(November 15, 2021 at 11:56 pm)Oldandeasilyconfused Wrote:(November 14, 2021 at 1:02 am)Fireball Wrote: "Macca's" coffee tastes like shit, based on my experience, which is about 4 years removed from my last experience. I'm pretty sure that it hasn't improved. "Mechanic's helper" would be someone who got to do all the lying on the ground getting filthy from oil and dirt while working on a vehicle. Your job would have been termed "Pump Block Salesman" here in the US. I did that for some time after I exited the Navy while at uni. I hired in, and when the boss discovered that I knew more than him about things mechanical, I was working in the repair bay, with only minimal time on the pump block, when business was slow. By the time I graduated uni, I was state-licensed for brakes, lamps and SMOG repair and inspection, and certified for engine tune-up and repair, brake repair, air conditioning service, and front end repair and alignment. I've probably missed something in there. I made that guy a ton of money in the time I worked there. I made a ton, myself. I could work Saturdays and Sundays, and summers, to support myself while at uni. I had the GI Bill from my time in the Navy, so while I wasn't swimming in dough, I was able to support myself and my wife (we met as we were both juniors) and myself.
I have never known much about cars. Working on a service station at 16, I had to be shown which pedal did what. Took me a few minutes to grasp the concept of a clutch. ( I was not allowed to get my driver's licence until I was 18. Dad graciously allowed me to wash the car.)
Sadly, my knowledge has slipped a bit since then. Today I know how to drive without usually hitting anything , how to fill up the tank and how call the RAA if the car breaks. I got my very first mobile phone so I could phone the RAA. Didn't tell anyone I had it for five years.
That’s largely how I am when it comes to car repairs. We have a mechanic I trust implicitly, so much so that paying largely consists of me stopping him from reading off his itemized list of what it did and interrupting with,
‘Is that wheezing, clunking, grinding, screeching noise gone?’
‘Erm…yes.’
‘Here’s your money.’
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson