a small car repair

This morning we, meaning my husband, discovered that one of the front low-beam headlights on the car was out, as in not lighting up.

If I had been home alone and discovered this, I would have called the dealer and made an appointment. Or I would have stopped in at the local auto parts to see if they sold, and then installed, whatever it was I needed.In the meantime I would have driven only during the daylight hours.

However, our handy glove box contained our car manual which, on page 83, showed in less than detailed detail, how to change this bulb at home, by yourself, without the added cost of labor. That appealed to my husband.

That would not have bothered me, paying the labor, having someone else under the hood, but my husband bless his heart, decided to purchase the bulb and change it himself. Please remember that my husband can write an iron-clad Will but missed out on the auto-mechanic class in high school.

He went out and bought two bulbs, with the thought that the second would soon be needed on the passenger side of the car and why not anticipate the need. He planned to replace both bulbs.

We have a foreign car; a foreign car built by nationals traditionally small in statue. And so when the manual called for my husband to reach in and release the dead bulb, by first grabbing both ends of the thingie and then pushing on the release button he ran into his first dilemma. Doing the math, that procedure would require three hands. That's where I came in, or out..to the garage.

First, I followed his instructions about how it should come apart. Then, after failing at that, I looked at the diagram in the manual. It was easier after that since I now knew what to push on to release the bulb which was not part of the oral instructions I was given.

After the bulbs were replaced came something called putting the panel back on with eight little black plastic thingies with came with a new set of instructions. One was supposed to squeeze the base, twist the inside, and the little plug would pop up. There was a video on this procedure which my husband had watched but I didn't want to get up from where I was watching "Undercover Boss" on TV to walk into the den to watch the video. I figured I could conquer this little implement. I turned the little thingie over and over in my hand, pushed, prodded, stretched and pondered. How would I work if I were this, I asked myself? By putting myself into the head of the little black thingie I was able to, quite by accident the first time, figure it out. My husband was happy.

He said that the whole procedure of changing the bulbs took him three hours. He guessed it should have been about a 45 minute job which included driving to Ace Hardware to get the bulbs. He thought that without my help it would have taken him four hours. To myself, I added two days to that estimate. If it had been me, I would have been at the Toyota dealer with my checkbook.

And that's what I think about it.