Hell of a day today

Went out to start the car, and the battery acts like it's dead. Oh
great. Just when I need it. It was painfully cold last night, so I guess
the Autozone Duralast batteries last only when they aren't cold.

So I get AAA to come out. I also put on the charger on the battery -
last week on Thursday it did this thing as well. I had it jumped, took
it to Autozone, the guy tested it, but due to the loose connections,
they couldn't get a good reading. So I put on new tight American
designed top mount battery terminals. Paid a guy $5 to put a $3 part on.
Runs fine afterwards. Even started nice and strong on Tuesday when I
started it to what I hope would charge the battery.

Anywho, Just as the guy from AAA comes to jump, I try the thing again
after the charger was on the 10 amp charge setting for 1 hour and 14
minutes. It starts. Took it to Autozone again, the guy tests it. The
tester says to charge the battery and try again. WTF? But as it does the
test, I see the voltage reading creeping up to 12 Volts. The battery
obviously was cold and didn't want to work. ARGH. Guy tests the charging
system, and again it shows OK. I know the alternator is working because
when I had the terminals changed from the Kia strips of metal to the
significant ones I bought, the guy removed one (it just came straight
off) and the car continued to run OK.

Guy at autozone says if I still have problems, bring it back and they
will change it for sure. I mention the battery charger, and he says
putting the battery on a 2 amp trickle charge isn't a bad idea,
especially with the forecast of it getting damn cold in a few days.

Anywho, I get to work late, but I call to say I'll be late, is 10 to 5
ok? Manager OKs it, I tell this to the HR lady and she'll fix it because
Rick approved the change due to the circumstances.

Get ready to go home, get some water, and the right front tire is flat.

Well, this is the one that I put Fix a Flat in it, and it was working
until today, when I guess when it gets painfully cold and batteries
don't want to work, Fix a Flat stops working too.

Get back to work, try to change it, but the jack is rusted. I borrow
Jean's (she's got a Kia, too), and manage to do the change with the
spare.

Waiting at home is my Passport (less than 4 weeks!), and an order for
MP3 players that are also card readers, one of which I'm trading to a
friend for a 1G SD card.

My refund this year is over $700. If I had earned one penny less, I
would have $6 more in my refund. Instead of tax breaks, why the hell
doesn't someone increase the EIC?? Dammit!

Well, tax breaks would have been nice, too.

So all told, I'd have money for a ticket to Japan, but little else.
Someone said that in spite of credit cards being usable in Japan, it's
still mainly cash only.

I doubt I could receive my refund fast enough to be able to pull this
one off (well, there is electronic filing over the net... I guess with
direct deposit and stuff) or had time in March. Does Narita have that
airport exit tax still?

I'd have enough to go to Japan, shop for 1 or 2 days, then go home.

I'm tired, and I need a pizza and a beer.

ttaku... I'm going to see if I need to put the charger on the battery
over night tonight. It's been forecasted as being in the single digits
or lower for the weekend.... T.T