« Counting Chickens | Main | But Wait, It Gets Worse... »
May 27, 2002
Simultaneous Frustration and Satisfaction
Well! When I took my car in Saturday, Firestone quoted me $75-no big deal. So I called them this morning because I was going to be out of town all day (I'll talk about that in a sec). They told me that they hadn't realized on Saturday that it was a 6-cylinder (at which point I should have said, "If you didn't know it was a V6, then I don't want you working on my car..."). They told me (it being a V6 and all) that the tune-up would cost another $168. The reason it's so high is because they have to remove the air intake from the top of the engine to get down to where the spark plugs are. Also, the mechanic claimed he ran his hands over the spark plug cables and they sparked, which supposedly means I need new cables (I'm not sure I really believe this). The new cables would cost $114 and labor to install them would be another $77. This brings the total to $428. When I told him I couldn't afford to have the work done right away, he had the audacity to ask me if I had a Firestone credit card, and if I would be interested in financing to have the work done! Of course, I politely declined his asinine offer.
But, wait! It gets worse: I had Janene pick up my car whilst I was away, and when she went to pick it up they gave her a detailed statement of the work they recommended should be done. To the list we had previously discussed, they had presumptuosly added a fuel filter ($40 + $42 in labor), something called "computerized engine analysis" ($90), and fuel system tune-up parts ($40 + $40 in labor). This brings the total to a grandiose $752, to which I emphatically reply, "BULL &@%#!" (Excuse my French).
Hey, speaking of cars, I suddenly have this insane desire to learn how to fix my car at home. Call me crazy, but I don't think a regular tune-up should cost $250. I would rather buy spark plugs and an air filter and do it myself for around $60. In fact, I would love to buy one of those books with detailed schematics of every part of my car. I think that would be really fun to learn how everything works so that I can do all the regular maintenance. It would be a good skill to have, and it would save me money.
Anyway, I promised I would talk about where I went today. I went down to Sanpete County and worked with my dad and my uncle. They are building a new irrigation pipeline. Today we put up concrete forms—big heavy wood and metal framing pieces that fit together and act as molds for setting concrete. It was probably the toughest work I've done in a while. Right now I'm very tired and very dirty (and#0151;to risk being redundant—somewhat ticked off from the events discussed above), and my bed is calling me. But all in all, today was a good day. I wouldn't want to do this every day, but there's something about getting dirty, being sunburnt, having stiff muscles, and having little cuts and scrapes all over your hands. It screams satisfaction, knowing you've put in an honest day's work.
Posted by Joey at May 27, 2002 12:00 PM