Busy day

The other day I noticed that my inspection sticker had the number 5 on it which is the state's way of telling me that my inspection sticker is going to expire at the end of May. I took my car to get inspected and was told that the side marker lights were burned out.

I went over to that crappy AutoZone store on Parker St. and waited in line with four or five of my closest friends for someone, anyone, to step up and run a cash register so we could pay for our goods and leave. After waiting for about 10 minutes or so, I remembered that there was another auto parts store just down the road. I put my light bulbs on the counter, walked out and headed over to Pep Boys. Not only did they have the bulbs I needed, they actually let me pay for them in a timely manner!

Once I got home, the fun really started when I discovered that changing the front running lights on a Volvo is akin to juggling boiling water while doing the limbo.

I had to remove numerous items from the engine compartment before I could even think about trying to reach the bulbs. Once I had everything out that I could take out, I had to contort my not overly large hand into a shape that most chimpanzees would find hard to replicate. Then I squeezed it into a space that was way too small for both my hand and the extremely hot component that I was not able to remove.

After branding the back of my hand, I was able to get to the bulb, remove it and replace it with one that works.

After that, I had to figure out how to replace all the crap I had removed. That took me a while but at least the engine compartment had cooled down to volcano temperatures so I didn't burn myself too badly.

The bottom line is that I was able to get my car inspected in time for me to then get changed into some fancy clothes and drive down to Avon, CT for my friend's wake.

⧫

I spent an hour or so at the funeral home talking to a lot of people about a lot of things. We all agreed on two things: Rich did not deserve what happened to him and we will all miss him.

I didn't get home until late and I didn't have a lot of time to find links. While I see if I can stay awake to watch an inning or two of baseball, you can click on the few that I did find:

• The Japanese need to step up their crazy game if they want to keep up with the Brazilians.



• Key phrase in this story: "...photographers can be a bit obsessive."



• Only in Florida.