I had the most extraordinary day today. I left Somero at around midday as I had arranged to meet an old friend of mine in Nummela, Anne. On the way there, the car started playing up. It seemed as though the battery was losing power. First the heating went off, then the radio and then the warning lights started flashing and telling me to stop the car. I rang Anne and said that I should probably drive straight to a garage to see what was wrong with the car, so we agreed to meet at a garage in Nummela town centre. Just twelve kilometres before I got there I saw something so beautiful that I had to stop. It was one of the most stunning rainbows I have ever seen. 
I knew that the car was not happy and that I should get to a garage, but I simply couldn't resist taking a photo. Luckily I had my camera with me so I stopped the car and got out. Most other drivers continued on their journeys, but in front of me there was one other person who had also stopped for the same reason. He was taking a photo of the rainbow too, and I could tell that he was as amazed as I was by the picture in front of us. 
We introduced ourselves to each other and I found out that my fellow rainbow enthusiast was a man named Hannu Haapa, an architect from Nummi Pusula. We only talked for around a minute, and he seemed disappointed that the only camera he had with him was his mobile. I gave him the address of this blog and promised to post the photos on the net this evening if I got anything that was worth sharing.
We said goodbye, Hannu went on his way...I took a few more photos and went back to the car. Only to find out it was dead. Had I not stopped for the rainbow then I might have made it to the garage, but I did stop...so there I was, stranded with a car I couldn't drive, a phone that was almost out of battery, and a six-month-old baby in minus seventeen degrees!
The day became even more complicated after this, but thanks to the help of several people (Anne who came to rescue us, the man driving the tow truck who came to collect the car, Timo Kukkaro in Lohja who fit a new battery in record time and the lady at the Chinese restaurant who helped me charge my phone) I managed to collect my car again before the end of the day.
Of course the story doesn't end there. Having said goodbye to Anne, I was half way home, grateful to have the car back and still thirty kilometres from Somero, when the warning lights started flashing again and the car broke down for a second time. This time Frédéric picked us up and I had to call a tow truck for the second time in one day (thank you to Heikki Uutela from Somero who rescued us really quickly).
It was quite a complicated day, and it looks as though fixing the car will not be cheap, but despite all of that I am left with three overriding thoughts. The first is that there is nothing as beautiful as nature itself. I know that sometimes there is so much cruelty in the world that it is difficult to believe that there is a God out there. But when I see something like this, I find it even more difficult to believe that it all just happened by accident. The second thought is that none of us can survive on our own. We all depend on other people to help us when we are in trouble, and today I was the recipient of all sorts of help. Being stuck with no car, no phone and a young baby in minus seventeen could have been a nightmare without all those people to come to our rescue. I truely appreciate that.
The third thought is this. It is always worth stopping to look at a rainbow, even if your day becomes more complicated as a result. We should all take the time to see these magical moments, and I would rather be the person who got out of the car than one of the people who just drove on by. At the end of the day it's all a matter of perspective. You can concentrate on the bad bits of the day (and today there were quite a few) or you can be glad about the rainbows that you see, and usually there are some of those as well.
I know nothing about Hannu Haapa, but can I suggest that if you are looking for an architect you give him a call? He simply must be good at what he does, after all... he is a man who stops to look at rainbows.
4 comments:
Pienet asiat ympärillä jäävät usein huomaamatta! Hyvä kirjoitus, viisaat huomiot!
Problem in Your car. I think so that the problem is in battery charging system, perhaps in a altenator, a relay, the connectors or a belt etc. Usually cars has equipped with warnig system for such kind faults too.
Very seldon the battery is real reason, when car is running the altenator charges battery all the time. Symptom was: You did stop the car and after that it didn´t start again sounds for battery problem, but because of there was same symptoms with new battery, it seems to me that the real reason is somewhere in charging system. It may be coinsidence, that when You did stop car, there was so low current level in battery, car couldn´t start anymore.
Battery is current store, almost like fueltank. Starter motor, lights etc are consuming current, but duoring the engine is running, the altenator is charging more than consumed and battery will be full of energy, assuming that all parts in the system works properly.
Situation was dangerous, think if You had had in Lappland, 300km to nearest workshop, phone battery empty and not enough clothes with You. I am happy You solved problem!
Best regards
Kyösti
Thank you Kyösti for your advice. You correctly diagnosed the problem, and you are absolutely right, if we'd been somewhere isolated without a phone we would have been in real trouble.
Hi Kyösti and others,too!
"Charge level in the battery low. The battery will be charged while driving." This is the message I can read on the display of my car..due to the fact that the device called Webasto takes so much power and the car switches it of to ensure the starting of the car - and the driver he/she just has to face the cold.. :-( . But to our delight the sun has been shining,the spring comes nearer...
Heikki
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