I have never been much of a mechanic. I think my dad has some mechanics skills, but I also don’t remember him ever rebuilding a transmission or anything. Whatever skills he has never got tansferred to me. In short, I am pretty much of an automobile ignoramus. But I have decided that I am going to start doing my regular car maintenance. There is no reason I shouldn’t. It’s just that I have to decide that I will do it. I did that with the yard last year. I just always had someone else do it. Last summer, I decided it was just going to become my task. And I did a decent job at it.

Thanks to one of my church members, I learned how to do my brakes a while back. Our car has really been needing it, so that was what I did this afternoon. I know most folks just get their rotors turned, but most places recommend replacing them. Since our car is up to 130,000 miles, I did replace them. O’Reilly Auto is close, and by the time I got brakes pads and rotors, I had spent a decent amount of money, but nowhere near what I would have had to paya brake shop. And while I had it up on the jack stands, I changed the oil. too. It was then that I noticed that there was something hanging. I pulled on it and the remains of a belt came out. I have been wondering why our A/C wouldn’t get cold. Now I know.

So, in the last couple weeks, I have replaced the alternator and changed the oil and filter on my truck and put all new brake pads and rotors, changed the brake fluid, and changed the oil and filter on the car. Still to come, I will get a new A/C belt on the car, have new tires put on the car, finish putting the weather strip on the car, and drain and refill the manual transmission fluid on the truck. May not seem like much for some folks, but this is big progress for me.

For now, I am tired and thirsty.

And, by the way, I did discover a great website. Expert Village has how-to videos on lots of stuff. Their brake installation videos (brake pads & rotors) were a great refresher for me. But it’s not limited to mechanics. They have people who teach you how to play the pan flute, tune a fiddle, make jambalaya, and much more. Check them out.