!@#$% Check Engine Light

During grad school and our postdocs we were a one car family. However, when we moved to the suburbs in Colorado, we had to become a two car family. And when we moved to Zürich, we happily became a no car family. No paying for a parking space, no maintenance, no insurance, no worries.

However, back in the U.S., we could survive without a car, but it might mean no ice cream or milk in the summer, because the grocery store is 2 miles away and the buses aren't reliable. Yes, there are grocery delivery services, taxicabs, and insulated bags, so a car is not necessary, but it sure makes life easier. Thankfully we only needed one car because Zürich Daddy Geek can use public transport (when it's on time) to get to work.

It had been many, many years since we shopped for a car. Back in 1993 when we were living in different states, I bought a car from a colleague of ZDG's uncle and ZDG's dad helped him buy a truck. After that we kind of just inherited cars from various family members. And beggers can't be choosers so you take what you can get.

And now we had to choose a car. But we decided to look for an older car on Craigslist. And who knew that there was such a glut of 2000 - 2002 Honda Civics out there. But first things first, we had to get a local bank account. Because no one is going to accept an out of state personal check. And unlike Switzerland, where ebanking between personal accounts is a piece of cake, it's not as easy here. So after a first weekend of preliminary test driving, we realized we better get some moolah out of our old accounts into an easily accesible location -- how about the credit union in ZDG's building?

Okay, now we can shop for a car. After a couple more test drives, we made an offer on a vehicle, the guy wanted cash (as in lots and lots of hundred dollar bills) and we arranged a handover. I drove ZDG to the handover spot and headed home to feed LGG dinner and ZDG took the car for another spin and took care of the paperwork and the seller drove off. And the car wouldn't start. And did I mention it is now pouring rain?

Fortunately, the seller came back after ZDG called him and gave him a jumpstart and ZDG got the car home. However, the next morning, the car still wouldn't start, so I went across the street to the handy dandy auto part store to buy a new battery for ZDG to install. And we also joined AAA.

Luckily, city hall is in walking distance, so I can easily register the car. Except that it needs the emissions tested, so they give us license plates and we have a month and half to get the emissions tested. Something else to do. And, oh yeah, maybe we should have the 60K service done. That was done last Thursday. (And they recommend changing the timing belt, but we're hoping we can go a little bit longer before we have to do that expensive maintenance). And then last night (Monday), the !@#% check engine light turned on.

So this morning I called the mechanic to drop the car off. The code said transmision torque convertor circuit (gulp), but we hope that it was just a fluke. They reset the code and took it for a long drive and so far so good. So please keep your fingers crossed.

In the meantime, I got some good walks in. The weather has been lovely, with blue skies, 70 deg, and a light breeze. So I walked 2 miles home from the mechanic's. Then 3.2 miles to the hosptial for a doctor's appointment, and then 1.2 miles to pick up the car. So I got to check out some more neighborhoods.

But life was a little less complicated without a car. Let's hope that I won't be writing about the car again any time soon.