Sometimes You Just Need a Man ......

...... or a very knowledgeable professional.

And yes, I realize I have probably set feminism back 40 years with that introductory title ...... but ......
I really couldn't care less.

I am a woman.
I am a stubborn woman.
When something breaks, I'm going to try to fix it.

I was like that even before Jim died.
Much to Jim's chagrin.

I can do whatever I set my mind to.
Mostly.
But I've managed to learn a few lessons over the years.

When it comes to electricity, I was shockingly jolted to learn that I needed to call someone else to fix things.  Get it?  Shockingly jolted?  ROFL!!!  It's true.  I really was.  And it hurt.  Quite a bit.
Lesson learned.

So anyway ...... the last few weeks I have been dealing with this:

In case you don't know what this symbol is ...... I'll tell you.
It's a light in your car that indicates that the pressure in your tires is less than acceptable.
It's a perfectly annoying little light.
And it's been annoying me for over 3 weeks.

One weekend Son #3 and I left for Oklahoma, leaving my car in an airport garage.  When we returned to said car, that was the little light that greeted us.
I didn't think too much about it because the weather here was a little cooler than when we had left two days before.
And those tires are nothing if not sensitive little creatures.
Which means they are a huge pain in the butt.
Not like in the good ol' days when all you had to do was kick a tire to see if it was good.

Back to my story ..... we got home and that annoying light was on in my car.  And it stayed on.
And on.  And on.  And on.
But I, being the stubborn woman that I am, knew that if I waited long enough ..... the light would come to its senses (get it?  a sensory light coming to its senses?  Oh, I'm just too funny!)  ...... and go off.

Go ahead.  Laugh, if you must.
Poke fun at me.
It's all good.

Because the light did go off.
So there.
:-p

I drove around for another week, with no annoying tire pressure light bothering me.
And then ....... Son #3 and I drove back to the airport to go to Oklahoma for another football game.
And when we returned ...... you guessed it.
That stupid little light was back on.

At that point I was wondering if a band of wild gypsies were wandering around the parking garages, stealing the air out of tires.

But it really didn't matter how it happened.  It just mattered that something had happened.  Or at least had appeared to happen.
I drove the car around for a few more days, hoping for that little light to come to its senses (ha!!) and turn off.
But it didn't.

So I did what any normal, stubborn woman who happens to be widowed, or not, would do.
I took out the owners manual and looked up "tire pressure"
I learned that my tires should be at 32 psi*.

Then I went to a gas station and put a dollars worth of quarters into a machine so that I could air up the 4 tires.
And REALLY?!!!!  We have to pay for AIR?!!!!  Does anyone think that's obscene?!
But I digress.

The air lasted long enough for me to top off 2 tires.
And so I added another dollar's worth of quarters.
And finished airing up my tires.
I used my tire pressure thingee .... you know, that metal stick-thing that measures the amount of pressure in a tire...... to make sure that they had exactly 32 psi.  And they did.
I may not know what that thing is called, but I know how to use it, so there!

Then I got back into my car, turned on the ignition ...... and bam!  The light was still on.
And I was hacked off.

So I made a U-turn and went to another gas station.
And bought more air.  Again, an obscene concept.

So anyway, I put more air into the tires.  Checked them yet again, and found them to be at 32 psi.
I then turned on the ignition, hoping that the light would finally be off.
It wasn't.

I decided to keep driving the car, knowing that it would eventually go back to normal, and that damn light would finally go off.

It seems that I was wrong.

So I decided to take my car to a popular place here, and around the United States, that changes the oil in cars as their regular mode of business.

I thought about playing the "widow card", but I didn't.  I just pulled up to the back of the shop and told them that I needed help.  I explained what had been going on, that I had added pressure, but the light would not go off.

The young man who met me at the back graciously measured the psi and then put more air into the tires.  He then told me that it would take about 17 miles before that stupid, annoying, obnoxious little light would go off.

And so I hunkered down and waited for the day of glory to arrive.
Or for the day that the light went off ... which ever came first.

Guess what?
The light never went off.  Even after I drove it for another 120 miles.
What a pain.

After driving all of those 120 miles I decided to throw in the towel and give up trying to fix this by myself.

So I drove my car to a local car "shop".   I trust the man who owns this establishment.  And I trust the men who work there.
I told them what had been going on with the light ...... and they took my car to one of the bays, to examine it .... and its tires.

And here's what they found out.
It seems that my tires had been over inflated.  Well, of course they had.

However ..... it didn't matter at what PSI my tires were set.
Not at all.

Because my car is made by Toyota.
And Toyota does this wonderfully, irritating, frustrating thing ...... without telling their buyers.
They put a stinking sensor on the spare tire!  Yep, the tire buried in the back of my car.
Now really, who the heck is going to know to check the psi on their spare tire?!!!!  That's just crazy!

I have yet to send a lengthy, devastatingly heated email to Toyota.
But I'm composing it in my head.

Thankfully, the man who checked into my tires and the irritating light knew about the spare tire sensors.
I needed that man, at that point in time.
Because, really ...... I could still be driving around, hitting gas station after gas station, putting more and more air into those tires.
He saved me tons of quarters.  And tons of sweat while spending those quarters.

So another lesson learned.
When it comes to the tire pressure on my car ....... I will always check the spare first.
And go to a man when it comes to my car.

Sorry ladies.  But let's get real.
:)

Happy Monday, Peeps!

*pounds per square inch --- impressed?  You should be.  :)