It was today that I decided to service the car. I have got services down pretty pat – they take a few hours normally. I also had a few other jobs to do, and being as it was cold getting the engine up to ‘normal operating temperature’ would take a bit longer, but hey. Should all be done before lunch, I though.
Wearing my oh-so-slinky overalls and slipping on some stylish blue-vinyl-nitrile gloves I stepped out into the cold of a Bristol Winter’s day. As lunch approached I was no-where near half done. After ‘lunch time’ – a time not noticed by me – I was mostly done. I paused at 2 to go get my eyebrows done, and then headed back out having stopped to buy a new brake-pin-retaining-clip (one of mine snapped) and continued – despite the increasing cold. Sorted out why the car wouldn’t start (I’d managed to misallign the spring on the points, so it was grounding itself…); and I’d managed to complete all the tasks I’d allotted for myself except two.
The car is now serviced, thankfully; the seatbelt on the driver’s side’s been temporarily replaced (so it now works); the heated rear window’s been repaired; the brakes at the front have been replaced (very worn); the handbrake adjusted (it now comes on before the end stop); the wheels have been ‘rotated’ (I wish I’d done that a while back, the (were)front tyres are very close to the wear limit…) and a patch of rust I discovered’s been jenolited… but:
The areas I jenolited haven’t been painted yet (ran out of time and light) and the interior light’s not working still.
I’ve got changed now, slapped the clothes I was wearing in the kind of wash cycle that will probably ruin them all and the only bit of me that feels really grubby is my hair. I’d wash it right now, but I’m hungry, ‘cos I’ve still not eaten. So I’m going to do that now… As you might guess I’m exhausted again – and I can’t believe it’s taken the entire day just to service my car.
