Notes from Steve

On Saturday night, I was at a backyard concert in a hoop-dee neighborhood in Des Moines.  My car was parked on a side street close to the concert, and my fob was in the side pocket of the cooler I brought.  After the concert, I went back to my car to go home.  My fob didn't work.  "No problem," I thought - "I know how to get into the car without the fob - and it's probably just a little cold - I'll wait in the car for it to warm up."  The car alarm immediately went off the second I used the actual key to get into the car, and … wouldn't shut off for 10 minutes … prompting looks of assumed disgust from the hoop-dee-do neighbors.  I had no clue how to stop it.*  It finally stopped somehow.  I went home and YouTubed it, and supposedly, if you tap the dead fob by the starter - it starts and stops the alarm.  I keep thinking, "This would have been good knowledge to have when I bought the car … that and how to put gas in it"**. 

There exists this line of books, "xxx for Dummies."  I'm not a dummy when it comes to things like my alarm going off - no one knows this computer-fueled witchcraft.  I told my friends (post mortification Saturday night) that I preferred my Dodge Dart from 1974 because it could be jiggered with and didn't have a big screechy alarm because no one would ever think of stealing it***.  I could change the oil, add fluids ... I knew how to open the hood.  Anymore, it's none of my business to open the hood of my vehicle; it's too complicated.  

Ahhh, simpler times.  I have a lot of things I want to be more informed on.  I need to make a new list.

*I asked this guy who was parked in front of me, and he just shrugged and ignored me.  This wouldn't happen in Clarion. People help in small towns.
**My new Jeep - I always get the same model because I have no desire to learn new stuff - changed everything, and I couldn't figure out how to put gas in my new vehicle; I had to call the dealership. They didn't know either.  (No more button to push to open the gas cap - you push the cap … old school.)
***It ended up rusting into a pile of dust.