The Great Oil Change Mystery

I got my oil changed on Tuesday... Aren't you proud of your daughter Dad? Just keep reading...
Getting my car's oil changed is always an intimidating experience. Always. I'm pretty sure it is because of being a girl, and I hope other girls know what I am talking about. Whether it is because we just don't have that inbred intuitive understanding of what the heck to do with a car, or because we never wanted to climb under with our Dads and look at a car from the bottom up, like our brothers did, we are just not on equal footing. It is one of the most marked times that I know I have no idea what I am doing and there is nothing I can do about it.
So I pulled into the garage, aiming myself over the hole in the ground, the guy in the garage leading me forward and pointing this way and that so that my wheels are straight. He motions me to turn off the car, and I obey. Then to pop the hood... I reach down beside my seat...no that is the tunk, I reach forward and pull on the fuses...I panic and duck down and look and pull on the fuses again. I am the only car there at the time so about four employees with oily hands watched me until a an arm comes out of nowhere, calmly reaches in and pulls the lever high above the fuses, and pops the trunk.
"Now turn the key two clicks so that we can see the milage?" Once click. "Turn it again" Two clicks. The odometer lights up in amber orange. 70485. My car is getting up there, and they recommend a higher grade of oil. I search my memory for my Dad or my brother speaking of such a necessity and come up with nothing. I ponder for a moment, in the netherland of having no idea what to do, being afraid of being taken advantage of, and wanting to be a good steward of my car. It has been a great car. I will do everything in my power to keep it happy with me. "Ok, I'll take it..."
My air filter is still brand new they say, which increases my trust... I know that was just replaced last time. But then...the radiator flush...
The antifreeze is supposed to be a fresh orange color, pretty much like Tang. They show me a sample of mine. It is washed out and whitish. It is still a little bit orange, a bit peachy, but they recommend changing it soon.
"How much does it cost?"
"$69.00"
"I think I will wait... Well how soon should it be changed?"
"You'll want to get it changed before winter. It'll only take 10 minutes, and it probably has never been done before" It is the end of September. My car is 4 years old. Do I really want to come back and do this again if I can possibly avoid it. I look down at the 15% off coupon in my hand. Good for "Extra Services". Radiator Flush is first on the list.
"Ok, go ahead and do it." My consience is somewhat relieved seeing the brown sludgyness of the old fluid gurgling up out of my car, and the light sparkly cool-aid streaming in. I have done a good thing for my car. I have given it a refreshing beverage. I can imagine how it feels, cool and sweet going down the thoat. Yum.
I sign the dotted line for my credit card and pull out of the garage. I think there is a little more power in the engine as I pull out onto the road. I shift into second and third gears seamlessly and feel the smoothness of the road beneath the tires. "Very nice, money well spent" I think to myself and I turn the car for home. My car is happy? I think so, at least as far as I know.



Maybe someday...

Anybody want an organ?

Time has been chugging along here lately... It has been so long since I posted. Some new things are going on, like I am helping to lead the K-2nd grade choir at church. Work has slowed down quite a bit in the last week or two. School has started and most everyone who will be learning Latin this year have already purchased their books. I really like working in publishing. It sounds sort of glamorous, though that usually dissapates a bit when I say that it is a Latin curriculum... confusion begins to set in a little bit. But nothing compared to when I worked at Hersheypark. Then you could see the confusion and the slight disdain fall over a listener's face. Now in this job, people don't have many pre-conceived notions of what it is like to work for a publisher of a nitch curriculum. Still the nitch exists, and I think classical education is one of the most interesting and potentailly influential movements going on in education right now. Amazing people are involved, and are bringing all kinds of talent with them. Interestingly, the main bulk of the revival of classical education is being spearheaded by Christians. A lot of Christins are begining to care and insist that we know and understand our culture, and the culture that we have come from as a Western civilization. I can see how Christians, as edcators, are acting as salt in this culture, as the preservative, in a time where much education is as thin and nourishing as Cool-aid. It is a very exciting movement to be working in. And non-Christians are taking note as well. Today we had a not-necessarily-Christian-but-very-ritzy prep school call and ask for evaluation copies of our texts...they are going to start teaching Latin to their elementary students... But anyway the job is good. Gets better everyday.
I am also trying to decide if I would like my Grandmothers organ. It is big and heavy and I don't know how to play it. I have been wanting to play a mandolin for years and that would be so much lighter and easier to carry around... but it is my Gramma's, and no one else wants it, so it is currently sitting in Goodwill. At least it was as of last friday. If it is not there anymore then this paragraph is irrelevant, but I am trying to weigh the value against the inconvenience. Stuff can be very inconvenient. I am close to the stage of going through a lot of my stuff again and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of. I still have three copies of Mere Christianity, left from a Bible study in college, and I hoped to pass them along to others who might want it... and I think I gave away one, but do I still need three copies of Mere Christianity?
Well I am starting to fall asleep, so that is my update for now... Time to go to bed... Maybe someone who really wants an organ, and plays it, and can't afford one will find it and buy it before I can get over there... Then I will be able to sleep in peace. Anybody want an organ?