(Originally posted on April 14, 2010)<\/p>\n
If something, a tool, an instrument or a machine, fails to work, I always try to make it work by fixing it or by finding a work-around.\u00a0 It can be a challenge, but usually the process is fun.\u00a0 You gather the information, and you diagnose the problem.\u00a0 You see if you have the tools to fix it, and and if you do, you try to fix it.\u00a0 It is important to realize how much you can and can\u2019t do on your own, and sometimes you’d better get a professional help… but like a puzzle, the bigger the challenge is, the greater the triumphant feeling will be when you succeed.<\/p>\n
When I successfully tweaked the clock speed of my first desktop personal computer (Power Macintosh 6100\/60) by bypassing the clock chip, I felt victorious.\u00a0 When I found a way to adjust the tension of my clip-in violin bow relatively quickly using custom-crafted cork bits, I was silently proud.\u00a0 When I wrote a bunch of database scripts to send data from one table to another in a foreign file, I thought I was a genius.\u00a0 And when I revived my car after a couple of months of trial and error, I was just ecstatic.\u00a0 I felt that there\u2019s nothing I cannot do! ..well, yes, I’m exaggerating.<\/p>\n
Fixing my car indeed took some efforts.\u00a0 I had spent many long nights just reading the 1993 Civic shop manual… well, I knew NOTHING about mechanics of the car, mind you.\u00a0 I became a member of so many Honda\/Acura drivers\u2019 groups online just to get information or to have my questions answered.\u00a0 I had spent several hours under the steering column assembly just to make sure I had all the tools I needed.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t 100% sure of my diagnosis, and consequently I wasn\u2019t sure if the ignition lock assembly that I had bought from AC Delco would work.\u00a0 But when you disconnect the battery cable and disarm the airbag, you\u2019ve got to just do what you\u2019ve taught yourself to do.\u00a0 When I installed the new ignition lock assembly and put back the steering column assembly together, I still wasn\u2019t sure if I did the right thing to fix the problem \u2014 but when I re-connected the battery cable and turned the new key that came with the assembly… the sound of the engine starting… that was just blissful and heavenly.\u00a0 I did it.\u00a0 Heck yeah I did it…!!\u00a0 The new and heavy 1\/2-inch drive ratchet felt sooo good in my hand.\u00a0 The smell of mechanical grease was like fragrance.\u00a0 My thought was logical and my diagnosis was rational \u2014 and my repair was methodical.\u00a0 I felt so sure of myself, and thought I could call myself a dude.<\/p>\n
That was a couple of years ago, but I still browse the Civic shop manual once in a while for fun.\u00a0 I look forward to listening to the NPR show Car Talk <\/em>every week.\u00a0 Spring has come and the day is getting longer and longer \u2014 a perfect season to work on a car.\u00a0 At this point I have no immediate plans to work on my car as it\u2019s been purring like a kitten, but I can\u2019t wait to jack it up, put it on the jack stands and slide under it on a creeper!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (Originally posted on April 14, 2010) If something, a tool, an instrument or a machine, fails to work, I always try to make it work by fixing it or by finding a work-around.\u00a0 It can be a challenge, but usually the process is fun.\u00a0 You gather the information, and you diagnose the problem.\u00a0 You see if you have the tools to fix it, and and if you do, you try to fix it.\u00a0 It is important to realize how much you can and can\u2019t do on your own, and sometimes you’d better get a professional help… but like a puzzle, the bigger the challenge is, the greater the triumphant feeling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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