We were on our way to Manhattan last night for a family dinner when *pop* ... my dash lights went out again. This double-plus ungood indeed seems to be an exact recurrence of the first time this happened, and sure enough, the tail lights were out too. We had to cancel our plans and head home... flashers or no, it strikes one as quite unsafe driving with no taillights. The BlueTruck has been an absolute rock in terms of reliability for the just under 50,000 miles we've owned her (actually, as irony, and financing would have it, we've actually only owned it outright for a small recent portion of that time), but our faith is starting to waver here... we previously had a car that suffered from an electrical glitch that wasn't cleared up after a half-dozen shop trips, and this (registration required) Tech Bit from last night indicates we are not completely off-base in our fears about chronic problems.

As if the fates were intervening, they were just putting a recent-model used Honda Accord in the front of the lot, which just sat there as if it were saying: 'look how reliable I am!' We may just have a trade-in in our future.

R.I.P.: German Boxing Legend Max Schmeling Dies (thanks Mike Martinez), Actor Ossie Davis Found Dead in Hotel (thanks Ian), and last but not least, John Vernon, 'Animal House's' Wormer, dies (thanks John). Mr. Vernon was also in one of my absolute favorite movies of all time, The Outlaw Josie Wales.

Play time:	Bear & Cat. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Thanks Spiders. Another rendition of the Infocom classic.
Links of the Day:	Google (Klingon). Thanks Dave. Playing mobile games with buildings.
Stories of the Day:	3 Million Missing Nickels Found. Thanks porp. Girls sued for delivering cookies.
Science!:	The Science Behind Making Steak More Tender.
Images of the Day:	Something Awful's Historical Inaccuracies (Part 2 of 2).
Media of the Day:	Jail Cam. Chevettes on Ice. As in Ice Racing Chevettes in Alberta. Thanks dakslf.
Follow-ups:	Volkswagen Drops Action Against Spoof Ad.
Thanks Mike Martinez and Ant.