My Car's Thermometer

Every car develops some personality over time, but most of the time that means they're working worse. But in my case, my car actually developed a built-in thermometer all on its own. It can only tell the difference between below freezing and above freezing temperatures, but it's a start. Here's how it works: if the ABS warning light is on, the temperature is above 0°C, and if the light is off the temperature is below 0.

This started last year in the spring. I thought I might want to get my anti-lock brakes fixed before winter came, but the day the first significant snowfall came, the warning light stopped turning on and the anti-lock function on my brakes started working. (By the way, with the ABS light on, my brakes are still fine, they just don't do the anti-lock thing. If the light was blinking, then I'm in real danger, but that hasn't happened.) They worked for most of the winter and maybe stopped working for a while during a thaw. For the part of spring when the temperature was below zero at night and above zero during the day, the warning light would be off on my drive to work and on on my drive home.

Now I know what you're thinking: if ABS isn't working for half the year, my car is getting worse, not better. But who needs ABS when the temperature is above zero?