From the Hall of Medi-Pedi to the Shores of Triple A

At long last I was going to see my podiatrist first thing this morning about my hallux issue and to get my medical pedicure. As the hallux has been causing me pain I didn't want to walk the six blocks if I could help it, so I got in the car, turned the key, and... nothing. A few clicks. Dead battery. So I wound up walking a few blocks and grabbing a bus for the other 3-4 blocks (worth it!). Turns out the hallux (big toe) is where the sciatic nerve winds up, which is why I've felt the pain so acutely when my gait or IT band issues or whatever causes things to rub against that area. anyway, one trim later I was able to walk back up the hill six blocks to home without lasting pain, and immediately called AAA to give us a jump-start. Their road assistance guy Joel came in amazingly short order, gave us the needed jolt, told us to leave the engine running for an hour to recharge, and that the battery was definitely going. So I made an appointment tomorrow with my local Mavis, and about 90 minutes later we were off to the supermarket. Alas, we ran into the same issue when I tried to start the car to get out of the supermarket parking lot. Turns out the battery was so much on its last legs that it wouldn't hold a charge. So Joel swung by again, this time to change out the battery completely. Upon arriving home, I cancelled the Mavis appointment and started gathering all the files I had on my current car in anticipation of buying or leasing an new one. Turns out this 22-year-old baby is worth at least $1K trade-in according to KBB, so when we finally get to a local Hyundai dealer let's hope they honor that. After all, it's got a brand-new battery.