Warning: This is a long one...
Well, what a day it's been for me. This morning was a big morning in terms of my personal life, but I don't tend to blog about personal details. Rest assured that it wasn't in the least bit pleasant. So there was a lot of this, but after dinner I planned to go to a friend's 19th which I thought would be a good way to get my mind off things.

On the way, I decided to pick up a credit refill card because I was out of mobile credit. I asked for a $20 card but the guy behind the counter informed me that if I bought a $49 card, I'd actually get $230 worth of calls. I asked when the credit expired, and he said "Oh it's ages, like a year. Yeah, it's a year." So I went with that one, and continued on my way.

When I was about 10 minutes drive from my friend's house, I stopped at a red light and suddenly my car just died. This has happened once or twice before, but it has always restarted within the next few times. Not so tonight. I tried about 10 times, then gave up. Hazard lights on, I'm sitting in the middle of the road right before a fairly busy city interseciton. A nice girl on a bike stops and asks if I need help. I've decided by this point to just ring the RACV, and she asks if I need a mobile. I tell her it's ok because I have one, and she continues on her way.

So I grab out my prepaid card to recharge my credit. I ring the number, put in the pin code, and the machine responds "This code is invalid" and gives me a few options. I re-enter the code a couple of times just in case, and it's still invalid. I then select "customer service", and am greeted by a calm voice telling me that if I wish to hold, it will be at least 40 minutes before my call is handled. Screw that, I hang up and look for a payphone.

Oddly, there doesnt seem to be a single goddamn payphone around. I asked one lady if she had a mobile which I could borrow since my car was broken down, but she got edgy as if she thought I was about to mug her, so I thought I should probably leave her alone. I tried to go into a few buildings hoping a kind receptionist would let me use the phone, but couldn't find any nearby that were open.

Nearby resources exhausted, I decided I would have to take a little hike to the house of a friend who lived nearby. When I arrive, I knock on the door but find that he isn't home. Thankfully, his housemates are a very friendly bunch who let me use their phone to call the RACV. They say they'll be at my car in 20 - 40 minutes. So after a short time I decide I should be heading back to my car to make sure I'm there when they arrive.

15 minutes later I'm back at my car, waiting. I try starting it again, still no luck.

Another hour later I'm still waiting.

A friendly passerby arrives on scene and offers me his phone to check on the RACV's progress. I ring them, and just then they arrive. The guy tells me to try starting the car, and whaddya know it starts. He takes me round the corner out of the way of traffic, and the car dies again. He starts it again. He sits there revving it for a good 15 minutes. He states that the car is currently going, and as such there's nothing he can do. He instructs me to call the RACV again if it dies again. He smokes a cigarette, and then fills out some paperwork.

I am finally on my way. I arrive at the party a mere 2.5 hours late, and actually have a decent time, except soon people have already started to leave. I decide to tackle my phone's customer service, because I don't want to drive home without any credit. 40 minutes or so of hold, and finally I get through. The problem is, it turns out, that the $49 card I bought is not compatible with my current plan. I can go on the $49 plan, but then I can never go back to my old plan. What's the difference from my old plan? The credit expires in a mere 30 days. I don't use my phone much, and now I have $230 but only 30 days to use it. Great. So finally that is sorted. I hang around at the party some more but most people have left, so I leave fairly soon after.

After what was probably my most stressful car trip ever, I'm finally back home. The car died once on the way back, but it started up again second time. So there you have my day, and that didn't even include all the personal crap.