I had a Nissan Bluebird (Yendor's been in it!) and the diode pack on the alternator failed.
In order to prevent comedy flat batteries every time the car was stationary, I disconnected the negative lead from the battery. There were a couple of occasions where I was preoccupied and forgot (cue comedy why-won't-my-car-start-oh-you-dolt moments) and a couple more where I managed to somehow complete the electrical circuit with my fingers (cue comedy ow-ow-ow-you-bastard-that-hurts moments).
The upshot was, of course, that I spent a couple of minutes fiddling around under the bonnet at the beginning and end of every journey.
Yes, I did get the alternator fixed.