Hey, Hooky Man!!!

Well, we took the Altima to CarMax (or is it Carmax?) this morning, waited a few hours, then learned that the problem is with the mass air flow sensor, which I think has something to do with either the flux capacitor or the hyperdrive unit (I'm pretty sure that a conky mass air flow sensor was the problem with the Millenium Falcon in Empire). The car is still warranted, so we won't have to pay the $600 it normally costs to replace said air flow sensor (good thing, too, since some of that theoretical $600 is already earmarked for the recently established "Buy Patrick A Palm T/X PDA" fund). Carmax also provided a rental car for the next couple of days while they wait for the air sensor to arrive from wherever it has to arrive from. A Chevy Cavalier. Sweet.

By the the rental arrived, it was after 10:00. After much consideration (not really), I decided I didn't want to say bye to my wife in the Carmax parking lot, then drive 2 1/2 hours to Lancaster in order to work for maybe 3 hours. So I came home. The Duracell site already knows I'm not comingin today, and they don't seem to have much of an issue with that fact, so I'm not worried about ruffling feathers. Besides, I have sick time and personal days, and today is definitely an appropriate occasion for using some of that time, so I don't feel guilty. Actually, that's a lie. I always feel guilty about missing work. Even though I know that the site will not suffer at all in my absence, I still feel like I'm letting them all down there. Because I am insane.