Copyright � 2006-2010 russface.diaryland.com

russface's Diaryland diary
Get your ow
n diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

9:32 p.m. - 2009-04-12
Here Comes Peter Cocktail


0 comments

3:11 p.m. - 2009-04-12
You Can Trust Your Car ...

... to the man who wears sandals and a beat up old Papa Johns polo shirt.

Lyra and I took the Mazda in for that wiring problem with the headlight. The way they have stuff set up here is that they'll have a lot of the same kind of shops lined up one right next to many. Most seem to be little more than 'shade tree' mechanics; if in fact there was shade (or trees for that matter). Sometimes I like to roll the dice.

I should have been tipped off by the plethora of coil and leaf springs throughout the shop I chose but I inquired and the guy yelled out and a groggy looking guy peered up over a wall from a second story loft. I think he was taking nap. The guy in charge said he 'was the electrician.' Fine.

He came down and the boss came out to translate as needed. After the initial diagnosis using a test light, he came out with a pair of diagonal pliers, tape and a two foot hunk of brown wire. I took auto mechanics so I knew what he was planning.

I must say, he's pretty knowledgeable judging from his deft handiwork. He can strip a wire very well using just that pair of pliers. The guy has twisted a Western Union or two in his time. He ran the jumper wire and the light worked. I think the 60 dollar per hour guys at a dealer back home would have just replaced the whole harness whereas this guy was going to add wire as needed. That almost worked.

The high beam would not come on. I would have thought he'd check the fuse box initially. He found what he thought was a bad fuse, throwing the old one into the dirt.

He removed his jumper wire. Did he plan on that being the fix? Or, was that part of his diagnosis? I don't know. It's been awhile since I took those auto mechanics courses.

What I thought would be a 20 minute fix turned into an hour. Still, he managed to find an open circuit (somehow) and the problem has been solved. I'll let you know if the repair goes bad.

Total cost of the repair: $16.38 plus $2.72 for the new bulb I bought yesterday.


1 comments

previous - next

Julie's Sandbabies Blog

about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!