If I had been asked what I wanted for my birthday, ...

I would not have included a car battery on the list. I should have.

Last night I needed to run some errands. I didn't expect an adventure.

When I turned the key in the ignition I heard the dreaded click. I had had no indications that the battery was failing. The car ran just fine the night before.

I will admit: it had occurred to me, sometime in the last three months, that my battery was more than three years old. I didn't give it much more thought at the time.

Until June 2007 I had road service coverage under the extended warranty on my car; I called a toll-free number, someone came and helped me. I knew that had expired.

I walked to the apartment office to see if we still had road service as a benefit. The provider had changed, but the number was on the door. I called and was told someone would be there within an hour.

I walked back to my car and phoned a friend, warning her that I might hang up with no notice. We talked for a long time, long enough that I became nervous. It was 8:30 and I still hoped to buy a new battery before Checker closed at 9:00.

The company called back; I needed to let the driver through the gate to the apartments. Because I was on my cell phone instead of my house phone I could not open the gate using my phone, so I walked over to use my pass card. The company had told the first driver that I lived south of Baseline; this was a second driver.

He had my car running by 8:43. I wanted to go to Checker, even though another auto parts store was closer, because that's where I bought the battery that failed.

I reached the store at 8:53. I had taken no time to charge the battery. Several times during the three-mile trip my lights had dimmed. At University I signaled a left turn, braked, turned, signalled a right turn and pulled into the parking lot. All of my dash lights went out, my radio went off and my car died as I pulled into a parking space directly in front of the door. Two employees were leaning on the wall; they did not appear pleased to have a customer.

I explained that I had just had my car jump-started, that I had bought the battery there, that I was unable to find any paperwork and that I didn't remember how long the warranty was. I asked if they could check the battery.

I'll condense the rest of the story. The battery tested bad, it was still under warranty, I received a $37.50 credit for a battery that cost me only $50 three years ago, I paid a total of $40 for a new, 84-month battery. I was on my way, too late to run several of the errands for which I left home, but safe.