Me and My Arrow

Look:

See it?

Neither did I.

How about now:



Still not sure?

How about we move outside the car for a better look:


Yup. That's me. Overdue for my safety inspection. Way overdue.

Oopsie!

Back when I was in the communist zone (Maryland), the state would remind me of any thing I needed to know, car-wise and law-wise. Such a considerate state. I miss my comrades.

Now that I am in the fascist dominion (Virginia), I'm on my own to keep up with the state-required safety inspection and, apparently, I lack the basic skills to check a sticker once in a while or put a reminder into my planner.

No problem, really. I've been lucky--nobody's noticed.

I take my car in for a safety inspection and...


Uh-oh.

I am unsafe!

The horror!

The shame!

Look away. I can not bare your disdain!

The mechanic hands me a post-it listing four items that need to be fixed. He says, "Don't worry, it'll only cost you another dollar."

Me: "It'll only cost a dollar to get all these things fixed?!"

He laughs: "No! It'll only cost a dollar to get it re-inspected once all these things are fixed."

Yuh. Such a relief.