Wow, That Was Dumb

So on Thursday afternoon my Check Engine light came on. Seeing as I’m at conference, this was a bit of a problem, as I don’t really have time to find a dealership, get the car there, find a way back, and deal with my car which I assume has a real problem. However, driving back to Hamilton from Windsor, a 3-4 hour drive, seems irresponsible and dangerous. I like my car, and I don’t want it to blow up, or die quietly on a busy roadside in the middle freaking nowhere.

So yesterday morning, I get up early, go across the city to the Toyota dealership, and drop off the car. The dealership has a Courtesy van that drives me over to the conference centre, and I’m only about half an hour late. Right around lunch, the dealership calls me and leaves me a message to get in touch with them, they know what’s wrong with the car.

Here’s the stupid part, the part where I curse:

My gas cap wasn’t tight enough, and that cause an emissions flag to be set on the car. The motherfucking gas cap. What. The. Fuck.

Here’s the part where I rationalize my spending $26 to have someone tighten my gas cap for me:

I’m super glad that the Check Engine light wasn’t a big problem, that I didn’t have to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars to fix, and that would leave me stranded in this boring city for weeks on end. But! I am a little bit embarrased that my big car drama is because I only turned the gas cap two clicks instead of three. Also, I don’t like that fact that if this flag gets tripped again, and I go tighten the gas cap, that won’t un-trigger the flag, and I will have to go pay another $26 to the dealership. What a scam.

I would love it if my car’s computer was smart enough to talk to me, like KITT. In a British accent. And when I did something moronic like this, it said, “Hey moron, you aren’t smart enough to drive a car. Please try again.” That would be a more useful message.