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FacebookI didn’t realize how much work it took to post things online. I mean, I probably should have since I was the one who did all of the maintenance on my site–but I never truly realized how painstakingly difficult it is. I recently posted something online after months–almost a lifetime (well, gerbil’s lifetime)–of not posting anything. The writing wasn’t really the difficult part. The time-consuming aspect of this is putting the text in the necessary format to post online. I thought it was easy in the past, but now it just felt like a lot of work for such a small audience (my mom, Steve, and–if she’s not too busy–The Wife). When I was doing it regularly it didn’t seem like a lot of work. But now that I’ve taken a break, I didn’t realize how much work was really involved (probably ten minutes–not including composition, editing, and revision…as if). I’m not sure I will ever be able to return to a once a week entry (remember when I tried to churn out two or three a week). It was fun while it lasted.
My appreciation for the Almighty Honda is well known. The obsession started in my teens simply because they work. I could care less about supped-up street rods or sporty looks: I’m a loyalist because of the dependability Honda provides. I managed to convert my mother and three brothers to the Honda divinity, but perhaps my greatest failure in life is my inability to persuade The Wife to join in our ideology.
My beloved prefers the finer things in life. She likes classic kitchens, carefully designed living rooms, and sleek-looking vehicles. While I would be willing to defend Honda’s dependability to the death, I can certainly concede the carmaker is lacking in the style department. It never bothered me because I’d rather get from Point A to Point B with no style than be stuck somewhere in the middle while looking good–but that’s just me. The Wife likes to refer to the Honda Accord as “the most boring car ever made” and I pretty much would have to agree with her (I doubt the folks at Honda have ever been awarded much for style points).
So when it comes to (what has now become) the semi-annual tradition of buying a new car for her, Hondas are off the table and pretty much everything else is in play (since 1998 I’ve had two cars; in the past 18 months she’s had three). Our most recent addition is a 2006 PT Cruiser. We bought it with extremely low miles at an extremely good price. I figured with the mileage around 50,000 we’d have at least three years before facing any expensive problems. Turns out, I was wrong.
In January the heat core went out–an event my mechanic called highly improbable given the car’s low mileage. It cost $850 to get fixed–a price that would seem unfairly high even if we both had jobs. “The parts aren’t that expensive, but PT Cruisers are difficult to work on. I’m going to have to charge you for seven hours of labor–most cars are only three,” my mechanic told me. At $95 an hour for labor, those extra four hours were pretty much the equivalent of a kick to the crotch.
Upon completion of the repairs, we noticed a new little hiccup with the car: some of the dashboard lights were slightly dimmer than the rest. This required another trip to the mechanic. He inspected the car and determined that some sorta part got cracked and needed to be replaced. On most cars, the dashboard is illuminated by light bulbs that reside below the panel. But the PT Cruiser was different and needed a special part. The good news was my mechanic agreed to pay for the broken part (after all, it worked fine before we brought him the car) and after a couple more days in the shop, the dashboard worked just fine.
On the way home we discovered a new little problem for the car. Our PT Cruiser developed the ability to turn on the dome light with the flip of a switch–unfortunately, that switch was the turn signal. It didn’t happen all the time–but it happened often enough to figure out the two were related. Right turn. Left turn. It didn’t matter. Like some sorta possessed demon, the car’s dome light sporadically lit up if the turn signal was engage. And once the turn was completed and the blinker disengaged, the dome light turned off. I’m no mechanic and never claim to know more than a year’s worth of high school autoshop. That being said, I’d swear on your grandmother’s grave it was obvious as the nose on your face (how’s that for combining clichés): somehow the turn signal was affecting the interior light.
When we brought the car back to the mechanic and told him about the possessed dome light, he chuckled–mainly because who ever heard of such a thing? It seemed like the sorta gag you’d see in television (a crossed-wired car felt more like a Zack Morris prank than real life adventure).
After a few days of testing, the mechanic was unable to replicate the problem. He chalked it up to a freaky occurrence (either that or he thought we were crazy but didn’t wanna tell us). “I drove the car for 45 minutes and I couldn’t get it to do that. I took it apart and saw nothing wrong.” We took the car home, full of optimism and hope…only to have it happen again the very next day.
Alas, the problem never got fixed. Here it is, eight months later, and the light still goes on whenever I use the turn signal. Taking the car back to the mechanic doesn’t feel like an option at this point because, well, knowing my luck, it’ll be fine and he’ll think I’m some sorta auto hypochondriac. I thought about taking the car to a priest, but I’m not sure if they can perform an exorcism on a car. So I’ve just learned to live with it.
The thing is, it’s annoying as sandpaper in your underpants–especially at night. Imagine sitting in a dimly-lit car, peaceful, relaxed, and on the verge of a nap only to have the entire car light up like the surface of the sun when you try to make a left-hand turn. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t bother using my turn signal at night. I’m mildly amused at the prospect of getting pulled over for my blatant disobedience.
“I swear officer, I would use my turn signal but every time I do the dome light comes on.”
He’ll either laugh at me or have me arrested for lying…because who would believe a car would get cross-wired to the point where using the blinker turns on the dome light?
This would have never happened to a Honda.