about T-Hoe. It's a simple turn of a dial to get into or out of the regular two wheel drive and into AUTO, 4WD, 4WL, or 4WH. That dial is on the bottom of the dash, to the left of the steering wheel. With the sun blazing in, I didn't see the orange light that signified it was indeed in AUTO, but I know it's the first notch when I take T-Hoe out of regular two wheel drive.

At the mailboxes, I looked at Mailbox Hill. It was nothing worse than I had driven on before, so I decided to go that way, rather than the longer way. I made it up the hill just fine, and down the other side. No slipping at all. I was proud of T-Hoe and my driving skills!

The county blacktop road, and the county lettered highway, were clear of any ice or slush. So was the parking lot of the Gas Station Chicken Store. I parked, turned off T-Hoe, grabbed my winners to cash in, and opened the door.

BING BING BING BING BING!

What in the NOT-HEAVEN??? What was wrong with T-Hoe? Again, the sun was blazing into my eyes. I didn't see anything wrong. I put the key back into the ignition. Turned on the power to the radio and windows. Made sure the windows were all up completely. Didn't see any lights on the dash, other than the usual one telling me my tire was low (it's not, it's a bad sensor), and the CHECK ENGINE light, which comes on and off, no rhyme nor reason.

I tried to get out two more times. 

BING BING BING BING BING!

Huh. No idea what the problem was. The gear was in PARK. Ignition off. Keys in my hand. I looked down at the 4WD dial. That was the only thing out of the ordinary that I'd messed with. I turned it back to the regular two wheel drive.

WAIT A MINUTE! 

That wasn't the 4WD dial! That was the headlights! I had taken it off the AUTO selection, and put it to the ON selection, which meant the lights stayed on when I got out of the car. So the alarm was warning me that my lights were on, which would drain the battery over time.

Heh, heh! I was so careful about putting T-Hoe into AUTO so the tires wouldn't spin on the ice! So brave to take the slick way to town! Except I'd been in regular two wheel drive all along. That dial was a couple inches to the right of the headlight dial.