Confessional

I enjoy making things and doing things myself. But not everything. The other night I noticed I had a headlight out. Today after my doctor's appointment I stopped in at the autoparts store to get a new bulb. Last time I had a headlight go out I was able to replace the bulb (after a fair amount of struggle, mind you), so I figured I could do it again--and more quickly, having been through it once already.

Well, I bought the bulb and went out to my car in the parking lot, popped the hood, and...couldn't even get to the bulb I needed to replace. On that side of the car they'd mounted the battery right behind the headlight. The only way to change the headlight is to remove the battery (and who knows what else).

So I took it to my mechanic. While I enjoy working on some things, my car is not one of them. I know I should forfeit my "Man Card" for that, but tinkering with the car has never held the same thrill for me that it seems to hold for so many others. Besides, my car needed an oil change, too, and last time had filled my punch-card. This time would be a freebie.

Bottom line: $15.00, plus a free oil change. I can live with that. Plus I get to skip spending an hour in the garage tonight cursing my Corolla. (Hmmm.... that sounds like an R.E.M. song: "That's me in the corner...that's me in the spotlight...cursing my Corolla...")

I also got to pet "Rooster", the golden-retriever the garage is named for. There are people in Japan who would pay $15 just for that!