The other day I spoke of “Widgety Thingies” in my blog. And that reminded me of a story. I told this to a co-worker the other day, and it had her in stitches the rest of the day. So, in hope of brightening your day, here it is:
Scott and I have OnStar on our pickup. I hope you know what that is.
So, we’re driving down Picacho a “couplathree” weeks ago, and I notice the “Check Engine Light” is on. Curious as to what might be wrong (we can’t afford much to be wrong with the truck, because we may be having to buy a new car to replace the Buick soon) I punched the OnStar button, and wait for an operator.
Soon an operator responds, and I explain to her what I’m seeing. “Certainly, sir, let me run a diagnosis…. Hmm. Let me put you on hold for a moment.”
Scott and I wait patiently for about 3 minutes. We’re nearly at our destination when she comes back online.
“I’m sorry sir, the readout isn’t entirely clear. But my associates and I agree that there’s something wrong with your…”
Wait for it…
“… Sparky Thingy. The guide says you should have it checked out in the next couple of days or your truck might not start.”
Sparky Thingy. I love the precision of this new age!
The next day, Scott takes our truck to our maintenance folks. The light has since gone out, and they get nothing in their diagnostics. “Call back and schedule an appointment.”
Several days goes by, the light is back on. I tell Scott he needs to get the truck looked at. More days go by. We fly to Omaha, and fly home.
Scott gets in the truck… it won’t start. Not a twitch. Not a chirrup. Turn key, nothing. So, Scott puts our charger on the truck, the read out is at 0. He runs it for a while, and sure enough, the battery charges to 12 V or more. He turns it off. As he watches, the readout starts falling. In less than 5 minutes it’s down to under 4 V. Damn Sparky Thingy!
Turns out, beloved readers, a Sparky Thingy is what we referred to in MY day as a battery.
Oh, and the “Widgety Thingy” is a WordPress plugin called “Publicize” Whodathunkit?
On The Road II 