Smart Car

Shortly after returning from Africa, we bought a used car from Craig's List. The owner gave us a fabulous deal - thousands under blue book value...and nothing is wrong with it. In fact, he took excellent care of the vehicle and it should last us for many years to come.

One of the perks of this new-to-me vehicle is a sophisticated information panel in the dashboard. A few months ago it told me that my left, rear light had gone out. Wow, thanks for that information! I likely wouldn't have known until a police officer pulled me over and ticketed me - this was a much better way to find out. My handy-husband bought the inexpensive part and fixed it. The warning went away.

I have been driving all over the county in recent weeks for site visits at work. It has been a lot of fun for me to get out of the office, away from my desk, and be in the community meeting people.

Well, on my way back from a meeting the warning light went off and the information panel said "low tire pressure." I called my handy-husband. He found which tire was loosing air and then found a piece of metal lodged in the tire. We got the problem repaired for a whopping $12.10 by a helpful man at the Walmart tire and lube.

I was (and still am) so grateful for this sophisticated information panel. Why? The two days following this repair I was going to be on the road the entire day - traveling many miles. Kenyon was going to be at work, working 12-hour shifts (minimum) in another (but neighboring) county. What if my tire had blown? Kenyon could not have come to help me and the fix would have been much more expensive. I am told by mechanics that we would have had to replace all four tires because the vehicle is all-wheel drive and the cost would have been nearly $1,000.

That is an ugly alternative.

just Sheri, awed by the wonders of technology