Jumpstart Madness

Driving out of here next Tues or Wed. I just had my car serviced for the 30k maintenance last night. Picked it up today, and have been driving it all day, running errands and stuff. It runs great. Except about an hour ago, I got home...stopped at the mailbox to get my mail...got back in the car...and, the engine wouldn't even turn over!!!! I tried it a few times. Nothing. Thunderstorm is brewing...I have ice cream (rocky road) in the car (one of my errands)...and, it's 1000 degrees. I call my guy at Toyota. I'm frustrated...because I just paid them 800 for a dead car...and I'm sweating...ice cream is melting, and a TX tornado is on the way. He tries to calm me....talks me into lifting up the hood, and 'jiggling' the battery cables...he thinks they may be loose. I 'jiggle' the one with the red cover..and immediately the freaking CAR ALARM starts blaring, and scares me witless. He tells me how to turn it off, and it won't. He tells me to calm down, and I don't. I jiggle the wires again, turn the key...and nothing. He sends a tow truck...I walk back to my apartment with a sack of melted rocky road and my wilted chicken salad sandwich. I sit for a few minutes and nibble on some fruit. Walk back outside to wait for the tow truck guy in the hellish heat. Neighbor guy comes home from work...agrees to help me jump my car. I get out my cables. He does the manly stuff..attaching the cables to both battery boxes. My alarm goes off..again. He says 'where's your flicker'...and I say 'the flicker won't shut it off'....and then I turn the key in the ignition...and the car slowly coughs back to life. I cancel the tow truck guy, and drive in 5pm/thunderstorm traffic back to the Toyota place....where I am currently perched....emailing you. My service man has an All American face, and his name is Mike. Spencer is the one that hooked us up. I tell Mike that he better get to the bottom of this as I am not wanting to drive across the desert and rockies next week with a questionable battery, or whatever is stopping my stupid Toyota piece of crap from working...like it did before I choked up 800 earlier this morning!!!! (Mentally screaming inside my head)!! Mike just came and got me. He said it was a dead battery cell. Texas heat apparently is tough on batteries and can kill them in less than two years. I say 'don't you think it's weird though, that it happened today....after having it SERVICED?'....and he says 'no...not really. I'm from INDIANA (explains the deceptive 'innocent' look)....and its cold up there, and batteries last forever. Here, they can fizzle out just like that'. You don't say, I think to myself. He walks me to my car....shows me my new shiny 'Truestart' battery and says ''keep your invoice..it has an 8 year warranty..so, if anything goes wrong with it before then, you will need to show it to whoever services it'. I say 'thank you, and sorry if I seemed irritated/flustered/panicky on the phone earlier'...and he says 'the battery is on the house, and don't worry about it. You were just being human'. He opens my door, and I get in, wave...and drive off into the dramatic Texas thunderstorm...new battery, and all.