Blue

Entered my car to drive to C’s for the morning sitting and even before starting the car it made a horrible sound. Just depressing the brake was what produced the sound. Turning the car on, a very large, red warning icon appeared on the dash and two error messages turned up on the panel display. I retrieved the auto manual from the glove box to look up the errors, but found no easy guide to the error messages. Turned the car off and tried again. The horrible noise persisted. Turned it off and tried again. The actual operation of the car seemed unaffected, the brakes seemed to work. After a few minutes, the horrible noise stopped.

After the sitting, I felt the urge to get in the car immediately and see if anything had changed, but decided I might as well take my morning walk up Phinney Ridge just in case my car had other plans for the remainder of my day. Camera in hand, I made my way up the hill and back down, making nearly 250 exposures over the course of my walk. Even considering that many of these involved adjustments of aperture, ISO, and exposure inclination of the same subject, this volume of images is unprecedented.

When I returned to my car, I found it in the same state as before – operational but with a glaring error condition prominent on the dash. Drove it home, called the dealership, and made an appointment for mid-morning. A SustainableBallard phone meeting slipped in the small window before taking the car to the dealership.

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Home now awaiting word on the car. SustainableBallard is keeping me busy. That and a service call to my cell phone provider. (After reviewing my phone bill, I decided I was paying too much for such poor service. (When I am home, my cell phone has no coverage unless I leave it on the kitchen table. And even then, calls often do not come through.) So I have placed a service call to see if I can solve this problem. If not – at least be liberated from my contract to find a service that will work. )
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Called the dealership – and it seems they can find nothing wrong. I hope it was just an isolated fluke and not the beginning of problems. $110 is a bit much too pay to have them simply turn off the alarming red alert signal.

Tonight, I’ll be speaking (on behalf of SustainableBallard) to the Fremont Arts Council. These are the folks who put on the wacky annual Solstice parade – an event I have missed the last two solstices. They are something of an institution here and I confess to being a little apprehensive.