Monkeys wrenching
Last week I spent most of a day with my Dad working on a siblings car. It was some basic maintenance work, clearing a pair of error codes the emissions controls caused the ECU to throw. It was also a rare moment in life that I enjoyed greatly.
In my life as a shade-tree mechanic, I have had two phases. As Lee the Younger I had to lean on my father to teach me everything. How to use the tools, the theory of the systems, even how to fix it when you twist the head off a bolt. Goosenecks don't need much torque, and I still tend to over muscle things a bit.
The next phase was the independence phase. I knew enough to work out most issues on my own. Those that I couldn't figure out usually resulted in a phone call to talk through the issue with him. I would sometimes get a line from him about how he doesn't know these fuel injected cars. I never let him get away with that since the theory hasn't changed, just the implementation.
I guess what I'm saying is that the last time I really worked on a car side-by-side with my Dad was as a student. Last week we had to work on something that was foreign to both of us. It was a lot of fun to go through the troubleshooting and repair process as peers with my Dad, and I am blessed for the opportunity.
It was also a reminder of the most important thing Dad has ever taught me. You only fail by giving up. If you are too dumb to know when a problem has you beat, you might just stumble on a solution.
In my life as a shade-tree mechanic, I have had two phases. As Lee the Younger I had to lean on my father to teach me everything. How to use the tools, the theory of the systems, even how to fix it when you twist the head off a bolt. Goosenecks don't need much torque, and I still tend to over muscle things a bit.
The next phase was the independence phase. I knew enough to work out most issues on my own. Those that I couldn't figure out usually resulted in a phone call to talk through the issue with him. I would sometimes get a line from him about how he doesn't know these fuel injected cars. I never let him get away with that since the theory hasn't changed, just the implementation.
I guess what I'm saying is that the last time I really worked on a car side-by-side with my Dad was as a student. Last week we had to work on something that was foreign to both of us. It was a lot of fun to go through the troubleshooting and repair process as peers with my Dad, and I am blessed for the opportunity.
It was also a reminder of the most important thing Dad has ever taught me. You only fail by giving up. If you are too dumb to know when a problem has you beat, you might just stumble on a solution.