Learning New Things

I've had this truck for about 2 years now and it has gone everywhere. It's job is to haul as much people as it can as far as they want to be taken. That is the job description, but there is also the once in a blue moon job of hauling a family and their belongings along with their daily driver all the way across the country.

I'm quite the responsible one when it comes to changing the oil, but deep down we all know there are plenty of moving parts in our vehicles that need to be taken care of with preventative maintenance. It's simple and the single most important thing you can do for your car to extend it's life. As for the other maintenance things, well that was a different story. You see, when you take your car in to the lube shop to change the oil, it's practically a break even situation for them. They have to sell you something else to make more money. Whether it's a shorter interval for oil changes so you come back more often or a radiator flush or a rear differential fluid change.

I called around and it would cost me close to $100 to change the rear differential fluid of the truck. I told myself that it would be worth it because the truck needed it. Out of curiosity though, I went to Walmart to find out how much the fluid would cost and while I was at it, I called around to see how much the gasket would cost. It was a grand total of $13.50 for those things. Everything else would be the labor. Looking back, it took me 2 hours to do the job mainly because I was recording it too. A professional would have probably taken 30 minutes to do it. Paying $90 for a 30 minute job is a little hard to swallow. Learning to do this myself is the absolute practical thing to do.

On different note, I've learned many years ago that my profession wasn't going to define me. It wasn't that I've conquered every challenge there was being in the kitchen. Far from it. It just seemed like it was all there was and I needed more. I knew that learning new things once in a while paid in dividends. The curiosity needed to be filled in and the sense of accomplishment was the fuel that kept the hunger going. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be a more well rounded person. Most importantly, working for those things sets a good example for my daughter. When I tell her that if she puts the work in, she can be whatever she wants, it will be at least a possible outcome instead of a wish.