If the check engine light has been coming on, take the car to AutoZone or one of the other big auto parts stores. Tell them the check engine light is coming on, and ask them to use their code reader to tell you what code the check engine light is throwing out. If it's "fuel too lean" or "fuel too rich," the problem is a dirty MAF sensor, which you should be able to pull out yourself and clean with rubbing alcohol on a Q-tip.

Thanks, Tep. That's very useful information. But Liese also has me fearful now of being berated in Albuquerque.

I know! No one expects Albuquerque beration! But you're probably in little danger. We changed ours. And for what its worth, it's run like a charm ever since.

I can usually see their wifi network from my bedroom

How strange the world has become.

Thanks, Tep. That's very useful information. But Liese also has me fearful now of being berated in Albuquerque.

I totally get that. You gotta do what you're comfortable with, definitely. Since I don't know a ton about what's under the hood, the check engine light made me hit up Google before taking it to the mechanic, because I wanted to know the realm of possibilities so they couldn't tell me the kerflarndoodle needed a new fribbitz. I wanted to be able to have some idea whether they would be treating me like a dumb blonde, or whether they'd be straight with me.

And that led me to a lot of info about the MAF sensor, so I figured I might as well try pulling and cleaning it, since it cost me nothing but time (take it to Auto Zone, get the code read, take it home, double-check the manual to be sure what I was pulling out was the right thing, pull it, clean it, let it dry, put it back in). It was easy and it worked, so that was cool. If it hadn't worked and the engine was still missing when I accelerated, at that point I would have turned it over to the mechanic.

And I don't know if Hondas are similar to Toyotas with the MAF sensor/O2 sensor thing, but some googling about civic hybrids and the MAF sensor leads me to believe they are.

All that said, I reiterate: you gotta do what you're comfortable with. If you feel more secure knowing the dudes who work on cars all day every day have gotten under the hood and fixed stuff up, that's what you should do. Because -- let me be clear -- the MAF sensor is honestly about the ONLY car maintenance/tinkering I've done. I take my car in for everything else, including oil changes.

My sister and I were talking about maybe seeing a show in Vegas while I'm out there at the end of the month. However, the show she wouldn't mind seeing, Rita Rudner, is over $60/ticket, and to my mind, that's three pairs of pants! I'd much rather go see a movie or something instead.

I'll be there a few hours before she gets off of work on Thursday the 28th, so I figure I'll probably get all my gambling done that afternoon while I'm hanging around the Venetian waiting for her to finish her shift. The rest of the weekend will be partially spent at her fitness center (I'm bringing my swimsuit), walking around doing some shopping, and then maybe checking out the Bellagio fountain show and the big light show overhead at that downtown shopping/gambling street (not the Strip, the other one). Those are both free and much more in my budget, especially if I watch what I buy at the stores.

Oh, Perkins and -t! I'll be emailing you both at your profile addys this afternoon re: plans for meeting you for breakfast on the 2nd before I fly home!

Kathy, Vegas is AWESOME for people watching. There is also the pirates at the TI (Treasure Island), the inside of the Venetian (with the gondola singers and an indoor rainstorm) and the volcano at the Mirage (all of that is center to the south side of the strip).

The Freemont Street Experience is very fun.

There's a crazy indoor show at Caesar's, too, I think? Just getting from place to place kind of takes forever, so it's pretty easy to kill time without spending money, if you can resist gambling!

The indoor rainstorm is so awesome. Cash showed me that.

Thanks to Buffistas genius hivemind, taking his health insurance premiums off of the DH's freelance business resulted in us owing NO tax. Yahoo!

Since I'll be at the Venetian that first afternoon, I'll definitely check out the indoor rainstorm--thanks! I've already seen the Caesar's, volcano, and TI shows years ago the other time I've been to Vegas, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the Bellagio fountains and Fremont Street (thanks for the name--I blanked out).

I think I can get my gambling fix out of the way that first day, then I can not worry about that the rest of the weekend. I'm only bringing a carryon with me, so I won't be buying too much stuff. If I can find it on sale, I do need more perfume (I'm almost out of DK Cashmere Mist).

Actually, I'm going to make sure I have enough room in my luggage for all of my DVDs that I'm going to be retrieving from my sister. Too bad if she hasn't watched them yet, because I want them back! She's got my Firefly/Serenity, first 3 seasons of BSG, Dr. Horrible, and a few others I haven't seen in eons. I've got my BIL's S1 Millenium that I've had for four years, but I am going to bring it with me.