Grover's Misadventure

Today was the last day of classes! We celebrated by going on a double date with Mark and his friend Janette to Spanish Fork to see the Festival of Lights. We picked up treats at Smith's and found the lights pretty easily. After making the rounds a couple times, we went back to Provo. Mark got his tennis racquet restrung yesterday so we went to Heritage so he could pick up his receipt and then we were off to the mall. We went to Sports Authority and looked through the posters while Mark got his racquet. We got in the car and... nothing.

Grover wouldn't start. No noise, no way to shift gears, nothing.

We said a prayer and got the jumper cables from the back of the car and the people parked next to us conveniently returned to their car so we asked them to help us. I called my dad and Mark called his dad and we got everything set up correctly. Unfortunately, Grover still wouldn't start. We tried over and over, but the car still wouldn't even make a sound. We figured it was probably the starter and since there's not a way to jump that, I went inside the mall to let the security people know we'd have to leave the car there overnight and have it towed tomorrow. When I got back, Daniel told me that one of our home teachers and neighbor, Drew (who is pretty car savvy), was coming to get us and that a new starter would be around $300 (money is kind of tight right now, so it was kind of a big blow).

Two other cars near us in the parking lot were also broken, and one of them had to be towed. When the truck showed up, the guy, Matt, offered to look at our car and see if he could do anything. He confirmed that it probably was the starter and told us that sometimes the teeth of the gears misalign and if you gently knock it a few times you can put it all back in place. Matt showed us the general area where the starter would be and then left to tow one of the other cars. Drew had showed up by then and grabbed a flashlight and hammer from his car. We eventually found the starter under some hoses and after a few hits, GROVER STARTED! We all cheered and thanked Drew and Matt and drove away. We dropped off Mark and Janette and parked at our place and turned off Grover. We waited a few moments and then tried starting. Grover started, and we breathed a sigh of relief. Drew walked over and talked with us for a few minutes, then we said goodnight.

So now Daniel and I are snuggling up in bed and eating chicken pot pie and watching 30 Rock and trying to warm up and calm down. It's been a crazy evening, but we're glad we're in our apartment and Grover is in our designated parking space. We're hoping we don't have any more car problems for a LONG time! Also, don't park near Sports Authority at the University Mall, because we're pretty sure it's cursed.

-Jenn