His name is Harrison; the mech. A fatherly, quiet gent who knows engines. The thing with harrison is this. He will only charge you for the problems he fixes; no mucking around and replacing everything in sight. But the catch is that, he insists on top-of-the-line parts to fix the problems. If a customer doesn't like his style , he can go levitate a kiddies toy made of paper. I like the old duffers attitude. Plus, he takes trouble to explain things and you can talk shop, provided you catch him early. Now a problem with a connoisseur like old harris is that he doesn't like to be told his job. And the problem with me is that i don't like to give things over to get fixed without having a reasonable idea of what i need fixed.
So, i tell the fellow, quite clearly, that there are two oil leaks. And i go onto explain what i suspect; I want the crank oil seal, the filter and sump oil seal checked out. The fellow patiently takes everything down. He calls in an hour and says its the filter. Good, that was what i suspected. He fixes that and takes apart the timing belt assembly to check the crank seal and happily notifies me that its a-ok and that there are no further leaks. But i know better - I know that the sump seal is funny. I explain why i think so, giving reasons and so on. No. The guy is adamant. No leak. I bug the guy about 4 times during the day giving further justification. No. No leak. Car is fine, he says.
So I go pick her up. The bill is, well, hefty. And its been put down mostly as labour charges for various things i wanted checked out. The next time i must just say oil leak, please fix it, and leave it at that <sigh> I could have saved 3k that way. And to top it off, i find that there is still a leak! a very small one, but a leak, dammit. right under the sump! Bugger harrison! I told the guy! Just wait till tomorrow! I like Christina without leaks, thank you. There are several lessons in this somewhere. <sigh>
Anyways, it's spring. Flowers. Birds. The early morning mist and chill. It's to die for. I figure that a lot of my ills stem from the fact that i start my day so damn late. I usually end up at work ten-ish. That's when i get up 8:45-ish. Such a waste. And my optimal thinking time used to be 4-ish, 5-ish.
On another related note, it occurs to me that i need a manager. Or several. An entertainment manager for music and films and a manager for my dabblings, at the very least. The positions are open. I can promise, no-pay, good food and excellent conversation - none. Takers?
urped by gumz @ 9:18 PM
