Being independent can be incredibly fulfilling.
It can also be fucking exhausting sometimes.
My car battery died, so I ordered a new one. I carefully checked the amperage, dimensions, and compatibility with my car model. It arrived, I removed the old battery (which was no small feat, and I was ridiculously proud of myself when I finally managed it) and then discovered that the terminals on the new battery were reversed and it wouldn’t work.
So now I have to return it. Which means carrying a 15 kg battery to the post office.
Then I have to wait for the correct one to arrive.
And after that, I get to figure out why two of my tyres are flat (no problem, I have a spare tyre and ordered a charger/air blower thingy, hopefully it will work).
I am perfectly capable of taking care of my own shit.
I’m just getting a little tired of it. But lesson learned: buy the exact same model of whatever you need to replace if you can.
/rant
That sucks.
I’m working on some plumbing and I’ve come home with the wrong part more often than I want to admit. By the time I’m home there is no way I’m going back out, so it gets put aside until I remember again/have the energy to deal with it.
You didn’t ask for advice, so putting this behind a spoiler so you can ignore it easily.
spoiler
Is there some reason you want to do this all yourself? Your post sounds exasperated. I get wanting to be able to diagnose car issues and the appeal of saving money, plus the pride of getting it done. I was so close to changing my own car battery recently except that mine is a weird one apparently and the place that had them also had an install service so I was like, “why not?”. It was also early spring and I don’t have a garage so I am sure my enthusiasm would have faded as soon as I started the work lol. It doesn’t always feel good, but once and a while I give something up and there is a lot of relief.
All the garage around are on vacation currently and it started as a pretty straight forward job, and the battery would needed to be ordered anyway since my car is 30 years old and the model not common here. I thought I could manage before my garage was open again, and now that I’ve started, I will finish what I can, since I’ve invested effort and time.
I’m exasperated today because I got very deflated when I thought I was pretty close to finish, but I will enjoy the process once it is resolved, however that will be.
Hey, thanks for the spoiler on the unsolicited advice, it is so thoughtfull and I appreciate both, the spoiler and the advice. Thank you :)
Good luck! I understand the deflated feeling. I spent like two hours gathering parts yesterday based on the apparent availability of a different part. Turns out it was misleadingly named and not what I needed. I could have cried in the store lol.