Noteworthy News Items as found in the Local Auto Fixit

The snow is gone.
The strep is gone.
The rain is gone.

It would not be beyond the pale to believe that work should be back on schedule. The plan was to get up earlyish and hit the road...aaaaaand the car decides to idle rough. The engine still felt strong and I was able to take girl.imp to school, however the idiot light in the dash flared to life on the way home.

Something was wrong with the emission system. So I rolled into an 'auto fixit' joint (not that we have much choice in this area. There is SOMEWHAT PRICY, PRICY and GIVE-US-A-KIDNEY-AND-YOUR-FIRSTBORN-PRICY. I selected Somewhat Pricy.)

So I pointed out the specific warning light per the owners manual (thereby saving myself 1/2 hour of labor) and upsetting the staff. They apparently need the extra time and relayed this information along with their displeasure by making me sit for 1 1/2 hours to ge the car in to be checked (It took another 11/2 hours to fix, so I saved no time at all).

However I learned that this particular establishment is being asked by a customer to pay for $800 in damages because her car burnt to a crisp after they 'fixed' it. To be honest the customer was supposedly warned the work needed done. But I wasn't there then...

So while the staff bitched about the situation, cast asperations on the customer in general and feared the future (if only in the blackest most hidden part of their hearts), I sat and read Star magazine.

For those of you living in caves near mine. Here is 'news' we are missing:

• Angelina has lost a ton of weight recently
• Nicole Ritchey has her last name tattooed on the back of her neck. (Here's hoping her 'dates' can find it they forget her name before morning!)
• Jennifer Anniston has had a nose job
• Celeb watchers are reaally snarky about celeb clothes
• I still want to bathe in antisceptic when I see photos of Paris or Brittany
• Who is Kevin Federline and why is he newsworthy?
• Matt Damon wears lifts??
• There will be another Bourne movie! (yea me!)
• Did I really need to see Harry Potter's 'Full Monty'???