Never Ignore the Light

Curse my car! Sometimes I just want to abandon the thing on the side of the road. I only wish someone would steal it (of course, only after I have cleaned out the entire car and nothing of value is left in it). Now, you might think that I drive some piece of junk that should have been off the road ten years ago. Wrong. I drive an Eddie Bauer Explorer. This is the second one I have owned…a twin to my first one…when you like something, you might as well stick with it. This car has been nothing but trouble since the day I decided to purchase it. Mind you, nothing major…. just minor annoyances that make you regret the day you ever walked into the dealership.

Today, I noticed the check engine light has magically turned itself on. Of course, this means some costly garage repair, as I obviously have no idea what is wrong with the thing. They could tell me I need a whole new engine, and I would be none the wiser…except for the fact that I would be shopping for a new car…because one has to draw the line somewhere. It never fails when you bring your car in for an oil change that the mechanics find “something” wrong with it. I usually decline these “somethings” as I see no need to have extra work done on a car that is running perfectly fine. I always find it amazing that when you take your car back the next time there is a different “something” wrong with it….I am always left wondering what happened to the problem they told me about before. As usual, these previous “problems” seem to have a way of fixing themselves if you refuse to have the work done.

Damn my car!….this means a whole wasted day finding out what the stupid light is trying to tell me. I would ignore the light, but you know that just spells trouble waiting to happen. I can see it now….I ignore the light for several weeks and decide to take a short cut one night. As I begin down a stretch of deserted road that seems to have no end in sight, I hear the faint putter sounds of an engine that is about to give out….yes, I have made one of the most stupid mistakes possible…. alone on a dark deserted road with a car that I know is about to die…..I am sure my untimely death won’t be far behind…something gruesome...I can see it now...all my worst nightmares about to come true!!!......Oh, God….why didn’t I just take it to the garage like I should have?……as my engine slowly putters out and I roll to a stop,…I think no big deal…I’ll just call 911, and they can send someone out to help me…oops!…creepy, deserted road equals no cell signal….I am going to be killed, I can feel the panic starting to build into sheer terror….How could I have been so stupid??

Okay, questions are running through my head a mile a minute…. should I walk…no, way too horror movie…should I stay in the car…. yeah, what good is that going to do me…what, oh, what should I do? I am going to try to start the car one last time. I pray to God that if he lets the car start, I will never ever do something this stupid again. I turn the key….Thank you, God….the car starts.

As I near the end of the deserted road, I now have a signal on my phone. I call my garage for the first appointment available….after the trip to hell and back….I realize that my car might just need a little TLC after all.