Why did I do That?

A Calm and Peaceful View
Loxahatchee River North Fork
Tequesta, FL'
October 7, 2026

 Yesterday became a disaster. 

I did not intend for three dissimilar appointments to create an incredible amount of tension, but they did.

In an effort to get everything accomplished, the resulting conflicts and resulting tension was all my fault. 

The two appointments which became most tangled were Chris to the dentist and the Ford dealership coming to perform a software update on the Mach-e to clear a safety recall. In position three was the completion of our impact window installation, a project that started during February. 

My Truck
Elkridge, MD
April 22, 202

I believed that I had deconflicted the events by planning to leave the key in the Mach-e for the Ford technician while we went to the dentist. We would use the truck to travel to the dentist. 

Enter the wild card!

I did not plan for the truck to not start because it had remined unused for almost four weeks. That situation threw the morning into disorder.

Initially I thought "no problem," I have a portable battery booster. Which was great, except that I had not checked it in a long while and it was discharged and would not start the truck! Ugh. What to do? Time was critical at this point. We took the car to the dental appointment arriving with five minutes to spare. The Ford dealership had a wide window and I hoped the dental appointment would conclude before their planned arrival. 

The good news was the window technician called and confirmed he would be arriving outside of the immediate window. One possible conflict resolved. 

But nothing actually works out. Within minutes of arriving at the dentist, the Ford technician called and told me he would be arriving in about 15 minutes. I left Chris and raced back to the house to meet him. 

I thought I might be able to use my trickle charger to start the truck and return to Chris at the dentist. Fortunately, the Ford technician had a booster battery and offered to help--something that actually mitigated the crisis. The truck started easily and I was elated. The next looming disaster was--what if the truck does not start at the dentist? Well, I'll call AAA. Since it started with so easily with the boost, I was confident that all of the battery cells were working and it had just discharged because we have not been driving it much due to the cost of gas--and we have a great EV.

Crisis averted, the truck started when we were ready to leave the dentist. Upon arriving home we actually had about an hour and a half before the window tech arrived. Sadly, only one of the two panes could be replaced because it started raining. That project continues unfinished. 

When the window tech departed about 1 PM, Chris and I enjoyed lunch and relaxed. We had survived the morning. 

Lesson learned.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL