Once again I wussed out and didn't leave early enough to catch the train to school, so I drove. The results were a disaster :p
I didn't update from school today because the teacher left a note on the desk explaining in no uncertain terms that she wanted nobody using the computers - no students, no teachers, and definitely not this sub! Nonplussed, I went to the library at lunch to find access. It turns out that the library computers are prehistoric dinosaurs - like many of the computers in DISD - with no internet access! Oh the horror! There is one other place that had access in T.J. Rusk Middle School, room 203, tended by the amiable Mr. Morris. I didn't catch up with him till after school when he was locking up and I was getting ready to leave. (I thought) He was only too happy to give me access - tomorrow.
Since Ms. Eldridge, the teacher I am subbing for, didn't have any classes scheduled for the final 45 minutes of school, the school administrators bade me depart and enjoy my evening. Knowing my car wouldn't start without a good electric shock, I asked the lady at the front desk if anyone could give me a jump. She called the janitor and he obliged. He rolled his cherry red classic automobile over to my cheap '87 Camry and fried both of our batteries. (He was able to drive off though) The instant I clamped the positive terminal to the jumper cables it set fire to the contacts of the batteries, melting my battery's positve terminal and leaving a scorch mark on the body of the car where I had clamped the negative clamp of the jumper cables.
I realized that by know my battery was a lost cause. The contact on the positive terminal was now a charred scrap of metal with a bolt in it. I called my mom and she dispatched my brother to deliver a new battery and contact. After about an hour of driving by and through and under some of the most fearsome traffic in the Dallas area, Nosa exited on Mockingbird lane and turned left into the beautiful old money neighborhoods of Univerty Park. This would usually be a good thing as University Park is very scenic, unfortunately Inwood Road is to the right off the Tollway on Mockingbird. So around, 5:30 or 6. after stopping at a nearby elementary school on Inwood to look for me, Nosa rolls up in his shiny champagne colored '89 BMW (no, I am not jealous, I swear!) and delivers the new parts. The contact doesn't fit right and the battery is a little big but we try anyway. No juice. :( We quickly discovered that the 80 amp fuse on the positive terminal had been burnt by the impromptu barbecue the janitor and I had held earlier. So we stripped the car of is it valuables - took all of 30 seconds - to prevent theft and went home.