02 February 2009

Not a mechanic

Changing a lightbulb on a car should be easy, but apparently, it is not, especially in the snow. I tried myself, no dice. I went to the garage, and they said they couldn't do it because it was broken. I tried again myself, no dice. Asked one of the teenagers at the car parts store to help me and presto! He did it, in the snow, for £5. Great attitude, too.

I looked at the mechanism for a long time, given that I tried to do it myself, and it all seems more complicated than it needs to be. That's my feeling about cars in general. When I was a kid, my dad always fixed stuff like this and although it tended to take most of a Saturday and he was angry the whole time, he was able to do it. I used to watch or try to help and just feel uncomfortable, like I was going to say or do something wrong. I don't get angry when I try to fix something, I just feel incompetent. And maybe this is part of the evolution of our Pihlaja tribe, but I would rather just pay someone £5 to do it than monkey with it myself. Being able to fix a car does not, in my mind, add to my competency as a person. I just want to know enough not to get screwed by a mechanic. Obviously, buying Japanese helps with this as those cars are built to actually work.

Whatever, I got it fixed and there is like a load of snow here today, which I took pictures of and will post tonight. I smoked my pipe on the way over while drinking coffee and thought to myself, I like to smoke my pipe, I like to walk, and I like to drink coffee, but perhaps, trying to do all three at the same time is too much to ask.

I missed my sixth Super Bowl, but for those of you who follow my tweets will know that all I really missed was chips, dip, and pizza.