Leg-A.C.-y

I was asked once, "what things, about you, did you get from your dad?" I remember a few of the things i told them... "my hands," every time i see my hands, i think of my dad. They look the same, i think it's the knuckles. They even feel the same... i remember they would always feel kinda flat and solid... i don't know if that makes sense...

I got my silly nature from him for sure. I don't think it would be possible for that to ever escape our blood line. Pa-Paw Duck was the SAME way. Just goofy sometimes... I know i got that one.

The ability to make a good omelet. Lindey and I have really been enjoying that one. I think there are 2 things that make a great omelet. A really hot pan, and whipping the eggs. I think i may have one after i finish this blog.

There are tons of other things that my dad has inadvertently passed on, but the reason for my blog this morning is simply the ability to figure things out. This week it falls under automotive conundrums.

My Jeep, of 7 years, has had this little problem where the A.C. fan seems to short out. The compressor seems to work fine, but there is nothing blowing the cold air out unless i'm driving and the vent is just open. Since moving to Houston it's been off and on, just like it was in Dallas... but a good working A.C. is a very important thing here, especially as the summer months get closer. I used to be able to lightly tap the A.C. controls, on the dashboard, and the problem would be solved... but sooner or later, it would short out again and there i would sit... hot. (Lindey thinks it's all in my mind, that if i know the air isn't on, i will get hot even if it's 30º... she may be right)

Yesterday i did what i remember my dad doing many times as i was growing up. I started taking the car apart. See, there were some years where we didn't have what we have now. My brother and I may not have known much about it until later, but let's just say there were multiple jobs being worked just so we could make it each month. For that i'm very thankful... but during those times, a budget for car repairs wasn't even close to happening. So, Dad did it himself.

I remember many trips to the library so we could check out the mechanic's book on what ever car we were driving. 77' Buick, rebuilt 78' 280z, the old mini-van.... you name it, we checked it out. Then, home we went to figure out what was wrong with the car. That's where i learned to change brakes, change the oil & filter, spark plugs, thermostat... dare i say.... rack and pinion (12 hours we'll never get back). Of course dad did most of the work... a lot of my time was spent holding a flashlight, or running into the house to get us a glass of tea. Sometimes it was a quick fix, and sometimes it would have to be left until tomorrow, but almost every time we figured it out and found a way to fix it. I guess we figured that it was working before, it's not working now, something must have broken or worn out... if we look over it long enough and figure out how it's supposed to work, we can figure out why it isn't working. So we did.

And almost every time, his hands were in some tight space under the hood, one of those knuckles would scrape something on it's way out. That's when we could tell that we were finished. Somehow a part of his knuckle was always sacrificed.... and today.... my knuckles.

So, thanks Dad... for the many lessons on how to just figure it out. It's been a little while since i've worked on my own car so when i was sitting in the front seat of my Jeep yesterday, with the dashboard outside on the driveway, i thought back.

I've found that not everything can just be "figured out", but with most things if we will just look back at how something works, recognize that it's not working now, and be willing to sacrifice some time and a few scraped knuckles while we work on it... it can be fixed. It helps to have the manual handy.

Maybe i can pass this on to Espen. Even if we have the resources to take it to the shop, or call the repair man, I think we'll spend some time our selves under the hood. Maybe we'll figure it out, maybe we won't, but some day when he's in my shoes... maybe he'll remember like i did. Maybe it will help him figure things out sometime. Maybe it will just be time spent under the hood for no other reason but "time."

So... i figured out why my A.C. wasn't working. I fixed it... but maybe the reason it wasn't working was so i would get to remember what i just remembered.

r