Where and how do we learn the skills we need to take us through the many and varied issues that will arise in our day to day lives? I can’t say for sure where I learned the basic car maintenance skills I have. My dad was an excellent mechanic, carpenter, electrician, plumber…master of all trades kind of guy. He’d seldom let me do anything except fetch tools. I suppose I didn’t want to help really…I’d rather be playing baseball or any of a number of other things before committing to being a gopher/laborer. And as I reflect on the raising of my own children, I guess I’ve done a lot of the same. I just do it instead of trying to get them to help me and learn something. So when I found the Jeep with a flat in the driveway, I almost changed it when it occurred to me that Jackie ought to know something about this process. He was shooting hoops and thrilled at the prospect. I started with the basics...like where in the vehicle he’d find a jack and how to assemble it. I lay on the ground and told him to do the same so we could find a solid place on the frame of the vehicle to place the jack. He seemed disinterested.
“This is the most important part, Jack. You don’t do this right and the vehicle comes off the jack at the wrong moment and you’re squished like a cockroach,” I said.
He didn’t really know what a squished cockroach looked like, but didn’t seem to think it was a good thing and moved closer to see what I was doing. I found a place on the frame, but once we had it jacked up, I didn’t like the way it was leaning and returned it to the ground to find another location. It took extra time, but I figured it was a good lesson...not taking shortcuts. Once in the air, I had him loosen the lug nuts the rest of the way...we’d begun the process with the Jeep still on the ground.
“You don’t want to be putting full pressure on the lug nuts with the vehicle on the jack. That could knock it off...and scare the shit out of you. Always break them loose when the vehicle’s on the ground,” I said.
I had him take them off and then remove the wheel. He had trouble lining up the spare and didn’t quite follow my instructions about reattaching the lugs and the order I was taking, but he did what I said figuring I knew what I was doing. He lowered the jack and finished tightening the lugs, stood back and admired his work before grabbing the basketball and resuming his practice.
“Next time we check all the fluid levels under the hood,” I said.
“What’s a hood?” he asked.
Well...there’s some work to do here, for sure.
Bike Duration: One hour and 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1475.
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