Moron of the Month - February 2017

No, this is not subtext and I am not dedicating a monthly moron designee to somebody in Washington.   Frankly, we all need a break from all the nonsense going in our country.

And, indeed, what really did annoy me the most this month was...well...a real rodent.   And just as the photo above suggests, my rodent was resting comfortably underneath my car hood.

Yes, I will explain.

I was due for a regular oil change and tire rotation at Culver City Toyota.   Sometimes I allow myself a little fun when I schedule these appointments and I time the servicing to a movie playing at the nearby Arclight.   Not this month.   I have way too much going on and I would sit in the waiting area for ninety minutes while the job was done.

Or so I thought.

I had barely settled into my seat when the service department rep found me.

"Can I show you something?"

Uh oh.

Now I'm happy he asked because my dad long ago told me to always look for myself when somebody was telling me about a car repair.  So this was good, even though I knew it would be bad.

This is what they showed me.

This is the reservoir tank underneath my car hood.   That's what holds things like anti-freeze and windshield wiper fluid.   It had been gnawed in four different places.

WTF.

Clearly I could see teeth marks and the service rep mentioned to me that there have been incidents where a rat or a mouse will take residence in your car.  And apparently, from my own research, car manufacturers are using some plastics that rodents and varmints like to use for chew toys.

All this would require a replacement part to be brought in.  That would take several hours and then sixty minutes more to install it.    So, my planned ninety minute visit actually had me tied up for the next five hours.   So, yes, I did go down to the Arclight for a movie and a lunch of some buttered popcorn.

Now all of the above had to have happened in my building's garage where my car resides 99.9% of the time.  So, after I paid my four hundred bucks (???!!!) to get this repaired, I went home and asked my HOA guy if there had been other sightings in our garage.   Nope.   But he did alert me that the next block had witnessed a major uptick in rodents due to the Century City mall renovation.   Terrific.

I checked on-line for solutions to this.   Friends told me to get moth balls and dryer sheets, etc..   But somebody who would know advised me to get a solution of peppermint oil and cinnamon oil to spray underneath the hood.  Naturally, such an item was available on...Amazon.

Okay, folks, so you can all grouse about Trump and Paul Ryan and Supreme Court picks.   For me this month, nothing has been more annoying and disruptive to my life than whatever camped out for a snack in my Toyota Highlander.

Dinner last night:  Had a big lunch so just a sandwich.