Brakes, blinkers, Google, and guns

Some things I done did learned last weekend:

  • The brake lights on our 2005 Toyota Siena have a double-filament bulb. This is important.
  • The blinker bulbs are single-filament. This is more important.
  • Blinker bulbs go on the top and brake bulbs go on the bottom.
  • When I ask either of my sons to press the brake pedal to test out the installation of the brake bulb they will invariably ask, "Can I press the gas pedal now?".
  • If I answer "No" once I will have to repeat it the next time they come out as they will either have forgotten that they asked the question, forgotten the answer, assumed that I may have changed my mind, or want to annoy me.
  • In an attempt to silence the Inquisition-esque inquiry about pressing the gas pedal I realized that I can adjust the mirrors on the van to test the installation of either bulb as long as I take the bulb housing out of the van and hang it at a precise angle.
  • Taking the bulb receptacle out of the van and hanging it at the right angle causes me to lose its orientation and, hence, which bulb goes where.
  • The single-filament blinker bulb should not be placed in the receptacle designed for the double-filament brake bulb even though it fits rather nicely into it.
  • Pressing the brake pedal when the single-filament bulb is in the double-filament receptacle causes a fuse to blow.
  • I don't like the feeling of seeing no brake lights come on when one of my sons presses the brake pedal.
  • I considered letting one of my sons press the gas pedal sending the van through the back of the garage when there were no brake lights lighting upon pressing the brake pedal.
  • Not seeing brake lights when pressing the brake pedal (due to a blown fuse) will cause me to insert and reinsert the brake light so many times that one will break.
  • It is impossible to depress the brake pedal and take the car out of park to pull it into the garage (with a blown fuse). This will cause a very familiar autonomic response that accompanies big-time screw ups.
  • Google told me that my brake-pedal-stuck-shift lever issue was due to a blown fuse. Or something more catastrophic.
  • There are fuse boxes all over the place in the van. One of them has extra fuses in it.
  • Blown fuses are easy to spot. So is my butt when attempting to replace the fuse in the box located under the dashboard.
  • The supplied fuse puller is nowhere near as effective as a pair of needle nose pliers. But they are more inert.
  • Seeing brake lights where there were previously none can make a grown man cry. Or engage in celebratory gunfire.

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