Ding Dong the saga continues

I drive Sofia everywhere and everyday, so it appears that Eric was correct and a new battery was all that was needed. I drive around smiling and feeling happy that all seems to be right with the world.

I drive her to the local supermarket after the gym one Sunday. As I often do. I am sitting gathering my wits and my belongings before exiting the vehicle when I feel a tremendous clunk and scrape. I realise the guy in the car beside me has reversed out of his parking space without realising that I was there, thus dragging his car along the entirity of Sofia's wing and hooking his bumper under the rear wheel arch.

I am incredulous!! I mouth "what are you DOING?!!" to the man, who then decides the wise thing to do is to put his car back where it was, thus repeating the prang in reverse. I leap out of the car intending to open up the can of whup-ass he so richly deserves, when I realise the guy is in no state to stand up to that. In fact he is in shock, to the extent I am concerned about his immediate health.

I snap into Nurse mode quick as a flash and start making the kind of soothing noises not expected from a recent prang-ee towards the prang-er. He is clearly very shaken and sorry. We exchange addresses and I advise his wife to drive him home. I am gutted. Sofia is dented badly all along her flank.

I felt lower than low as I took her home and was consoled by friends and family, and I guess it was about then when the whispering started and the transition from Sofia to Christine slowly developed. I arranged the local body shop to evaluate the damage and they came and made sucking noises in the way that workmen do which usually preceded statements like "its a big job" In fact it was a big job, which required ordering a whole new wing. This could take months. Probably would.

Then........................

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Here we go again with the wake up call at 4am. Flat.

So back we go to Eric, more headscratching and peering ( I have to be fair to Eric and the local guys, they are fantastic and helpful and lovely but admit they are NOT Alfa experts) After a time he offers up that the radio seems to be pulling rather more power than it ought. He disconnects it. I drive away.

All remains well and I anticipate another trip south in which I decide to take Sofia to the Alfa guys south and get the radio sorted out. In advance of the trip, I ask Eric to please just reconnect the radio for the duration of the journey from island to Inverness. Its a long lonely drive and one I don't relish without tunes. I figure as I will be running the car the whole time, the battery will not have the time to go flat.

Eric cheerfully concurs and reconnects the radio.