03-18-2007, 10:54 PM
So Mrs DM and I were just revelling in our new car bliss and just today, her 2006 Civic wouldn't start. It failed to start yesterday at West Oakland Bart, so I lifted the hood to get the engine some air, and it started. This morning, again, no start. Figures, it just friggin figures...
Anyway I rescheduled my day to take Mrs DM to and from work, which wasn't that hard on a Sunday since all I had slated were errands and my weekly visit to my folks. I was eager to show off the new ride. My dad was very surprised and delighted, saying 'wow' repeatedly and nodding approvingly. Then my mom asked me to help with her Camry, as if I'm some sort of car expert. Some weird light icon is intermittently going off on her dash. It's a bird's eye view of the car, with lines coming out of its butt. I consult the manual to find that it's a warning light to tell you that your rear lights have burnt out - a light to tell you when another light goes out - man, those Toyota engineers think of everything. My mom says that it's been a problem once before, after a rain, and she recently washed the car, so she thinks it's something to do with the car getting wet. I check the rear lights and brake lights - they're fine. I consult the manual further and find a little note written by my dad - meaning it's over three years old - concerning this light being intermittent. Perhaps my mom just noticed it. Perhaps it just came back. I congratulate my dad on the sheer brillinace of leaving such a note and he nods nonchalantly. I tell my mom to ignore the light.
My father has made some progress. He can tell left from right. His responses are more and more appropriate, if you're careful enough to attend them. My mom says that he's following tennis and golf on tv much better, knowing when it's over and such. She even thinks he might have some limited reading comprehension now. On the flip side, he's had a lot of issues with incontinence, so he's bound to adult diapers.
Not sure what'll happen with the Civic. Monday is some sort of apocalypse according to ED (http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=730) along with a dentist appointment for my cub and both Mrs. DM and I are working. It's going to be a chaotic scramble, and I was so looking forward to a semi-normal week.
Anyway I rescheduled my day to take Mrs DM to and from work, which wasn't that hard on a Sunday since all I had slated were errands and my weekly visit to my folks. I was eager to show off the new ride. My dad was very surprised and delighted, saying 'wow' repeatedly and nodding approvingly. Then my mom asked me to help with her Camry, as if I'm some sort of car expert. Some weird light icon is intermittently going off on her dash. It's a bird's eye view of the car, with lines coming out of its butt. I consult the manual to find that it's a warning light to tell you that your rear lights have burnt out - a light to tell you when another light goes out - man, those Toyota engineers think of everything. My mom says that it's been a problem once before, after a rain, and she recently washed the car, so she thinks it's something to do with the car getting wet. I check the rear lights and brake lights - they're fine. I consult the manual further and find a little note written by my dad - meaning it's over three years old - concerning this light being intermittent. Perhaps my mom just noticed it. Perhaps it just came back. I congratulate my dad on the sheer brillinace of leaving such a note and he nods nonchalantly. I tell my mom to ignore the light.
My father has made some progress. He can tell left from right. His responses are more and more appropriate, if you're careful enough to attend them. My mom says that he's following tennis and golf on tv much better, knowing when it's over and such. She even thinks he might have some limited reading comprehension now. On the flip side, he's had a lot of issues with incontinence, so he's bound to adult diapers.
Not sure what'll happen with the Civic. Monday is some sort of apocalypse according to ED (http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=730) along with a dentist appointment for my cub and both Mrs. DM and I are working. It's going to be a chaotic scramble, and I was so looking forward to a semi-normal week.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse