Yesterday, the weather folks predicted fog for Friday early a.m., and I thought “well, the fog is usually never that bad in my neck of the woods so I won’t worry about it”, despite the fact that I had a list of errands I hoped to accomplish, after taking a long walk, since my boss was out of the office all day today.

Well, their prognostications were right on the money, because when I peered through the peephole prior to setting out on my walk, the street was cloaked in fog. When it cleared somewhat, I set out on foot, determined that my walk would not be missed due to a little mist.

But, walking past Ford Park was a little eerie – the tall, dark and hulking trees seemed to rise up in the misty morn as you could not see the base of their trunks. The fog gave me an uneasy feeling, so I did an abbreviated walk, then hurried home to get the car, not that I was looking forward to driving in that pea soup, but I had an appointment to keep.

I was scheduled to be at the car dealership regarding a recall that issued way back in November 2014, but … first, there was no “fix”, then the “fix” was found, then soon thereafter, the parts were flying off the storeroom shelves as everyone rushed to get the recall issue fixed. Finally, they have a good supply of them so I made an appointment.

I wasn’t too worried about the running lights problem, since I rarely, if ever, drive in the dark. The recall was to fix those running lights that sometimes failed, easily fixable by replacing the fuse.  The entire procedure took longer to write-up and print out, then to replace the fuse, which didn’t even require moving the car out of the service intake area.

Of course, I had to regale the Service Department guys with the tale of my Buick Regal, and how its mushy horn pad caused me to pull the horn fuse from the fuse box every single time I was not actually driving the car. I had a huge cardboard sign that said “FUSE!!!”, which I left on the passenger seat so I would not forget, lest I be shopping and hear the horn honking madly out in the parking lot.

It happened several times – at the mall, or, sometimes in the middle of the day, or night, out in the garage, all by itself.

So, that was my hack – my “go-around” to resolve the issue, and it worked well for many years. The fuse box was located in the car’s glove box, and, the horn fuse was very tiny and my long nails and/or the fuse puller caused me to sometimes drop the fuse on the floor, where it quickly embedded itself under the carpet, or it would disappear  into a dark area below one of the front seats.  I always had to have a canister of extra horn fuses handy, just in case my fingers weren’t so nimble, like on an icy cold day.

Finally, a friend of the family suggested I try a local mechanic and see if they could provide a simpler solution – they did, and affixed a button onto the area where you’d normally honk the horn. I prayed that I never got into a situation and got flustered and forgot where that tiny button was.

Of course, the service guys also had a laugh about the low mileage (3,677 miles) for my car which I bought new from that dealership in September 2009.

By the time we were done with the new fuse and paperwork dispensed, I drove off with a wave, and mercifully the fog had disappeared. One by one I ticked off the items on my list as I stopped here, there and everywhere, before finally arriving home.  I was happy to scurry into the house, worn out from the stifling heat and humidity that made me feel as though I would wilt, but happy to have gotten everything done in one fell swoop.

I leave you with this quote …

“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

[Image by Mario Schultz on Pixabay]