Jeff had trouble starting his car. I don't like the idea of that, so I had no reservations about taking it to the shop for him.

The shop warned me that they had a full schedule of repairs already and certainly couldn't offer me a loaner car. All understood, but I would be there shortly after 9AM anyway with the hope that someone else was late, cancelled or simply failed to show up.

The diagnostic revealed that the engine immobiliser was misbehaving, resulting in a hard start or a stall after start. Confirms the popular perception that, 9 times out of 10, the rightful user is inconvenienced by the security system enabled for their protection. And it cost $160 to repair. Plus two hours. Not bad, actually, even though I was just there getting tires on Friday.

I took Chris to the train station in Red Bank afterwards. It's just a few blocks from the dealership.

I knew that they were building a platform but didn't realize that it was finished! The station looks totally different with a platform. More formal, more intimidating. Platforms make me nervous. And there were tons of people milling about. Not just day laborers, either. All kinds of people.

The northbound tracks were closed. Workmen had some heavy-duty machinery on the tracks but I can't imagine what they were doing. Maybe they were moving the tracks closer to the platform for the sake of the "gap." But, in a way, I was relieved that no trains would be rushing by directly in front of us. I'm neurotic that way.

So, almost immediately, a northbound train came through, on the other set of tracks, across the way from us. At first, Chris was elated. Then he buried his face in my shoulder and refused to look as the huge train lumbered into the station and stopped with hissing and squeaking.

He wanted to board the train and I asked him where his ticket was and he offered, "In my pocket?!" But he came up empty.

As we started to walk away, I heard the signals again and saw the gates come down, so I carried him back up the platform for the southbound train. The schedule there in Red Bank is back-to-back near the top of the hour. Again, he wanted to ride. And, again, as the train departed, he called after "Bye, Henry. Bye, Edward. Bye, Gordon. Bye, Thomas."

The hardest part for Chris yesterday in daddy's car was the absence of the DVD player. ('Though we have two portables, it didn't occur to me to bring one!) Chris repeatedly tapped the car's interior immediately above his head, obviously trying to locate the screen and controls. By the end of the day, he had given up demanding "On! On!" as he does in my car.