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Smogged
19 May 2025
Today's accounts payable included vehicle registration renewal for the Honda, which has had the distinction lately of being the oldest vehicle in several funeral processions. Implying, perhaps, that we're next.
Smogged. iPhone 15 Pro Max back triple camera at 15.7mm, f2.8, 1/120 second and ISO 80. Processed in Adobe Camera Raw.
The car, no doubt, will outlive us. We paid $16,000 for it in 2000 and it still gets 34 mpg. Not only that but it looks younger than its years. And did this morning especially after we pressure washed it with Mothers California Gold Carnauba Wash & Wax (which also works well from a bucket).
Which is why the hexagonal overhead lights in the shop reflect so sharply on its upraised hood.
That pattern on the black hood with the flag on the wall and the neon sign screamed, "Take a photo!" So we did.
But sitting in the full little waiting room on the other side of the service desk's hole in the wall, we didn't haul out a big camera. Like everyone else in the room, we just took out our phone. Nobody even looked up.
So we got the shot (without even standing up).
And the quarter century Honda passed the smog test, too. Which meant we could pay for the renewal later at AAA, which is more convenient (and faster) than dealing with the DMV.
So later that afternoon, we applied the 2026 sticker to our license plate realizing we won't remember anything about today's escapade tomorrow.
Except we will remember with some pleasure the clerk at Star Smog Depot.
While we sat there for half an hour, everyone passed but one person. The clerk explained it wasn't that the car didn't pass the tests but that they couldn't get a reading from the OBD2 Readiness Monitor. He asked if the car hadn't been driven in a while. It hadn't. So, he suggested, drive it to San Jose and back, then go to an O'Reilly's to get a free monitor reading to make sure it's functioning and then come back. There is no charge for retesting, he said.
It was a remarkably sympathetic approach to his customer that almost felt like he had solved their problem for them. Just drive the car for an hour, have it checked out for free then come back for a retest at no charge. It would no doubt pass by the end of the day.
Talk about a breath of fresh air.