Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Bottomless ... Lakes State Park, New Mexico
















I blew a headlamp, again, and only another Prius driver can appreciate my unique anguish. A YouTube video suggested"Just pay $100 to have it changed. It will take hours, and you need tiny hands." He had a bad attitude.

It's easy. First, lay out a pair of rubber or nitrile gloves, your new headlight bulb (type 9003), and a screwdriver.

Ignore the screwdriver and rip the one remaining pin from your engine bib with your hands.

Remove the air "purifier." Squeeze your tiny hand behind the headlamp. Don't try to look. Just use the Force, Luke. Unsnap the connection. Open a beer.  Let it drop into the engine compartment. Curse mildly.

Smile at a kind offer of help, and continue. Unscrew the rubber boot and slip off. Slip off your other rubber boot and proceed barefoot. Pull out old bulb, scrutinize for broken filament, set on engine. Put on glove, open new bulb, set it next to old, identical bulb. Curse mildly. Call for another beer, sit down.

Hour 2:

Slip new (???) bulb into bulbhole, gently spin to seat. Reconnect to confirm bulb is working. Cheer. Disconnect, work boot back onto bulb chamber. Work boot back onto bulb chamber. Work boot back onto bulb chamber. Curse mildly. Call for new beer.

Evening:

Decide bulb is not seated. Reseat bulb. Reset spring. Reset spring. Curse. Apologize to large family walking past. Offer them all a beer.

Work boot back onto bulb chamber. Work boot ... SUCCEED! Reconnect.

Morning:

Phone Toyota dealership, beg them to take $100.


We spent three nights at Brantley Lake State Park.


































We drove to Carlsbad Caverns to find that Texas was occupying it. When we saw the ticket line, we couldn't remember which of us had wanted to be there.

Vermont Chris traveled this way, and so I got to hang with her for a while.


On to Bottomless Lakes.


















Today was the UFO Museum. The Truth is Out There®




Authentic replicas of possible likenesses of putative aliens.















Roswell humor:








Not "autopsy," necropsy. I could no longer take this exhibit seriously. 




I have the feeling I meant to tell you something. I must have been neuralized.


14 comments:

SwankieWheels said...

You are so funny.

Evie said...

Your headlight story was way to funny, mom and I were rolling in the aisle. Bottomless Lakes looks interesting. Love your blogs.

Anonymous said...

Why not "autopsy"?

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

I've dealt with some nasty headlights in my time...Wait! That doesn't sound right...

I love Roswell! I feel like those are my people... my aliens?

Contessa said...

Great post....still rolling on the floor, laughing. Loved your shots of the Roswell museum, very creative. While parked in their lot, out RV jacks started going up and down, repeatedly. Scary to say the least. We just hit the gas and got out of there.

Maura said...

You had me laughing! Great post

rhondalyn said...

Girl! Love that red polish! And the rest of it all...:-)

JO said...

You need to set up a roadside head lamp business. LOL but hey nobody can say you didn't try and make it work, boots and beer seemed to do the trick.

Al Christensen said...

Bottomless Lakes is nice this time of year, before all the families show up to go swimming. I didn't enjoy Brantley Lake. I think it's the fly capital of NM.

As for the headlight, I think it was the first thing on the assembly line and the rest of the car was built around it.

The Good Luck Duck said...

Al, we must have gotten to Brantley at a decent time. I have felt that way about other NM parks at certain times of year (Storrie Lake flies began my descent into madness. Prius headlamps keep me falling).

Jo, that's just a brutal way to earn a living.

Lol, Rhondalyn - thanks! I like to tart up the auto repair.

Thanks, Maura!

Contessa, I would have abandoned the RV and escaped on foot.

Haha Cyndi! I like Roswell, too. I'd like to spend more time here. I'm at the awesome library right now.

Q! Good to see you. Not an autopsy, because it's being done on another species.

Thanks, Evie and Swankie!

Jodee Gravel said...

Most excellent auto repair instructions! I'm sure the family took the other route around the campground next time....... We'll be in Roswell next week to pick up Bill's mom for a family reunion. They tell me it's in Ruidoso and that I'll remember everything.....uh huh.

Nickie and Jim said...

What a disaster ... having a burnt out Prius headlight. I'd be surprised if your hands weren't bloody and scared. I heard words out of Jimmy's mouth that I didn't know he knew!! But HE WON! He also had bloody and scared hands.

The Good Luck Duck said...

Jodee, I'd offer to remind you of what you've seen, but They would just neuralize me again.

Nickie, I've done funner things. I'm happy to report that the right side is easier than the left.

MFH said...

The story I heard was that the (male) aliens' gonads (all three sexes) were so much larger the guys' egos couldn't take it. Plus, they being such small folks, it'd have put a real hole in the sock of Darwinism and !!SCIENCE!!.