Car repairs

 I am not one to keep up with the latest improvements in automotive technology, so it's not surprising that it took an incident to learn something.
 When a car dies, as Melanie's did recently, my first hope is that it is just the battery. I was out of town when it happened, but a sheriff happened to be at the location and tried to jump the car with no success.
 When I got home and made plans for a tow truck, the driver did the best thing imaginable, he pulled out a 12-volt power source and attached it directly to the battery and Melanie's car fired right up.
 So it turns out that cars with their fancy technology-and I guess Melanie's 2001 Saturn applies-take a very long time to get powered up through regular power cables, since they don't allow the needed 12 volts to come through. It has something to do with the car's onboard computer limiting the amount of outside power transferring, according to Terry, our tow truck guy, although I think how far gone the battery is also matters.
I don't carry jumper cables in my car at all times, and maybe it doesn't make quite the difference these days anyway.