The sun gets lower, the moon gets higher and the weather gets colder. The swallows have gone. They light the fire in the pub. People begin to worry about turkeys. These are tell-tale signs to an experienced observer.
I have said it for a few years now, but I will say it again. People who should know better keep misusing the line from Shakespeare which goes, 'Now is the winter of our discontent...'
What it means is that the discontent has been through all the other stages represented by the seasons and has now matured into the final stage as represented by Winter. There are no regular 'winters of discontent' despite what the newspapers may tell you. The winter of 1978 may have been a time of general discontent, but I can almost hear Shakespeare banging his head against the table,
I have just spent £250 getting the problem sorted out on my car. They pulled out a fuse and left it out. If I knew that there was a dedicated single fuse which could be removed without altering any of the car's other functions I could have done it myself six months ago. A little knowledge is an expensive thing.
I know a lot of people who would not admit to an ignorant blunder such as the one I made yesterday. They will talk freely about an upcoming event of the next day, but when you ask them how it all went they mumble something and change the subject.
I have been talking about the problem which needed fixing on the car for months. People would ask me why I had not got it fixed and I would explain that alarm problems on cars could only be fixed by a rare and expensive specialist know as an automotive electronics engineer.
Every garage I went to told me this because they were scared of alarm systems, so I let the last one I visited spend a couple of hours diagnosing the fault and tracing it back to the alarm on their own. No hint of a prognosis from me for fear of frightening them off.
This is how the conversation went at lunchtime when I returned in the car:
How did it go?
Ok.
Have they fixed it?
Yes.
Was it what you thought it was?
Yes. (Note the lack of self-congratulation for being such a clever boy)
How did they fix it?
They took the fuse out.
They what?
They took the fuse out.
Couldn't you have done that yourself?
I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT, OK?!
Update:
I went to the car just now. It wouldn't start. The battery had died overnight.
Taking out the Fuse is not a fix mereley a stop gap measure surely ?
ReplyDeleteNot even a stopgap.
DeleteSounds like you should do a Youtube video of the fix, for the benefit of others!
ReplyDeleteSee the above update.
DeleteOn my last car the glove compartment light drained the battery. Until I worked out what the problem was I spent ages looking things up and even bought a new battery (which would probably have been needed sooner or later anyway). Eventually I identified the cause, couldn't correct it, so simply removed the fuse. Problem solved. I put it back in three or four years later, half an hour before I took the car to webuyanycar.com.
ReplyDeleteIf only my problem was so easy to identify. See above update.
DeleteTom you are a dear - you brighten my days.
ReplyDeleteAh, good. I was thinking you deserved a laugh, even if it is at my expence.
DeleteHas the alternator light been coming on when it shouldn't? I suppose you would have spotted it if it has and you know what it means, I feel like I am walking on eggshells.
ReplyDeleteI wish it was that obvious.
DeletePerhaps you really need a new battery. You haven't said whether you have explored that avenue or not.
DeleteOf course I did. It is the very first thing you check. I'm an idiot but not that stupid.
DeleteAs I have no idea how to check a battery my experience of this is that when the battery is regularly flat I have thought how many years it may have been in, had a cursory look at the terminals, and then bought a new one.
DeleteIf you have no idea about how to check a battery you get it checked by someone else. They have the equipment, you know.
DeleteOh, and the first thing I learned was that my battery is fine.
DeleteDamn. This is why I hate cars. My neighbor leases a Tesla and so far, so good. No problems.
ReplyDeletePetrol cars are 25% efficient at the best of times and Teslas go from 0-60 in under three seconds.
DeleteI think as always this post of yours is not just about the mechanical problems of the car. It has, as always, other layers that are interesting to discover, but I will still tell here that with us the insurance no longer asks for an alarm system or any code for the car. Things got simpler.
ReplyDeleteWith us the insurance companies say that taking the alarm out is a good excuse for them to call your insurance invalid. I will never be able to sell that car.
DeleteA winter (or at least a September) of discontent indeed
ReplyDeleteI have had 2 years of discontent.
DeleteArgh!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMy car is reading Compass Data Error. I googled how to fix that. It involves pushing radio buttons and then driving the car in slow circles until I get a directional reading. Have I done that yet? No....
It is easier t0 walk around in circles with your phone to fix the compass on it. These clever gadgets are fine until they go wrong or get old - or both.
DeleteSometimes I´m glad I don´t drive anymore.
ReplyDeleteI usually enjoy driving. It is another escape inside your own personal Faraday cage.
DeleteI lost my lights in the dark Pocono mountains in PA. I pulled off, found a gas station and the clerk changed the fuse in my glove box. Yea, lights. I got back on the interstate, and the first time I could change to brights, I lost the lights again. No more services available, so I pulled off and spent the night in an empty lot. Drove home the next day and took the car to the dealer. It took the a couple of days to find it: the other fuse in the turn signal, which also was the high beam activator.
ReplyDeleteToo many secrets in cars these days.
The old circuitry was sometimes exasperating, but usually pretty simple. These days you need a computer to find out what's gone wrong. Everything runs off senders, communicators and other invisible gizmos.
DeleteUiii, no good news, your update. Hope they find what has caused the dying of the battery.
ReplyDeleteIt's going back to the diagnostics on Monday.
Delete