Broken Earth Cable

Nanoo.. nanoo.. the earth cable is broken and the planet is now moving haphazardly. It will probably move out of Milky Way if something is not done soon. Already, NASA fears the Earth will hit other planets or meteorite. Is that the kind of news you expected when you read the title? Read on...

I went out from office about 5.10 yesterday. It's Friday and I wanted to do my Friday routine. I wanted to go back to my mom's place on Saturday and she has ordered few things from the night market. I reached my car few minutes later, put the key in my ignition and turned. Nothing happened. Not even a single squeak. I check the radio, aircond and lights, they worked fine. I check if I accidentally press the alarm button to lock, I did not. I tried the ignition again, still silent. Oh oh...

I called my brother. Luckily, he did not have something on today so he said he'll come immediately. With the peak hour traffic, I have to wait for one hour for him to reach my office. My brother looked inside my bonnet and found a wire cutter. He asked me how did it get there. I shrugged and said maybe from my last car service. Then he saw a yellow bottle cap lying somewhere in between the wires. He shakes his head in amazement at his findings. I just smiled. What else can I say. He then changed my car battery with his. Nothing happened. So it's not due to dead battery, which is not a very good news. A dead battery means there is an easy solution. If it's not the battery, we have to find a mechanic. So we drove around the area to find a workshop, many are closed or are closing. My brother finally chooses the most dilapidated workshop in the area that didn't look like it'll close soon.

He said, nice looking workshops are rich. They'll probably over charge or not willing to do it. They don't really need the money if it is not convenient to them. The dilapidated workshop would want any business they can get. I'm impressed. Pretty good logic there. The mechanic there said he can follow us in another half an hour. Fine with me since I'm famished and there's a Mamak Restaurant nearby. I know this will probably take some time and if I'm hungry, my head will start to pound again. Is that gastric? Lately, if I'm hungry I'll get a headache.

So we ordered drinks and nasi lemak. The spoon looked dirty. Even my brother did not want to use it. We asked for another, the waiter gave us his 'menyampah' look and took a long time to come and give us clean pairs of fork and spoon. He just leaves the dirty forks and spoons on our table. He probably thought the next patron who didn't notice or didn't mind will use it. I wonder why there are so many people there. If I'm not pressed for time, I'd look for another place to eat.

We reached my office parking area at dusk. Luckily there's a working torch light in my brother's car. I have a torch light too but no battery. Duh! The Indian mechanic looked like a nice guy. After a while, he got a phone call probably from his boss. I exchanged glances with my brother when he fluently speaks in Chinese. Then my brother asked whether he can speak Tamil. He said yes. Hmmm... how I wish I can speak another language too.

Problem discovered, the earth wire/cable breaks. It got corroded from the leaking battery water. My brother looked at me. I said don't look at me. When I send my car for service, those people put in the battery water until very full. Not between the min and max level. They probably thought since I'm a lady driver, I wouldn't check my battery water very often. Maybe even never. They can help by putting the battery water until it is full. I've noticed this but didn't say anything because they probably know what they're doing. Now I know better.

So the Indian mechanic tried to find some ways to fix the broken cable. It's dark, only my brother's torchlight lit him while he did his work. I pity him. There's no shop nearby or I would buy some bottled drinks for him. I share my half bottle of water with my brother. It is getting very late. I can see the lights from the KL Tower not very far away. It's not that hazy last night. Not long after that, another Chinese mechanic from the same workshop came on motorbike to give him a hand. They finally fix it and charged me RM50 for it. The revving of the engine sounds like music to my ears. The mechanic brought only one helmet so my brother will send the Indian mechanic back to his workshop. Then I discovered another problem. All the signal lights are not working, the horn is not working and my brother almost left. I waved frantically and the Indian mechanic saw me. Looks like the job is not over yet. We called the Chinese mechanic again. Sigh!

They decided to bring my car back to their workshop. It is not far but the night traffic is very heavy. It's Friday night and tomorrow is first Saturday. Probably everyone is driving down to KL. The Chinese mechanic drove my car and I sit beside him. He fears the engine might die. My brother drives behind us. So we drove without any signal lights whatsoever. I felt so relieved when we reached the workshop. I opened my back car door and sit while my brother watched them. I felt so tired. They finally fixed the problem some time after 9 p.m. If I have more money, I'd give them extra just by looking at them work. It is hard work. Sweat run down from their faces and bodies. No one stopped for a drink. Only one cigarette after another. It almost felt unfair isn't it when some worked so hard and earning very little while others worked in an air-conditioned room and earned more.

Despite being philosophical, I'm not rich. This is already an unexpected expenses to me. So I'll just give my prayers to them. Today, I have to go to another workshop to fix the cable properly. Foreseeing this, I have to be careful with money. Who knows how much they'll charge me. I reached home a few minutes before 10 last night. I waited for my brother again this afternoon. He said he already talked to the workshop and asked them to order or get the cable ready. I'm very lucky to have a brother whom I can depend on in situations like this. They told him they'll use a makeshift cable and not the original. It'll be cheaper. If it is fine with my brother, it is fine with me. I can now drive my car without worrying about a broken cable anymore. The charge is less than RM50.

Unlucky:
- The earth cable broke
- Have to spend for unexpected expenses
- Have to miss the night market so my mom can't have what she ordered

Lucky:
- It happened after work and not before going to work or I'll be in trouble
- It's not a working day tomorrow
- My brother is free when my car won't start
- We found a workshop not very far from the place
- My brother has a working torchlight
- The police did not stop us while driving to the workshop without any signal lights
- Nothing happened while driving to the workshop without any signal lights
- The unexpected expenses is less than RM100
- I'm supposed to go outstation yesterday but it was canceled. If I go, this problem might occur on Monday morning
- There's a nearby restaurant while waiting for the mechanic or my head will be pounding due to an empty stomach
- I have a dependable brother
- It's not raining
- The haze is not heavy like two days before
- We found nice and hardworking mechanics
- Sometimes I go sheeshee like a leaking tap. I have to go like every half an hour. Last night I was fine. Luckily I didn't drink coffee during teatime.

I'm just counting my lucky stars :)