Dumb Blonde Learns About Fuses

1) Dumb Blonde goes to get her car inspected for tag renewal. Inspector says he can get no power under steering column to run test. Fuse that controls cigarette lighter must be blown and needs to be replaced.

2) Dumb Blonde goes home and gets out owner’s manual, looks up fuses in index. Good grief. Why does it have to be so complicated?

3) Dumb Blonde figures out fuse to control cigarette lighter is on passenger side. Finds fuse box and pries door open.

4) Huh? Dumb Blonde can’t make heads or tails out of what she sees. Looks at owner’s manual again. Finally, a light comes on in Dumb Blonde’s head as she sees how diagram relates to what is actually there. She identifies fuse that powers cigarette lighter and tries to pull it.

5) Fuse won’t come out. Dumb Blonde tries others. They won’t come out either. Dumb Blonde looks at owner’s manual again. It says "remove fuse with fuse remover found in fuse box under hood."

6) Dumb Blonde opens hood and props it up using rod (she learned how to do this on a previous adventure, "Dumb Blonde Learns to Check and Add Oil"). Using diagram in owner’s manual, she finds fuse box. Can’t get it open. Dumb Blonde reads owner’s manual again and finds out how to open fuse box, opens it and locates fuse remover.

7) Using diagram in owner’s manual, Dumb Blonde grasps fuse and pulls. Fuse comes out. She compares it to the diagram of blown fuse in owner’s manual. It looks good to her. But that means the problem isn’t solved.

8) Another light comes on in Dumb Blonde’s head. "Maybe I’ll just check the cigarette lighter and see if it works." She checks, and the car doesn’t have a cigarette lighter, just an electrical outlet. (Smart Dumb Blonde doesn’t smoke, so she has never noticed this before.) She has nothing to plug into the outlet to see if it works.

9) Dumb Blonde goes to O’Reilly Auto Parts, again removes fuse, and shows it to patient employee at O’Reilly. He says it is fine (so Dumb Blonde was right about that). Employee asks another employee what the problem could be. He doesn’t know so comes outside and runs a diagnostic test on the car and says there is no problem, try inspection again. Maybe they just didn’t know what they were doing.

10) Dumb Blonde goes back to Dumb Inspection Center and passes inspection. (Just to get if off her chest, she tells inspector that she didn’t pass the first time and nothing has since been done to repair her car.)

So Dumb Blonde has learned where her fuses are, how to remove them, and what a good vs. a bad one looks like. She would like to thank the friendly people at O’Reilly Auto Parts in Hermitage for their help and give a big "thumbs down" to the people at the Metro Inspection Center for sending her on this wild goose chase.

P.S.: If you’re wondering why Dumb Blonde’s husband didn’t help her with this, it is because she is very bullheaded and didn’t ask him to.