Don't have your car lights on without your engine running in winter

At Abby's extra-curricular activity after school today I was chatting with some of the other parents while Leah played quietly by herself and conversed with a mom that was there.

It's a snowy, somewhat cold night, traffic sucks and the roads are slippery and treacherous.

Just as the class was about to end, a mom came in saying her car wouldn't start.

I and a couple other dads there start asking her what its doing.

"It just clicks when I turn the key, it wont start but the lights are on."

As it turns out, she was sitting in the car with the radio and lights going with the engine off for most of the hour. Ooops. We predict that her battery drained below the necessary starting voltage due to the cold and accessory use without running the engine.

So I gallantly offered to help and I and another dad went to see what we could do. I had my jumper cables in my Jeep but there was a van to either side of her car in the parking lot and a tallish concrete island in front of her that ran in front of the row.

No problem.

We measure it out and then I take my Jeep and with a bit of a running start up onto the island I go. The front wheels easily climb up and then there was suficient distance for the cables to reach and work. We hook up the cables, her car starts and mission accomplished. I think she's now learned not to run her battery down, no harm done and everyone's happy.

My only regret is that before starting to climb up the concrete island I forgot to yell --

"Hey, y'all watch this".