Well, the plan was to head up to the Beta Site and get a few things done. Didn’t go that way. But, as always, lessons were learned.

I was on my way out of town when I realized I had forgotten to pick up some C-clamps. Since I was only a few blocks from Lowes, I swung by there, got what I needed, got back to the truck, put the key in, and..grrrgrrclickclickclick. Okay, it appears we have a battery issue. Fortunately, I was prepared for this. A few months ago I purchased a Milwaukee jump pack to keep in the truck for just such a crisis. Ir runs on the same M18 batteries all my other tools run on, so it seemed to make sense. Gear is only good when it works, so I picked up a protective case to protect the unit, battery, and accessories. I put a charged M18 battery in the case, taped a note on the case telling me when the battery was last charged (so I know when to inspect it. Check your gear, guys!), and tucked it away in the truck box. And today, I got to vindicate the expense and effort.

Once I had the engine running, I headed over to CostCo to get a new battery. Interestingly, CostCo was out of my particular battery size. Okeyfine, headed over to Napa and grabbed one. Got it put in and everything seems to work out fine.

But…while I am not a terribly superstitious person, I do accept the possibility that this is the universe telling me ‘dont go there today’. Is there anything up there today that won’t be there tomorrow? No. Is there anything I need to do that can’t be done tomorrow? No. So is there any practical reason, other than weather, that I should go today instead of tomorrow? Well…no. So why take unnecessary risk? I now have more time to get gear together, more time to review what I need to take up there, and more time to load the truck.

But…the lesson learned here was that having the jump pack in the truck was a worthwhile tactic. Sure, I was in a parking lot full of people and someone actually did offer to give me a jump start. But if this had happened up in the boonies it would be a different story…no one to rely on but yourself. So, have gear on hand just in case.