Mostly Dad
With Mom's, "Why do you need to spend so much time in the Internet cafe?" ringing in my ears, here I am :)
The connection is veeeeeery slow today, the weather has been horribly hot (35C) and this place is stuffy. OK now that I've got all the complaints over with... *laughs*
Dad is not letting me forget my $900 car repair story. He's been dishing it up at me every chance he gets. As we say here, I'm already 'sakit hati' enough (literally, pained in the heart) over the whole thing and don't need any reminders!
I took back my old clutch plate from the mechanic, you know. He was pointing out to me how worn it was, but how would I know what a clutch plate is supposed to look like? So I took it home and showed Dad, then showed the family mechanic. Verdict: it was about 80% gone but still could have lasted for up to a year. "A premature change", Dad called it. Arrgh!
No point looking back - as the Malay proverb says, "The rice has already turned into porridge" (a variant of our English, "It's no use crying over spilt milk"). There's simply nothing to be done except be extra-careful in future. At least the car's running well now. *whew*
After Thursday's adventure, I keep on having visions of the car breaking down again. Shouldn't happen, though. The family mechanic found a faulty connection in the distributor and fixed it for free. (Woohoooo!)
I also wish to announce that I now know the way the car's air-cond system works. Had it serviced on Saturday, and Dad drew me a diagram with all the relevant parts and explained how everything goes together. Dad's a very diagram-y kind of person - the last time I had an accident, he drew a diagram to show me my car's position and the other car's approach and what I'd done to make my car move the way it had... Did I mention that when I drive home, I still use the map he drew for me months ago?? :D
He really seems to know everything. When the mechanic heard how Dad'd managed to get the car started again on Thursday, he called Dad "McGyver"! Really, Dad's so capable. Dunno what we would all do without him!
What will I do if I marry someone who's not like Dad?? (and you have to admit, Dad's a tough act to follow!). Mom pragmatically said, "You'll just have to call the repairmen, then!" Dad is plumber, mechanic, electrician, farmer, fisherman, and Mr Fix-It extraordinaire...
One of these days I'm going to write a piece: Things My Father Taught Me. :)