I'm here to report that it is still possible to be an idiot, even though you drive a hybrid. For the second time in my life, I have managed to kill my battery by leaving the lights on in the parking lot. I have no idea how this happened, but it was raining and perhaps I was in a hurry to avoid the rain.

It has turned out to be quite comical -- for my co-workers at least -- that somebody who lugs around a couple hundred pounds of batteries in his car, should end up with a dead battery, needing a jump. How embarrassing.

The good news, in case anybody is interested, is that you jumpstart the car just like any other -- there is even a post sticking up through the engine to which you attach the negative cable.

The car started immediately upon being jumped. The hybrid battery gauge showed zero bars -- no charge whatsoever. I proceeded to drive around the parking lot here at work a few times, and the battery charged quickly. From 'zero bars' to about a third of the way, the car forced itself to charge the battery (as it typically does when your battery gets that low).

I drove around for 30 minutes (like you used to do in a non-hybrid after charging a dead battery), just to be safe. It seems to be working fine now.

One thing: beware that when your battery is disconnected or goes dead, your radio will be 'locked' and unusable until you press in your special 'code'. You might want to check to make sure you still have it with the other stuff you got from the dealer when you bought the car.