The thing about cars is that unless something starts wobbling…or squealing….or leaking badly enough to cause your head to turn in that direction….you never know that there’s a problem.

Nothing’s going to explode like this oil well….probably….but until something goes really bad, it’s sometimes hard to tell what’s going to happen as we motor on down the road, blissfully unaware of the millions (that’s hyperbole….maybe…hundreds) of parts working together in violent sympathy to make the automobile move.

We turn the key….and ….we go.

And if something breaks, we call the man to come collect us and take us to the other….slightly more greasy man…to fix all of our problems.

Or….we lay in the sharp gravel of our driveways and get greasy ourselves.

I fixed the other side of the transmission line last night….and with a few tweaks….like a container to catch the flowing red oil…the job was actually pretty easy and pretty quick

The thing that really impressed me was how a hose that’s supposed to be flexible (like a hose) could become so….mummified.

I showed Jenny the old hose when I’d replaced it with a fresh length of beautifully pliable conduit.

“Look at this!” I said, as I snapped the brittle old hose in two.

She looked pretty impressed.

That old hose was an accident waiting to happen.

Something that old and stiff is bound to spring a leak sometime.

Better the leak start (and stop) in my driveway than out on the mail route.

Since I was already greasy, I did a quick lube job….cleaning all the fittings with a rag and then shooting new grease into whatever I could figure needed greasing.

Jenny watched me do that….asked questions about what I was doing and how to do it…because she said she wanted to know in case something happened to me.

“In case something happened to me”? Ugh.

It’s good to know stuff.

I should get my whole family out when I’m doing things.

They would learn so much watching me.

They’d learn how to cuss when you drop a grey nut that you need down into the grey gravel.

That’s a lesson they don’t need.

They’re probably getting it (indirectly and, unfortunately, unavoidably) from the “safety” of the porch, anyway.

They weather has been beautiful….dry and warm.

Working on your car in the gravel driveway couldn’t be more pleasant than it is right now.

That’s a bonus.

 

“gettting ready to get down” Josh Ritter (from his latest album, “Sermon on the Rocks”)