Now, this is a different kind of howto. Done after a bad experience. Yesterday, I went to the stadium for some basketball game.

At about 7 pm, when it was time to go home, the van couldn't start. What the heck.

At out 9pm, went and looked for a new battery. Found one, and off I went to replace the battery.

I don't know what happened next. Maybe I was too agitated, or it was dark, but I connected the battery with the polarity reversed.

And I blew the main fuse. dang. So, here's how I should have done it:

• Take out the bad battery
• put in the new battery
• confirm the polarity
• the connector has two different sizes, the smaller one goes to the -; the bigger one to the +
• confirm the polarity, again
• connect the + one first
• connect the -

that should do it.

Moral of the story: If it's too late, and you're not in the right frame of mind, wait, stop, relax, have a cuppa, or a smoke if you smoke, and do it again later.