For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 19, 2021

as Elly’s (and Lynn’s) fellow Canadian Shania Twain used to say, “the car won’t start, it’s falling apart” (the “Honey, I’m Home” song)

Tune up and an oil change won’t solve a battery problem. On the other hand, it’s nice to see that Elly shrieks out loud whenever she has a problem with anything, not just when it’s a problem with her kids. She may be a whacko, but she’s a consistent whacko.

I think the car wants a nice, warm garage. I sure would!

RrrrRrrrRrrr means the starter is turning the engine over, it just can’t start. Maybe it’s not able to turn it over fast enough. Could be out of fuel, not getting enough fuel, not getting a sufficient spark, or the air flow to the engine is clogged. I don’t see an air clogging problem, so that’s probably not it. As a tow truck driver in my earlier life, I’d check the fuel gauge next. Then I’d try to jump it from a good battery. After that, I’d probably tow it in and let a mechanic in a nice warm garage check it out (although I’ve been known to adjust points on the side of the road to get a car going again).

Just don’t amp up your anxiety level. You don’t want to fuel any ulcers do you? Just take a step or two back and breath in some fresh air. Now think about a nice tow-truck driver who has plenty of equipment, know-how, and warm clothes on. A person who could probably get your car started while you wait in a nice warm Library.

Try being a little more forceful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc

Cold kills batteries.

Oh, FUDGE!!

Ain’t that the truth.

I was a scout leader once, we were winter camping for the weekend, it was one of the coldest times of the year, like -30c. We had shelters, log cabins with an open end, in the forest. Fire, food, trying to stay warm. Waking in the morning with frost on your scarf that was covering your face. Oh the sweetest sound was the starting of the car Sunday afternoon. I parked the front end into a snow bank so there was no excessive wind blowing into the engine. Didn’t expect the temperature to drop that much.

This rant is a non-starter.

Never underestimate the soothing affect of a good tantrum. At least for the tantrum’er.

Global warming is not altogether a bad thing.

Or you install a motorvärmare (engine heater), I’m sure they exist in Canada.

She’s talking to the car? Why do I have a feeling I will soon see a comment with a sentence with words that rhyme with “belly” and “flop out”?

Wonder how many readers understood what points were? also the rotor and condenser?

This comic isnt really about the car not starting. Its about Ellie’s all too common reaction to it.

With that kind of ranting, the car could a more considerate approach to start and ferry the gloomy mother.

TIP FOR YOU ALL – In modern cars, the main reason a car would turn over but not start IS the battery. That’s because all cars now are actually controlled by a computer, and the computer needs a certain voltage (around 10.5 volts) before it will turn on. So if your battery is weak it may only put out 10 volts (or less), enough to turn the engine over but it will never start without the computer.

This makes me think of two TV shows. One was a"Fawlty Towers" episode in which Fawlty’s car died on him. You see him walk off-camera, only to come back with a huge branch, with which he started beating on the car’s hood, while ranting at the car. It was a classic. The other was a “MASH” episode in which the Colonel’s Jeep stopped running, so he took out his pistol and shot it.

Yes we have wildfires and we’re still waiting for the big one (earthquake) but give me California all day, month, year.

Years ago when I was in nursing school, I had a class in another town, and had to leave the house around 4:30 in the morning, when it was freezing cold. The car gave me problems starting, so I told hubby I would like an engine warmer. He said that they took a lot of electricity, yada, yada, and didn’t really want to get one. So I said that if the morning came when the car absolutely didn’t start, I would wake him up to come outside and jump it. When I returned home from class that day, there was a shiny new engine warmer on the porch!

A likely reason for Elly’s constant screeching is that she was spoiled. Not by her parents, but by her surroundings as a child. Elly grew up in the 1950s, which was the most prosperous time in Canadian history. It did not take much for her parents to succeed, and she is angry at John for not being like her father, and angry at her kids for not being as uniform and disciplined as kids were of her era.

Points? What is that?