Is it common for all kids to be know-it-alls?  I know I was.  It started in my teen years and continued into my twenty-somethings.  Drove my parents crazy.  And, now as a father, I see the same thing with my son.  He's smart and knows a lot...more than me in a lot of topics, so it's nice when Dear 'ol Dad can come through every once in a while.

His Honda Accord (well used) was having a periodic starting problem.  At first we thought it was the battery, which was old, so we replaced it.  But, the problem continued.  And it would stall him in unfortunate places.  Fortunately, it's a manual transmission, so a little push gets it going.

Last weekend, he was at Jantzen Beach and it wouldn't start, so I grabbed some tools and testing equipment and headed out to solve this problem.

There could be several causes: bad battery, bad relay, bad ignition and bad starter.

I put the tester on the starter and it had power.  I put it on the solenoid (the thing that makes the starter engage with the engine so it can start) and when he turned the key the tester light came on.  This told me it was probably the solenoid.

So, I told my son "Watch this high tech fix!"  I knew the solenoid was stuck,so I took a crescent wrench and tapped the solenoid three times and told him to start the car and away it went!  He laughed so hard.  It was nice to see that old Dad can pull one off every once in a while.

Engineers have been working for years to design a computer that would make a car drive itself. One group is in the process of driving across Europe. Now, Google has announced it is developing a car that drives itself.

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I'm sure the goal of having a car the drive itself would be to reduce accidents. That's fine. 

But, it raises some questions.  It just one more thing we don't have to do...don't have to think about.  Eventually, we won't have to think at all.  What happens when the computer fails?  They do!  And, maybe the best question of all...why is Google designing a car that drives itself?  Is Google going to become the gigantic corporation that does everything?  How big is too big?

With people who are out of work or worried about losing their jobs closing their wallets retailers are turning to products that help you save money as ways to get them to buy.

There's a rising demand for kitchen and bath gadgets that save money by getting the most out of products.  Such as items that get every drop of toothpaste out of a tube.  A another product that helps combine tiny slivers of soap.

Marketers say you can save money by spending money.

Retailers such as Wal-Mart and the Container Store are stocking up on these type of products.