I have a friend named Ben. He’s in his 70s, is retired from a successful career, and leads a busy, fulfilling life. He’s endured a couple of health setbacks during the past 10 years, including a cancer scare, but he has bounced back well. When we chatted recently, he asked, “Dave, how’re ya feeling?” Fortunately, I was able to give him a positive reply. He followed up with, “That’s good, but pay attention to your ‘check engine’ light.”

Of course that made me think of my car. A few decades back, I would ride in the front passenger seat of a TV station news car, driven by a photographer. I noticed the “check engine” light was always on, day after day. I finally asked him about it, and he said his dad had always told him to “ignore those lights.” That made sense to me, because dads know everything about cars.

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David Carroll, a Chattanooga news anchor, is the author of “Volunteer Bama Dawg,” a collection of his best columns. You may contact him at 900 Whitehall Road, Chattanooga, TN 37405 or 3dc@epbfi.com.

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