The Care and Feeding of Cars

Note: New post up at 50-something moms blog Motherhood: The Career Path Taken.

Before he went to bed last night, my son told me that the oil light came on in the car he usually drives. Now what does that mean? No oil? Some oil? The need for a new engine? He took my car today and after my walk (yes, I am walking again) I checked the oil. It's one quart low. Phew! Emergency averted. And I even knew who to call. Two people recently told me good things about a garage right here in town, so I made an appointment for an oil change first thing Monday morning.

This incident lets me know that I'm still in charge of vehicle maintenance. This has been my job for longer than I care to remember. It's not a job I ever wanted, and it's one I would love to hand off to someone else. I don't know how cars work, I don't understand why they sometimes don't work, and I worry when there may be a problem. With the help of Eckhart, I know that worry accomplishes nothing, and I thought about that late into the night when my brain kept coming up with all the things that could be wrong with the car. My husband's mention of a possible "cracked engine block" did not help. [He drives a work vehicle and keeps it in tip-top shape.]

The funny thing is that as Supervisor of Vehicle Maintenance, it was on my radar that this particular car was due for an oil change. I checked last week and, sure enough, it's time. It's actually a little past time but not dangerously overdue yet. Again, I would rather have someone else thinking about these things, but that is obviously not going to happen.

What is going to happen is that I will remind my son that his driver education instructor spent one whole class teaching him how to not only check the oil but how to change it as well. If he wants, I will call her about a refresher course....

*Update: My husband came home with a quart of oil for the car. Still no oil showing on the dipstick...and the car took two more quarts of oil. Gulp. Fingers crossed everything checks out Monday. We both talked to the driver of the car about regularly checking the oil. I thanked my husband for his help, but he refused my offer to make him Supervisor.