Laughter and Maya

"My life has been one great big joke, a dance that's walked a song that's spoke, I laugh so hard I almost choke when I think about myself." Maya Angelou

Life always has its ups and downs but if I have learned one thing (apart from if you are making fried rice, you must cook the rice the day before) it is that it goes by much smoother if you can have a laugh on the way. And I must admit I have many moments in which I give myself a really good chuckle.

Take my car for example. In the last couple of weeks the engine has been playing up. I assumed it might have something to do with the fuel line so used some Spitfire which did improve things but certainly didn't fix things entirely. So, in true liberated female style, I decided to have a look at the engine and see what I could tinker with.

Then I lifted the bonnet....

Now I used to have a rockin' Datsun 200B and I was taught how to service it. I could change the filters and the oil, I knew my engine parts and what they did. I could even tune it using the tuning thingy. Whilst by no means claiming to be a mechanic, I wasn't useless.

My next car was a Ford Festiva. Another very reliable car - and yes I could find my way around the engine although I don't recall servicing it myself.

So with that burst of confidence (and despite my lack of tools) I opened the bonnet and then the trouble started. I couldn't find the carbie (there is a flick-flick thing there that is always worth having a fiddle with). I couldn't find the distributor cap. I couldn't find any of my filters - except the air filter but that is so bolted in as to be prohibitive. I couldn't find the spark plugs although at this point I was beginning to question my ability to anything more than breathe without being reminded so wasn't really looking very hard.

So I did the thing that all girls do, I rang my brother. There are no carbies in modern cars. There are no distributor caps in modern cars. Modern cars aren't designed for the home servicing and the filers are tucked away in inconvenient places to prevent people from even trying. There is no timing chain so I can't tune the car myself (if I had a tuning thingy). And not only that but there is now timing belts and these MUST be changed every 100,000 km - and if one breaks/explodes it can take out your engine.

My car is sitting on 130,000. So not only is there an engine in there which is useless to me (or should that read 'I am useless to it'), it desperately needs a new timing belt. And apparently these things cost about $50 but are located INSIDE the engine so cost a kings ransom to have replaced because of the labor involved in taking the engine apart. And I discover that my days as a empowered woman who can fiddle with her car are long long gone.

So what does one do ..... well think about it for a few days (there has to be a loophole here somewhere) then ring the mechanic. Oh and have a good chuckle at myself regularly.