Check engine light (1)
The check engine light in my car keeps coming on.  This is what the book says:  "Empty fuel tank - If the fuel tank is empty, refuel immediately.  Loose fuel tank cap - If the fuel tank cap is loose, securely tighten it.  These cases are temporary malfunctions.  The malfunction indicator lamp will go off after taking several driving trips.  It the lamp does not go off even after several trips, contact your Toyota dealer as soon as possible."  Did you catch that?  Basically it says that the check engine light is stupid, so drive around for a while before you go to the dealer.  What's that about?  What if it's a serious problem?  It later says, "If the fuel tank is not empty or the fuel tank cap is not loose ... there is a problem somewhere in the engine, emission control system, automatic transmission electrical system, or warning light system itself."  Well at least it's not serious.  Oh wait, automatic transmission electrical system.  Hmm that sounds a little serious.  Engine?  Right.  Problems with my engine could be big problems.  Big friggin problems!  Toyota says, "Hey don't worry about it man.  Just walk it off."  I'm not sure I'm comfortable with their relaxed attitude towards major vehicle malfunction. #travel

AM radio (1)
No, this isn't about that catchy pop tune by Everclear.  I'm talking about Amplitude Modulation radio.  I listen to AM radio in my car sometimes.  I try to become a little bit informed, instead of filling my head with the same old classic rock tunes.  But AM radio gets annoying sometimes.  A lot of the talk show people do their own commercials.  So they'll be talking about something that's happening in the world, and then in the same sentence they'll say something about their wife trying something called Shaminy Esoteak.  What the heck is that?  And the "good ones" do it seamlessly, without even the slightest hint that you're listening to a commercial.  Like Paul Harvey.  I like him because he has interesting things to say.  But he always talks about this thing called ocular degeneration.  If I was a normal person, I'd have no clue what the heck he's talking about.  But I'm a super-genius, so I know he's talking about eyes.  I also think it's a little annoying that I can hear 10 minutes of commercials in a row during my 11 minute drive to ShopRite.  So then I go back to filling my head with the same old classic rock tunes. #entertainment

Old
My checkout person at ShopRite yesterday was an old lady with a wrist brace.  I felt bad.  She's probably been alive since the Great Depression.  She probably still hates "rock and roll music".  She probably has children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Her husband probably retired before the bicentenial of our country.  She probably watched the first and last episodes of MASH.  If she lived in Arkansas, she probably worked for Sam Walton's Butler Brothers store.  But now she's working at a ShopRite in Dover, NJ for something close to minimum wage, and she has a bum wrist.  So I tried to be nice to her.  I said hi, which is actually an uncommon thing to do.  And I wouldn't let her carry my 30-lb box of kitty litter. #psychology