Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Pleased with Myself


Just now back from Oregon. After over a thousand miles of driving without incident, while attempting to start my car in front of the UPS office in El Cerrito where I get my mail, it wouldn't start. It didn't turn over at all.

Rather than panic and even before feeling grateful that the tsouris came within sight of the repair place, it occurred to me what the problem might be. Since it had not made even a feeble attempt to start, it couldn't be the engine per se, nor even the battery. It had to be the connection to the battery. Out of an abundance of caution I had taken both metric and SAE wrench sets and a bag of other tools. I loosened and disconnected the battery connectors and used a screwdriver to scrape them and the battery posts free of the layer of blue-green copper sulfate (the copper from the battery plates, the sulfate from the sulfuric battery acid) that had accumulated. With high hopes I re-tightened them and turned the ignition key. It started more readily than it had before.

Being able to solve one's problems unassisted is such a pleasure.

10 comments:

  1. I am happy to see you were able to get your engine started.

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  2. Anonymous6:53 PM

    Cocacola or pepsi is good for cleaning the crud off the contacts. Good job!

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  3. Nick Danger12:35 AM

    Good work, Jack. Two things you might consider purchasing for your emergency repair kit are 1) a battery clamp puller, and 2) a battery terminal brush. These cost only a few bucks (a lot less than your tool kits) and can do the job in a fraction of the time.

    Glad to see you made it back.

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  4. You drove to Oregon and back without stopping in Chico? Schmuck!

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  5. Anonymous10:19 AM

    I wouldn't listen to Nick Danger, after all he is a pedophile. I'm surprised you haven't posted about Israel's latest breach of the Geneva Convention Jack and its fraudulent use of innocent victims passports, I hope the Mossad Chief is trialled for murder and Israel sanctioned for its latest crimes.

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  6. Anonymous10:53 AM

    so you can solve all your problems by yourself, how are you doing with that calendar?
    Still overbooking??

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  7. Damien12:56 PM

    How dare them dirty Israeli rats put Irish citizen's security at risk, the international community is right to condemn these filthy murderers. I hope they are trialled and sentenced, as anon said, Israel should be immediately sanctioned for breaching state sovereignty.

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  8. I am sure the world is waiting breathlessly for the views of illiterates like Damien who use non-words like "trialled". It is one thing not to be able to spell, but it bespeaks a combination of arrogance and ignorance to ignore your spell-checker. But then again, arrogance and ignorance are what Damien's anti-Israel bigotry is all about, isn't it?

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  9. H., I took 101 home from Oregon. I thought about crossing the mountains over to 5 but it was a 530 mile drive as it was, and I couldn't bring myself to make it any longer. When is Purim?

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  10. I love it when people like Damien read rumors and interpret them as fact because they fit their prejudices. There are two primary categories of the genre.

    One, as here, is knowing what secret agencies like Mossad, the CIA, or MI5 are doing or have done. With both Mossad and the CIA, even the proceedings of the oversight committees of the Congress and Knesset are secret. According to James Bond movies, MI5 reports to someone in the British cabinet.

    So naturally, great intellects like Damien repeat groundless-on-their-face reports in the press as though they were real information. James Bond movies are just as reliable a source as those press reports.

    The second category of rumor that geniuses like Damien repeat as fact is mind-reading. "They intend to invade Iran". "They are going to take over health care as a first step. Then they will take over the economy. Then try to take away our guns."

    Damien doesn't even know his own mind well enough to see that the only common thread in all his opinions about Israel is antisemitism. If he doesn't know his own mind how can he possibly know what others are thinking? Especially others working in environments wildly different than the crowded garret he festers in while getting mediocre grades in a mediocre school.

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