One Thing That Sucks
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (78761)
United States
January 24, 2023 5:03am CST
Perhaps it is a first-world problem of sorts? Of course, it is really just a minor inconvenience. Still, it sucks. Let's just be honest here.
As you know from my previous post, I will be headed off to Kansas for work and of course I have the work truck. There's nothing wrong with the truck except that it's got a bit over 300,000 miles on it and the check engine light (which is more of an idiot light than anything from everything we've been told) is forever on.
When the check engine light is on, the remote start does not work.
That's fine most of the time. But with this winter weather I will be running into, it now means I will have to sit in an ice cold truck until it warms up—which is a lifetime when you are sitting in the cold. And if there is any snow on it, which there may be, I won't be able to pre-melt some of that off the windshield before I have to go out there and start brushing and scraping.
I will be miserable in that.
I think what I am going to do is simply go out and start the truck and leave it unlocked and if someone steals it, I'll just call the boss to report it and deal with the consequences later.
Image is mine: My garage in the Blizzard of 2011 in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee. We weren't going anywhere.
19 people like this
14 responses
@lovebuglena (43077)
• Staten Island, New York
24 Jan 23
Can't you turn on the truck and then go and wait inside a building for it to warm up?
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (43077)
• Staten Island, New York
25 Jan 23
@porwest that you did lol. Now I don’t know why I wrote that in my response.
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
27 Jan 23
@lovebuglena No idea. And no worries. I promise to not have you tarred and feathered.
@rebelann (111177)
• El Paso, Texas
24 Jan 23
Holy cow, that's a lotta snow. Boy am I glad we don't get that much here ..... I better knock on wood ..... My dad was a mechanic and always told me that whenever that engine light comes on to find a garage to check it out, engine lights don't come on for no reason.
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
26 Jan 23
I sell parts to ready mix trup mechanics and two of them hooked up their diagnostics and found nothing, so I am not sure what the issue is. Not my truck, not my problem. I just don't want to be stranded even if I would be stranded and still on the clock. lol
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (79731)
• United States
24 Jan 23
Not being able to remote start your truck sounds like a real pain when the weather is so miserable. I probably would start it and leave it running just to warm it up.
2 people like this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
26 Jan 23
In my own truck I use it all the time, especially during the winter and the really hot months. Nice to get into a warm or cool vehicle depending on the weather, and sometimes, especially in the winter, it's nice that a lot of the frost or snow is premelted and easier to clean up.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (79731)
• United States
26 Jan 23
@porwest remote start is one of my favorite features with vehicles these days.
@porwest (78761)
• United States
28 Jan 23
If I never see a blizzard like that ever again in my entire life you will hear no complaints from me whatsoever. lol
ESPECIALLY considering I did not have my snowblower when it hit. Ugh.
A snow blower by any name... If I'd have chosen to name my snow blower Lucille, I'd have found myself singing, "You picked a fine time to leave me." If anyone has been watching the news, there's no secret that a major winter storm just blew through...
@sharonelton (25013)
• Lichfield, England
24 Jan 23
That's very inconvenient and annoying I'm sure. Is there a way you can get the check engine light fixed?
2 people like this
@sharonelton (25013)
• Lichfield, England
6 Feb 23
@porwest Oh, dear. That is very mysterious. 
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
8 Feb 23
@sharonelton Indeed. Quite perplexing. lol
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
25 Jan 23
Wishing you luck. Perhaps the snow will not materialize.
2 people like this
@popciclecold (35103)
• United States
24 Jan 23
I sure hate it for you. You're right it sucks. Wish you the best.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118442)
• Gainesville, Florida
26 Jan 23
I’m glad I don’t live in that type of climate. I have trouble enough here in Florida on the 2 days a year where I have to scrape frost off of my windshield. Lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118442)
• Gainesville, Florida
29 Jan 23
@porwest I guess I can't complain too much. We usually suffer from the opposite here in Florida....where it is so damn hot out that your skin melts to your seat when you get in your car. I guess scraping ice off the windshield is nothing compared to peeling your melted skin off of leather seats in the summer.
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
31 Jan 23
@moffittjc lol. I hear ya. I DO agree the summers there can be unbearable. I'd prefer to just be a winter visitor.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (156157)
• United States
24 Jan 23
Definitely a first world problem. The older I get, though, the less I like to be inconvenienced. I understand. Drive safely.
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (28512)
•
24 Jan 23
I traveled for work off and on for years, and it got rather old in the winter. I didn't really worry about my own driving, however I really was concerned about some of the other drivers. Evidently many of them were never taught that when it's snowy or icy, you MUST slow down. They take off like a shot and bang into each other and hit ditches like it's a smash up demolition derby.
Be careful. Or maybe, just change your mind and stay home?
1 person likes this
