Elaine Saves The Day!

Late this afternoon I went for a short walk at Holme beach to lift my spirits. I tried in vain to see the Lesser Whitethroat that has been seen in the scrub at the end of the path through the golf course. The gloomy afternoon didn't really lift my spirits at all! Saw a few Linnets perched in a elder amongst the sea buckthorn and a couple of Blackbirds and a Robin and that was it.

I headed back to my car and was mystified as to why only the driver's door would open?! I had to use the unlock button in the car to get the boot open. My Skoda is keyless entry – I attempted to start the car as normal, but a horrible message flashed up on the dashboard that said 'key fob not working, see user manual'. My heart sank, the battery in the key fob had died. This is totally my own fault....... I have had a message flashing up for a while, saying the battery needed changing in the key fob and I didn't take any notice! I should have read up in the manual about this – I didn't bother, because I didn't believe the message. I have looked at the key fob several times to see where the opening is for a battery and found nothing and tried to lever all sections, so gave up!

So, there I was stranded and unable to drive the car anywhere. I sighed and got the manual out and found how and where to prise open the section on the key fob to access the battery – it was very hard to do, but got it open in the end. Then I used my first aid kit scissors to get the battery out! I was just about to call Skoda Assistance, which I didn't really want to do, when all I needed was a CV 2025 battery (one of those small, round silver flat batteries). I considered my options: walk to Hunstanton supermarkets to buy a battery, call a friend (couldn't think of anyone to ask or wanted to trouble) and got really annoyed at this silly situation. I was talking to Mother on the phone about my predicament, when a very kind lady approached my car and came to my rescue! This lovely lady (Elaine) who only lived a short distance away, had a Skoda with a spare key and removed the battery (just as difficult to undue as mine was!) and lent it to me! How lucky was that! The car immediately started!!!

Went to Sainsbury's in Hunstanton to buy batteries, which came in packs of two – bought two packs and returned to Holme to replace the battery that Elaine had lent me and gave her the whole pack as a thank you, which was the least I could do. Note to self: take messages on dashboard seriously!!! Massive thanks to Elaine for coming to my rescue.