Frodo's on the lam with Pippin and Sam
Nov. 28th, 2003 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kingandyToday was going to be a nightmare of logistics and extensive driving. I had to drop off Raj at the garage to have his brakes looked at, then walk home and drive my Mum's (unnamed) car to work, and then pick Raj up at some point - possibly after work - and then drive to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ghostbritain's house in Bolton for Adventure! tonight. At some point I had to work in a trip to my Manchester home to pick up a couple of DVDs that I plan to watch with zheers tomorrow afternoon. The whole thing was getting a bit elaborate and I was considering giving up the DVD afternoon as too much effort.
Luckily I am ill today. Stomach was a bit owie this morning, and legs were a bit shaky, so I called in sick. This means I have plenty of time to orchestrate my garage maneuvering, and even head home early and spend a few hours in Manchester (picking up my DVDs and eating Weetabix®) before moseying on over to Bolton. I am feeling a bit better now but (cough cough) not well enough to go in to work...
I took Raj to the garage because he was complaining about a terrible pain in his brakes. There seems to be a general tendency in car manufacturers to overload the handbrake light - it tells you when the handbrake is on and also when there's some kind of problem with the brake system in general. It has two symbols on it, (!) and (P), and you're supposed to know what it's trying to tell you using the power of your mind. You can rule out the handbrake if the lever is not up (though at first I was worried maybe there was a handbrake problem and it wasn't coming off properly) but otherwise you're on your own. The mechanic checked the fluid level on Wednesday and saw that it was good, so we booked Raj in for a proper check-up today.
Two hours later the mechanic rang me to say it turned out to be a brake light. I did notice that the lamp saying "brake light" was on too (and they came on at the same time, the first time I tried to brake after starting the engine), but I assumed this was a minor, concurrent problem. After all, surely a brake light being out was not worth lighting the OMG STOP THE CAR YOU'RE GOING TO DIE light also. And there was a special "brake light" light anyway. (The mechanic told me that he'd never seen them both come on like that before either.) So he changed the bulb and balanced the tyres (and looked at the brakes and suspension too, just in case) all for less than a tenner.
Sorted, respect due.
ghostbritain's house in Bolton for Adventure! tonight. At some point I had to work in a trip to my Manchester home to pick up a couple of DVDs that I plan to watch with zheers tomorrow afternoon. The whole thing was getting a bit elaborate and I was considering giving up the DVD afternoon as too much effort.Luckily I am ill today. Stomach was a bit owie this morning, and legs were a bit shaky, so I called in sick. This means I have plenty of time to orchestrate my garage maneuvering, and even head home early and spend a few hours in Manchester (picking up my DVDs and eating Weetabix®) before moseying on over to Bolton. I am feeling a bit better now but (cough cough) not well enough to go in to work...
I took Raj to the garage because he was complaining about a terrible pain in his brakes. There seems to be a general tendency in car manufacturers to overload the handbrake light - it tells you when the handbrake is on and also when there's some kind of problem with the brake system in general. It has two symbols on it, (!) and (P), and you're supposed to know what it's trying to tell you using the power of your mind. You can rule out the handbrake if the lever is not up (though at first I was worried maybe there was a handbrake problem and it wasn't coming off properly) but otherwise you're on your own. The mechanic checked the fluid level on Wednesday and saw that it was good, so we booked Raj in for a proper check-up today.
Two hours later the mechanic rang me to say it turned out to be a brake light. I did notice that the lamp saying "brake light" was on too (and they came on at the same time, the first time I tried to brake after starting the engine), but I assumed this was a minor, concurrent problem. After all, surely a brake light being out was not worth lighting the OMG STOP THE CAR YOU'RE GOING TO DIE light also. And there was a special "brake light" light anyway. (The mechanic told me that he'd never seen them both come on like that before either.) So he changed the bulb and balanced the tyres (and looked at the brakes and suspension too, just in case) all for less than a tenner.
Sorted, respect due.
the best warning light of all
Date: 2003-11-28 05:48 am (UTC)