This morning, my car died.  

It started out fine.  I moved the car out of my garage and into the street, turned it off real quick, tried to turn it on and wham … everything died.  I wasn't sure what happened (car is only two years old) but I have not driven this car for over 2 months.

I was blocking traffic, causing mayhem.  I couldn't start the car and couldn't even put it in neutral to push it.  I was stuck.

I called a tow truck.  They said they would be at my location within 30 minutes.  I waited … but I did not want to wait 30 more minutes (or potentially longer) and I had no visibilitiy into when the tow truck would actually arrive

I probably just need a battery jump … that would likely do the trick.  So I tried to flag down passing cars to give me a jump.  But this is San Francisco and they probably thought I was trying to ask them for spare change … so they all sped away.

So I did what any Internet-phile would do, I used the interwebs…  

I ordered a car on Uber.  Sure enough, there was a car driven by Monty a few blocks away and it arrived in 2 minutes.  Yes, 2 minutes.  

He manuevered his Lincoln Town Car next to my little hybrid and we hooked up the jumper cables and whammo — my car was back in business!

First thing I did was jump out of the car and I gave Monty a great big hug.  Not sure what possessed me (I'm not normally a hugger of strongers) but Monty was just so helpful.  

Unfortunately, there was no way to pay him on Uber (the official trip was 0.00 miles) but I gave him 5 stars and $40 in cash (and the hug).  I definitely owe Uber CEO Travis Kalanick a drink to make up for the lost Uber commission.  

Thank you Uber and thank you Monty!

Rob Reid wrote a great new great new book (came out today but I read it a few months back) called Year Zero.  my recommendation: Read this book.

Here is the five-star review I wrote on Amazon:

If you grew up loving Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy, you'll love this book. If you are not from planet earth or your brain was somehow rewired to dislike Douglas Adams, you'll probably not like this book.

Rob Reid is the heir to Douglas Adams' snarky humor, fun adventure, and serious space travel.

Two additional things I liked about this book:
1. It is also a wonderfully written overview of how the music industry works.
2. It has powerful male and female characters and is a good read for all genders (my wife, not someone who generally likes science fiction, loved this book as well)

The theme of this book is that aliens have been listening to our rock music for 30 years and then, one day, the music industry finds out about it and sends the aliens a bill for more money then there is in the galaxy. hilarity ensues. highly recommend this book.