... And Now They're Gone!!!

The goddamndest thing.  So I was in total "fuck it" mode, and I was going to drive my car, with any and all indicator lights on, to work and back.  I would have to make time to bring it into the shop at some point, and so I was mentally preparing to ask my boss if I can come in late a couple days next week while those guys figure out why in the hell they made an oil change and those fucking lights still came on.

So yesterday/Friday morning I turn the car on and let it warm up while I scrape the snow and ice off the minivan in preparation for using that today/Saturday.  I get in and only three of the four that popped up both the night before and three weeks ago were on.  Specifically, the tire pressure, vehicle stability control and power steering lights came back on, but the check engine light stayed off.  OK.  Still in "fuck it" mode, I went to Caribou for the mocha and oatmeal I needed to get through my day.  Went inside, went back out, turned on the car again ... and all of the remaining lights stayed off once the car started.  And they have all been off since.

Phew ... I think.  I guess there's always a chance they can come back on, and the pessimist I am, I am half-heartedly expecting it as I drive the car through this weekend when the coldest weather of the year (it may not get above 0 Sunday and Monday) settles in.  But this spares a trip to the mechanic, at least for now.  This always brings up a question of whether those lights came on three weeks ago because of bad oil pressure and/or level, or if they came on because of something that has nothing to do with the operation of the car and more to do with the sensors for the warning lights.  I refuse to believe that the oil has gotten so bad over the course of three weeks that the car has to be brought in again.  Then again, unlike Thursday and yesterday, I turned on the car a few times three weeks ago and those four damn lights came up every single time.  Maybe the oil did need to be changed.  Or, maybe, there is some middle ground as to the reason those lights were thrown on -- that while maybe the oil needed closer monitoring, all the lecturing by the mechanic that I was totally riding the car too hard and stuff was a bit overblown when the sensors may act funny upon a downturn in temperature.  (I remember that, while this winter up till now has been very warm, the codes came on three weeks ago on a day the temperature plummeted into the teens.  I think it was in the teens Thursday evening when the codes came back on; it has been around that temp and colder since, and the warning lights are now off.)

I have plans to go out tonight, in the extreme cold, to a coffeeshop to try some Palestinian food, have some coffee and cake, and work on my receipts.  I will do so using my car which may or may not throw up codes again today.  Let's hope not.