It is another beautiful, clear night in the Hawkeye State. I'm watching football, Nebraska is trying to come back against Virginia Tech. The weather is still warm here, but signs of fall are everywhere. Today, for the first time this year, I saw a combine harvesting a field of soybeans. I went fishing this afternoon, by myself this time. I went to my favorite pond, out in the country. As always, I was completely by myself there, except for lots of deer. The fishing was not great, but mostly because small fish would bite all of the soft plastic off my lures before any decent-sized fish could see them. The water was calm and clear, so I could watch it happening. Anyway, it was relaxing, and the sunset was beautiful.
This morning, we were heading to the farmer's market, but got sidetracked by yard sale madness, and a hunger for fluffy biscuits. Today's yard sale bargains were a Craftsman gas leaf blower/vac and a Swiss-Bob sled, complete with a Salt Lake 2002 logo. We went and played at a playground near our house for a while.
"hey, Daddy, maybe you should put down the camera and catch this pass!"
When we got home, my new mass-airflow sensor was in the mailbox and it was time to fix the Nissan. It's an interesting story of 21st century car repair. Some time ago, the "service engine soon" light came on. After a while, the car began running a little bit funny. This is where the internet shows its real value. I found an engine-code reader on e-bay and ordered it. When I hooked it up, it gave me a specific trouble code. I looked up the code online and then read in forums about people who had the same problem. It was clear that the problem was with the mass-airflow sensor. I found some instructions for cleaning the sensor, which solved the problem... for about 6 weeks. Last Monday, I was merging onto I-35, up a steep, short on-ramp, and the car went into "limp mode" (really, that's what it's called). It was terrifying! I somehow got the car home and parked it in the garage. I found the part online for a fraction of what it would cost locally, and today it was in the mailbox. The new sensor completely fixed the problem. Overall, it was an easy fix!
Next weekend, we are heading to Kansas City! We are going to the American Royal BBQ Contest, the biggest contest of all. I am judging the open contest on Sunday, which has hundreds of teams (and hundreds of judges). It should be a blast, and it will be nice to get away for a couple days.
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