Wait for the next day.

[DQDick]

I have a reputation for finishing what I start to the extreme and tonight some of my workmates got a great laugh out of it. I started out this morning to clean the battery terminals and add water to the battery on Joyce's car. When I started to take the terminal off it just fell apart. It was the original equipment and wasn't one solid piece but rather two small strips on the top and the bottom with a hole between them (must have saved them a dime a piece, sounds like the manufacture of our Monty). So since I had to drive to Yuma to get the parts I took the old battery just in case it didn't have much left and it turned out it didn't. We went to the grocery and out to eat and then to the parts store and when we returned clouds were over the sunset and it was getting dark. My neighbor said why don't you wait for the morning, but I pushed ahead. Got it all hooked up in the twilight and nothing happened. Tested the battery on the post and it was ok. On the terminals not much of anything. Took the terminals off to clean the posts, in case there was a protective coating, and when I took the negative off the whole post appeared to come up with it. After the initial shock I discovered that in the twilight I'd hooked the terminal to the battery post and left on the little black protective cap. There will be laughs at my expense here for days and richly deserved.