It is a bit embarrassing for an electrical engineer to admit, but until recently, I didn't know how to jump start a car. Maybe I should correct that, I wasn't entirely sure how to jump start a car. I understand the basic theory, of course, but I didn't have nearly enough practice to make me comfortable, and this commercial scared me:



Anyway, a friend asked me to give him a jump a month or so ago, and I realized that the way I would have done it was completely right. Furthermore, my little Saturn didn't have enough power to blow up his minivan, so I felt much better about the whole thing.

On my way home from that same trip, I noticed that something about my exhaust system didn't sound quite right. Driving over 20 miles of dirt roads had apparently broken the hanger on my muffler, so it makes a throatier growl than previously.

My car has long had a slow oil leak. I'd noticed for a while that my car made a rattling sound to let me know when the oil needed to be changed. I'd never thought too much about why that was until I went to a new garage to have my oil changed. The mechanic told me that I should have my gaskets and seals replaced because he'd only drained half a quart of oil from my car. Half a quart!? Isn't that kind of a big deal? Doesn't my car need 5 quarts? Of course, being a cheapskate, instead of getting my gaskets and seals replaced I just add oil to my engine occasionally. This has the added benefit of keeping my oil fairly clean and increasing the time between oil changes - or so I tell myself.

We recently drove to St. Louis and back for my sister's wedding. About an hour from home on our way back, the check engine light came on. A few miles after that, the check oil light came on. Since the car was rattling, the second occurrence didn't surprise me, but I was still happy when we got all the way home without smoke pouring out of the engine.

I'm afraid I just don't understand cars very much, so I don't know what they need apart from gas and oil. I'm sure I'm not alone in this, which is why car mechanics feel so comfortable recommending everything under the sun to fix my car. (In four successive oil change visits I have had four different critical services recommended to me - I declined them all) I don't doubt that my car does have needs, but since I don't trust the guy who's trying to drum up more business than the oil change, I just wait for my car to tell me. So far it's been pretty uncommunicative aside for the cryptic "check engine" light. (I've checked the engine; it's still there. What's the problem?)

We are driving to Indiana next week and my brother in law, who is a self proclaimed genius when it comes to cars, is going to go over it with me and hopefully teach me a thing or two because I refuse to be afraid of my car anymore. Cars are mostly electronic these days anyway, right? That should be right up my alley. As long as my car doesn't die along the way, we should be in good shape...