Scary Lights

It’s sudden appearance drives many into a panic.  Others cry out in agony.  Everyone dreads it.  It’s ominous, glowing presence shakes the very foundations of our souls, haunting us even into the thereafter.  Spirit apparition? No.  Demonic ghost?  Worse.  The ex that got away?  Almost.  What I’m talking about has caused us all to worry and send a hurricane of butterflies to the pit of our stomach.  It’s…

The check engine light.

Yup, the grip that light has on us is tight and vengeful - invoking grey cloud worries to come hovering over you and more specifically, your wallet.  This past weekend the forecast was such and I knew that there was no way around it.  See that’s the tricky thing about that freakin’ light.  It’s like the girlfriend that chews too loud - ignore it for now at your own risk.  You know you hate the sound, but assuming that it’s no biggie and you’ll learn to get over it is an underestimation that would even have Goliath be like, “Nah brah, handle that.”  Because as time passes, the problem will fester in the back of your mind until one day you snap and end the whole relationship over some breakfast, while flipping over your bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios onto your new suede joints in the process.  In other words, let the problem linger and you’ll pay a higher price.

Which brings me to the dealership today.  I called beforehand and got an estimate on what the damage might cost me, with one silver lining being that if the problem with the car is a specific one listed under warranty, then they’ll take care of it at no charge, including the diagnostic run to identify the problem in the first place.  And there I was, hanging precariously on the scales of all things fair, dangling above the fiery consequence of a couple hundred bucks outta my pocket.  As I sat in the lounge/waiting area, not even browsing through Tumblr or lookin’ for a nice pair of slim cargos online was helping to get rid of my worry.  After about an hour or so, I was approached by one of the specialists at the dealership.

“Good news, Richard.  The repair we found that was needed to be done?  Covered under warranty.”

*cue a choir of angels going, “haawwwwwhhhhhhh”*

Not even a minute later, I get a text from my brother - “Hey, wanna get some sushi for dinner tonight?  Don’t worry about it, it’s on me.”

BOOM.  Great day so far, I’d say.  And for all that, I can only say…

Thank you Jeremy Lin.