Twice is probably enough

Two days in a row, that is, of dropping the girls off at school in the morning and then not being able to start the car when I get back into it.

The first day, I messed with the battery contacts and it started up okay.

The second day I actually tightened the one contact that was loose to the touch, and then it didn't start. The "hey, Stupid, your keys are in the ignition and your door is open" chime came back on, but the car still wouldn't start.

My nice Nicaraguan neighbor who works on cars was dropping his son off too, saw me with the hood open, and came over to help. He messed with the contacts while I tried to start the car and it worked. (I do like me a small town.)

My working theory is that the loose contact prevented the battery from charging adequately while I drove the day before. I'm not sure how that theory fits in with the car-starting-on-the-second-try part of it, but I guess we'll find out tomorrow morning.

(Interesting side note: I stopped and started the car a bunch of times in the 24 hours between the two incidents. Maybe there's a force field around the school and I should just park around the corner.)