Tuesday, February 9, 2010

And Then There was Light!

A month or two ago I got into my car, turned it on, and realized that I couldn't see my gas gauge or temperature gauge in my instrument panel.

I asked about it when I took my car in, but was told that to replace the light the entire dash would probably have to be taken out. Being not made of money, and having a perfectly nicely functioning dome light, I decided I really didn't need to have it fixed.

So I've been driving around with no light behind those two gauges on the far left of the panel for the past while. It's mostly okay -- although I frequently seem to want to check my gas level when it's dark out. And... Well... In the winter it does seem wise to be able to tell whether the car has warmed up.

And then, tonight, after spending half an hour or so re-clearing the driveway after the plows had filled it in, again, I hopped in my car to go to a movie.

The sun was down by this point, and I needed to get moving. I turned on the car. Started it up. Popped it into drive. And checked to see that I had just over a half tank of gas.

It was about half a block before I realized that I could see the gauge. Just as bright as any other lights in the dash. And I could see it!

Driving home from the movie tonight, I probably looked at those two no-longer-dark gauges about every half block. It's amazing how much of a change just a little light can make.

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