I shoulda stood in bed.

Of course it's Monday, but did it have to be Monday again after a week of Mondays?

My "week from heck" (described last Friday) included my work truck allegedly overheating.  I had dropped it off at the motor pool and borrowed a truck from one of my employees, to finish out the day.  Today, I used truck A110, which is a backup truck for Grounds, and which recently (about two weeks ago) came back from being repaired by motor pool.  They should've kept it.

We had to jump start the truck this morning.  I thought that was no big deal, since the truck had been sitting idle, but the battery was hand-dated with an installation date in April 2013, less than four months ago.  From previous experience with personal cars, I know that I should keep the engine running, so that the alternator can recharge the battery.  That was no problem, as I could keep to city streets to visit my first site of the morning.  I arrived about a half hour later, circled the building slowly, and reentered the road to visit my next site.  The radio was flickering in and out, but that could've been anything.  Then the radio shut off completely, and I noticed that the turn signals no longer worked.  Okay, so I'll have to manually signal my turns.  A fuse probably blew; that's all.  Oh, wait.  The speedometer isn't reading any more...

Geez, what is it with me and work trucks that I can't even get a block away before something breaks?

I pulled back into the building's parking lot, parked in a spot, and left the engine running (to keep charging the battery, remember?) as I phoned motor pool.  As I explained the symptoms to the woman who answered, the engine shut itself off.  "Can you restart it?" she asked.  Of course not.

The mechanic who arrived to help was the same guy from Friday.  True to form, he looked under the hood but touched nothing.  However, he hazarded a guess today that the truck needs a new alternator.  Guess what our shop mechanic told me when I made it back to the office.  That's right; the truck had been at motor pool a couple weeks ago to get the alternator replaced.

Let's summarize.  My truck (A137) said it was overheating and is now at motor pool.  My backup truck (A109) has been at motor pool for two months because the "check engine" light came on (conveniently enough, on the very same day that my primary truck had been released from motor pool after previous repairs), and I haven't heard boo about it since.  Now my backup-backup truck (A110) is at motor pool for a possible battery and/or alternator problem.

Incidentally, management of the motor pool is up for bid.  If you're interested in seeing the R.F.P., let me know.  (Previous experience managing psychic mechanics is helpful but not required.)