Self-Help
“For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three. “
Alice Kahn
I am not a mechanic, nor do I claim to be. I am, however, a person that will attempt to fix things on my own. This is general. In the house, on the car, anywhere. I like to know how to do things. This brings me to my beef. I recently noticed that my turn signal had gone up. So obviously I had to change it. So I go buy the bulb. Unlike some older cars I can’t just pop of the plastic and stick in the bulb. So I open the hood and there was something covering it. Since it was getting dark I stick the part away and remind my self to get a wrench so I can remove the obstructing piece and change my joint. Now, being that I am a young black man with long locks and I wear shades (despite that my car is the same thing the undercovers drive) I am subject to be pulled over. So yesterday in my last few minutes at work I go out to change my blinker. I notice I don’t need the wrench, but I can’t access the light. Another guy comes over (mechanic attraction) to see what I’m doing and we stand there for 5 minutes looking under the hood, under the car and come to the conclusion…that I have to take it to the dealer. This is my gripe: Why the hell in 2002 do they have to make it so that you can’t just do things. They want me to be reliant. They want me to depend on them. My man has an old Lincoln and he just pops the damn plastic off and changes his bulb…I can’t. To hell with car companies for taking things out of my hands. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Last time I was at Jiffy Lube and I don’t remember what it was, but the guy was telling me the way the car was designed he couldn’t get to whatever it was and I would have to take it to the dealer. Sumumabitch. Damn you Chevrolet, Damn you straight to hell.
omg - too funny!!! i have the same kind of car that you have, & my blinker was out for months b/c i couldn’t change it myself. i even took my car to get inspected, just knowing that they were going to fail me, but to my surprise, the guy passed me w/o fixing it. he said that he didn’t feel like doing it & that i need to get it fixed quick & not to tell on him if i got pulled over. so funny! anyway, i finally got it changed at a valvoline when they were doing an oil change - they’re under there anyway!
Comment by jackie — October 18, 2005 @ 4:15 pm
I wanna laugh…but since I’ll be needing you to and the rest of B.H.A.I.L. to be a part of my Cabinet of Defense this weekend while I’m out of town, I’m going to put on my sympathetic, sumamabitch face.
See?
Comment by Beloved — October 18, 2005 @ 4:57 pm
Nice new pad. Red, I like!
Comment by Laylah — October 18, 2005 @ 9:12 pm
Ya wanna know why? (Lethal Weapon moment alert) Because they fuck you at the dealership. That’s one of the reasons I am so hesitant to buy a new car. Greedy bastards. It’s not enough that they charge an arm and a leg to buy the thing, but they have to periodically take chomps out of the asses of the masses just to keep it functioning. Whew…okay. I’m spent.
Comment by Breez — October 18, 2005 @ 9:20 pm
Come on man…..like you ain’t know it was all one big conspiracy. A C-O-N-SPIRACY!
Comment by SimplyDiva — October 19, 2005 @ 1:21 am
Mayyynnn! That’s the worst. I so agree with you man. So many things, especially cars today are put together in order to make you go to the dealership and spend ridiculous amount of time that you cannot get back. Its like ordering a Dell computer except larger. With a dell, you can only upgrade with Dell stuff, and even then you have to send it back to dell in order for the upgrade to be completed. In the meantime, you’re without a computer. Same thing with a car man! Look at the recalls they had recently with Ford. To fix some stupid thing-a-majig that I and a whole lot of other drives do not use. Can you say, scam city?
Comment by Luke Cage — October 19, 2005 @ 2:27 am
You know what… I never thought about that… dang it.
Comment by van007 — October 19, 2005 @ 3:10 am
Thank the good LordAllahJesusGodMaryCreator for Former SO being a mechanic! NEVER have to worry about taking ish to the dealer, especially now that it is no longer under warranty!
Comment by Icey — October 19, 2005 @ 1:15 pm