[jyl]

AAA guy brought a beeeg long heavy bar. That worked. My hitting it (starter) with a medium size wrench didnt.

So I drove it home, had a quick lunch, now am on the light rail back to the airport to retrieve the prius that I drove this morning.

Funny thing. During this otherwise irritating episode, I've had the nicest interactions with people. The parking lot attendant who tried to jump my car was a great guy, came from Cuba for years ago, loves his job and living in Portland, spent half an hour and called in more trucks, put three sets of cables on the old battery, then was really sad that it hadn't worked. The AAA guy was cheerful, super efficient, chatted about the best VW shops in town. The parking lot attendant was helpful when I realized I'd lost the ticket, got me paid up and out in no time. One Pelican, who I happened to be talking to on the phone as I tried to start the van, was really helpful and, if I'd had a big hammer, his advice would have worked. Another texted an offer to drive me back to the airport.

It's been a pretty good day, actually. I'm happy.