Already Spoiled

I've got a fairly nice car. I like it. Quite a bit.

Its got an LED screen, like most newer cars, which posts information. You know, time and temperature, mileage - things like that. It also tells me when my wiper fluid is low, or my coolant needs filling.

Its kinda nice. Takes a lot of guess work out of the whole process.

Heck, I didn't even know I had a 'check engine' light.

Until tonight.

I'm on the way home from my mother's house, and this blinding orange light appears on my dashboard.

What the heck is that?

I, literally, lean forward in my seat and gaze at the dash.

Check Engine? Huh?

I look from the dash to the LED screen and back to the obnoxiously orange light.

What's up with the LED? It doesn't say anything is wrong...

I look back and forth several times while driving home.

Geez, how spoiled am I? I'm expecting my car to always self-diagnose its problems and display them for me in laymen's terms on my LED.

I remember, back in the day, where I had to figure out what was wrong with my car by looking under the hood. You know, actually checking fluids and connections and stuff. Or, by waiting to long to check these vital things, and solve the problem by the noise the car was making or the odor it was producing.

Like - Ah, the smell of burning oil.

Or - Ooooh, the squealing of the steering wheel when the engine is low on power steering fluid.

For some reason, tonight on my drive home, I realize I'm getting a little frustrated because I'm going to have to pop my hood and investigate on my own!

I'm hoping that I'm only low on oil, or something basic like that.

I'm wondering if the check engine light will go out when I fix the problem... or if my car will be irksome enough that there's some hidden switch that needs to be flipped to make this outlandish light turn off.

You know, the one that only the dealership knows how to turn off.

And they charge you $2132 to flip the switch?

Right.

Yay for newer cars. Yay for wonderful inventions which are supposed to make life easier.

Yay for the fact that it was pitch black when I got home, so I didn't pop the hood tonight.

But, no worries, that obtrusive light will not let me forget to look things over!

Go figure Angie and I had just planned to go out of town this weekend!

I think the car is smarter than I give it credit for!