Automotive therapy

At last year's Leadership Summit, Colin Powell shared his love and hobby of working on his vehicles. In fact, he tinkered with his Volvo at various times during Gulf War - Part 1 as a stress reliever.

Since entering car ownership, I've enjoyed changing the oil, adjusting the gaps on the spark plugs and other routine maintenance tasks on my vehicles. But by no means am I good at it. I get oil everywhere and the likelihood of reassembling the engine properly is slim (hmmm, why do I have three screws leftover?). With the ill fated blue van predestined for the recycling yard and the yards requirement that all fluids be removed from the vehicle, I've had the joy of disassembling a vehicle without concern for putting it back together.

What liberation! I've had a blast ripping into the engine with the fervor of opening a gift to get to the various fluid reservoirs. Hoses, wires and screws are flying everywhere. It's been so much fun, I've actually ripped out more than necessary. I've always enjoyed opening up machines to see how they work. There's the old CD/cassette stereo that I cracked open; only the radio works now. I can rarely put them back together right, so I don't indulge this aspect of my personality often. I am trying to restrain my desire to open the entire motor and pull out one of the pistons. Granted, I have little knowledge as to what I'm doing. I pulled out one hose only to be doused with antifreeze, so I quickly reattached that one until I can drain the radiator. I've been wondering which hose is the fuel line.

It's been good therapy for me this week.

I also want to thank the Mr. Smith's and Mr. Jones' of the world for protecting me from the scum of the universe.