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January 28, 2007
Our New Toy
Once up on a time I would take on just about any type of automotive repair job from routine maintenance to rebuilding engines. But I'm afraid those days are long gone. Just take a look under the hood of this little beauty.
And if that isn't enough to make you want to turn in your tools, take a look at what's under the passenger's front seat. And something more or less like it is under the driver's seat too! I'm afraid too look under the back seat but I think that's where the batteries are.
The real reason I stopped working on cars has nothing to do with the increasing complexity of cars. The real reason I stopped was the coincidence of two facts. I no longer needed to for economic reasons and it just wasn't fun anymore. My full awaking came on a summer weekend afternoon when I was doing a simple oil change. A large glob of road dirt saturated with oil fell in my mouth. I said to myself, "Duane, you are the senior manager for a major semiconductor company and senior managers for semiconductor companies, even small ones, don't need to get oily dirt in their months."
Having said this, modern cars, and hybrids in particular, no longer lend themselves to weekend home maintenance. Perhaps I am still competent to give this one an oil change but not much beyond that. And as you may surmise, I don't plan to try that. Between the virtual "server farm" of dedicated microprocessors, the "fly by wire" controls, the high voltage battery system and SRS explosives, there are too many things that can go wrong. Maybe I'll try to keep those fluid reservoirs properly filled as soon as I figure out what each of them is supposed to contain.
Posted by Duane Smith at January 28, 2007 7:50 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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Comments
Nice car! I used to change my own oil too but stopped because it was just easier to drive in the Jiffy Lube and let them do it.
Posted by: Jim at January 29, 2007 8:07 AM
I have an 1985 toyota pickup that I can still repair, even in most field settings. It is too big to use as a coffin, so I am sure it will out last me.
My archaeo/paleo friends swear by old Toyota, Internationals, and pre '85 Land Rovers.
Posted by: Gary Hurd at January 29, 2007 11:23 AM
What is the make & model of the new car?
Posted by: Aydin at January 30, 2007 8:09 AM
It's a Toyota Prius
Posted by: Duane at January 30, 2007 8:19 AM
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.
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