How did that happen?
Well, for openers my ex-husband was an automobile mechanic and then after a few years of that, he switched over to heavy equipment mechanic. So for the entire time we were married -all eight years of it -I heard lots and lots about cars, gears, motors, etc. I saw a lot of repairs being done as he frequently did car repair work in the evening, after his regular work hours had ended.
My daughter, Mandy like her mother here, is also married to an automotive mechanic and since they live with me, I hear more automotive talk ALL the time from the son-in-law.
My son is one who is very, very into cars and trucks. He loves Volkswagons but only the old models -from the mid-to-late 60s and he worships old American vehicles too -primarily being a Chevy man. He currently has two pickup trucks -one is a mid-90s smallish truck and the other is a 1970 or 71 truck that his Dad restored at his home in Nevada and sold to the son last summer for what Clate regarded as an "excellent" price. Getting the truck from Nevada to Pennsylvania however required that Clate fly out to Vegas and then, drive the truck back east -a distance of probably around 2,000 miles, one way.
Here's a photo of the truck his Dad restored and that Clate drove cross-country to bring it home to PA. Pretty spiffy, don't you agree?
But I swear between my son and son-in-law and all their talk about cars, repairs, souping up vehicles, getting these tires, this carburetor, this horn, steering wheel, ad nauseum at times, by this stage in my life I should soon be an expert on all kinds of stuff automotive related, don't 'cha think?
But with a mechanic living in the house, a son who is really "into" anything automotive and mechanical, that my daughter and I would surely have the best running vehicles in the village but remember that line about how plumbers and electricians and construction people often have the homes most in need of repair and that holds true in multiples with auto mechanics!
Although the SIL has worked on the jeep and has fixed several of the "kinks" it has, there are still some areas remaining to be corrected. Thankfully though, not near as many as my daughter's car -an older model VW Jetta needs though.
Right now it needs a new water housing unit replaced. Mandy, once she found out what it needed, decided not to wait for her Dear Husband to get around to locating the part because she took it on herself to track one down at a place over in State College. Her car has windows that are controlled by the good old push-button feature which on her car will operate the window on the passenger's door but will NOT operate the window on the driver's side. She's been waiting several months for Bill to look at that and get it fixed.
Considering this was almost always the issue I had with my vehicles and my ex-husband, I have thus come to the conclusion that it is something that affects all people who are auto mechanics!
My son -who can do a certain amount of mechanical work himself (but not any or all) is actually much better about getting things set up to work the way they should or how HE wants them to operate.
Wish that aspect would someday rub off on the son-in-law here!
8 comments:
I imagine it as comforting to be surrounded by experts on such a subject. Because I lack all automotive knowledge and have no one in my world who's up on it, I always feel at the mercy of whoever I've hired...
That's an odd situation - most automotive-minded people I know take pride in making sure their families' vehicles are running smooth.
My dad is a car nut from way back. Then my brother inherited all the mechanical genes in our family - I barely know which end of a screwdriver to use. Between the two of them, I hardly ever had an automotive worry for years. But now, I live in another state, Dad is too old to do much mechanical work, and my brother has passed away. I miss the days that my car questions could be solved with a phone call.
I love cars, but I can't fix anything on them. I was never really around many people who knew that much about fixing them.
I do understand your dilemma...... completely.
Although with me, it isn't mechanics.
Being married to a retired builder and having a son who is a carpenter, you'd think I'd had a gleaming place, wouldn't you? Well not so.
The whole house is filled with half finished jobs and would you believe it! One of these jobs is finishing my kitchen. *Sigh*
This sounds familiar. My husband, though not by trade, is a very handy man! He's especially good with tile work and carpentry, and really can handle almost any home improvement project. Our friends take great advantage of his expertise. He recently finished tiling the bathroom of one friend as well as the bathroom of his brother and is currently helping build a deck for another friend. In the meantime, I have a LIST of projects he keeps telling me he'll get to.
How much do your son and sil hang around together? Maybe he could coach the sil a bit...
It is sad how people don't use their talent to care for their own.
My hubby who is extremely handy is not that great with vehicles. He can change the tires and check batteries but that is about it. I am not mechanical at all.
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