Looks Like a Fish, Smells LIke a Fish, Must be a Fish!

I much prefer the archaic and antiquate “sniffer test” to The DMV’s OBDll emissions test. Ever since I bought my ’97 Nissan Pick Up, the “Check Engine Soon” light has been illuminated. This daunting yellow iris in the eye of my control panel will never let me forget “Big Brother” has his hands in my pocket. Each year when my state inspection expires, the hoop la begins. First the state said you must spend a mandatory $500.00 to the dealership or private mechanic to try to get the light to go out. Why do automobile dealers and repair shops deserve a “Farm Subsidy?” Is it because they are not growing enough cars? Has there been a drought this year? Are larger foreign car makers putting them of business? $500.00 is not chump change, and many an American can not afford the five C note price tag to have their vehicle pass the OBDll test. I’m sure that is the reason why the previous owner sold this truck. It is an “Inconvenient Truth” that you will have to shell out your hard-earned dough for nada. The dealership is the only place capable of interpreting the codes spit out by the car’s onboard computer. Even with the latest upgrade in diagnostic software, they often cannot figure out how to get the light to go out. Days pass and hours are spent, and yet that pesky light stays on. Over time the state dropped the amount to $250.00, but the mechanics at the dealership want nothing to do with “paying off” Uncle Sam. That is a mark on their reputation as a qualified, dealer-certified, Nissan mechanic. Hence day three passes and no success. I would opt to ride my bicycle, but the powers at be in Fayetteville, North Carolina consider that as a crime. Hellfire and Brimstone would ensue, if I happen to traverse the asphalt of Westwood Shopping Center’s or Eutaw’s black parking lots. I spent the majority of my recreational time as a kid there learning how to skateboard. The 7/11 on the corner was an oasis for neighborhood kids in the heat of the summer. How did I become a criminal thirty years later?