> -----Original Message----- > From: Crow T. Robot [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 12:26 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Hey, I put in an Alternator! > > Growing up as a car mechanic's son has made me a very well-rounded > fix-it-guy. I, as you, LOVE the feeling of being able to take an > ill-running car and make it purr like a kitten. It's a great feeling. > I > was "that guy" in high school that helped friends fix those POS > machines > that we all drove around, and it was always awesome to show off that > knowledge that my pops handed down to me.
My father and brother are both gearheads (he's a machinist and my brother's now a director of maintenance for Conway trucking).... but I never was. My father made me learn the basics (tires, plugs, fuses, oil changes, etc) but I always considered it "work". I really would have never tried the job if my brother weren't close by (he's recently moved to about an hour away). But in this car, at least (a '98 Malibu) the alternator is probably the easiest thing to change on the car... right up on top and only three screws. Easy even for a dunce like me. ;^) He doesn't update the site any longer, but here's my brother's car: http://www.grapeaperacing.com/ You can see he's a little past "backyard mechanic". Very nice to have him around when the cars have problems... he has all the tools AND he knows how to use them! ;^) > Unfortunately, I "retired" from doing those things a few years ago when > I > realized I had no idea WTH I was doing with the "modern" cars. > Ironically, > computers in these cars have rendered the backyard mechanic to a relic > of > the past. > > Congrats to you on this accomplishment tho. Doesn't it feel good? =) VERY good. I may have only saved $50 or $80 on the whole adventure (remanned alternator and new battery still set me back over $200 tho' so I'm not thrilled about the whole thing in the first place), but it did feel good. When my mother heard about she marveled: "You did it all by yourself!" Yup, this impressed her. I spent Thursday diagnosing (and solving) a database issue affecting millions of customers... nothing. But this. This impressed her. Of course she also marveled when my brother was able to get his wireless router working without my help. So it all balances out. ;^) It also felt really good to work in my own space. We bought this house (our first) a little over two years ago and I started with a completely gutted garage. I redid all the lighting, built two off-the-floor suspended benches and just recently completed refinishing my grandfather's circa 1930's Craftsman rollaway tool box. I was doing something I wasn't completely comfortable with (changing the alternator) but there was a hell of a lot of satisfaction in it. I was able to see well because of the lighting I added (and able to work easier because of all the outlets I added) and everything was handy and comfortable because of the toolbox and the benches. I also got to geek out a little: my brother's always picked on me a bit because I mounted a flat screen monitor and SFF PC on the work-bench in the garage (the monitor is mounted right to the peg-board). I usually use it to play music while I'm down there... but while he was over I got the satisfaction of him needing to look up the wiring diagram online. When we did diagnose the alternator we were able to look parts and cost right there. Having a PC in the garage rocks! Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:266463 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
