Last night I had a date. The plan wasn't anything too fancy; I was going to drive to his place and watch a movie, then go home at a reasonable hour.
I get all dolled up, get into the jeep, and turn the key. ::churn churn churn grind grind grind click::
I call Dad, "Dad, the car won't start. It makes churning or grinding noises."
"Sounds like the starter; a new one shouldn't be too expensive."
I call my date, "Hey cutie, my car won't start and my dad thinks it's the starter."
"Are you sure? It could be any number of things."
"I know, but I'll guess it's the starter and I need to replace it."
"Do you want me to come over? I'm not great with cars . . ."
"I'm not either, but if you want to come over for emotional support that'll be good."
So, after I changed into something I could get dirty in, and $140 (Actually, $170, minus the core charge) later, my date and I dug out the flashlights and replaced the starter in my jeep. Luckily for us it sits high enough off the ground we didn't need to jack it up.
I also realize this is a short summary; we spent a lot of time looking at my jeep repair manual and then crawling underneath the jeep to look at the real thing. The photos in the manual are taken from all sorts of different angles and don't really help someone as clueless as myself and my date.
Strangely, it didn't take as long to install the new starter as it did to remove the old one. We made a lot of jokes that we should have learned more about car stuff in college, being as we're both engineers. (For Wordpecker, I make more than he does!) We also noticed that we're both terrified of touching car batteries, mostly out of the irrational fear that we'll be magically electrocuted.
Even as disappointing as the night turned out, I think we had a little fun anyway. After all, the whole point was that we spent quality time together. There's something nice about learning you can be a team with someone, and have something positive come out of your efforts.
And there is something so wonderful about turning that key and hearing the engine start.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Thats great! (and very romantic)
:D
I'd like to think it was very romantic too. . .he was very sweet to offer to help me, and I think most men find something attractive about women who are willing to help themselves when it comes to stuff that society generally considers "men's work". Even if, when the man does come over, he ends up doing most of the work.
He brought his tools with him, even though I had my own, and it was nice to see how clean and organized he kept them. I've noticed he's a generally organized and clean person, which I really like.
Post a Comment