Friday, December 28, 2007

Mechanics are my favorite genre of people. Particularly mechanics who teach me things about my car. Probably this is due to the fact that we (my family and I) get/have cars that often require mechanics. Also, my uncle is a mechanic, so I've watched him and my father do lots of work in my grandparents' garage over the years. I had a strong attachment to my mechanic in Waco, TX, even though I'm pretty certain that he was overcharging me. He used to show me lots of things about the car--the time that a random clamp that shouldn't have been there came loose and started bumping, making a strange noise under the car; also, the phantom problem that my car has and no one can diagnose, which occasionally causes the power to cut out for no apparent reason. Additionally, my Waco, TX mechanic had a gold plated ten commandments on a wood plaque. This was the original thing that made me love him.

If I had even a semblance of hand/eye coordination, I would be a mechanic. I take an inordinate amount of pleasure in solving problems that crop up with the car. For instance, changing the parking light and headlight were huge accomplishments for me, after which I proclaimed proudly to my roommates: "I am the coolest person you know." Also, I used my mechanic skills to diagnose the propensity of the air conditioning (which doesn't actually work) to blow the white, #25 fuse, which I know how to replace. Now I have a spirit-filled mechanic in Williamsport who is a family friend and who actually fixed the short and now I have defrost once again!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do we think that a mechanic's work would bear any relationship to chopping?

Emily Hale said...

No. Mechanics are like House--they just solve really intriguing problems. I mean, unless they are changing the oil or something.