December 15, 2003

• Rats!

  Last Friday I had a class at Oasis, held at the Robinsons-May department store in Mission Valley. My car was doing fine until I parked it. Then it started to idle so roughly the whole car shook violently. I had two stops to make on the way home, and the rough idling continued. In addition, at my last stop the "check engine" light came on.

  Engines on modern cars are about as hard to check as computers are and for much the same reason -- they depend so much on modern technology that only high-tech tools will work to diagnose their infirmities. About all I am capable of determining is whether or not there is enough coolant and lubricant, and neither of those seemed to be the cause of my problem.

  This morning I took the car in to the dealer. Just before noon I received a call giving me the verdict: rodents had consumed enough of the vacuum line to cause a loss of vacuum with the resulting problems. Rats or mice had gotten into my car's engine and were eating it.

  We had our first ever home invasion by mice this year, after fifty years at this location, and now rats or mice are attacking my car.

  I guess I'll have to start setting the mouse traps outside under the car now.

  • 18:29
  • 1 Comment