I have summarized the events over the last 3 weeks.

(1) Wife drove car to work; when she came out to go home, it would not crank. All lights and sounds were on, but not even a clicking sound could be heard when turning the key. (2) Son went to wife’s work and was able to jump car off with his car. (3) I put the car battery on the charger and charged overnight. Car cranked fine the next morning. (4) After about 3 days, we left a restaurant and the car would not crank. The only difference is that I was able to repeatedly turn the ignition switch on and off and on the last time, the car fired right up. We drove about 25 miles homes and the next day, the car would not crank. (5) Purchased a new battery. (6) After 3 days the car would not crank again with the new battery. (7) Took the car to Riverside Ford in Macon. At first they said they could not see anything wrong with the car; later they detected that the alternator was not charging as it should be. They said that they replaced the alternator. (8) After 3 days from the new alternator, drove about 15 miles to Wal-mart, came back out and the car would not crank. Was able to jump it off with another car.

So, after a new battery and alternator; the battery seems to be lasting about 3 days on a full charge before it is depleted.

Update from Jan 6, 2012: After (1) supecting a bad battery and replacing it, (2) suspecting a bad alternator and replacing it; the Ford folks finally decided that the problem all along was the starter. They replaced the starter and that seem to have corrected the problem...been running for over two months now and all seems okay.