Loose Nuts and Dipsticks

Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!  So now that the suspense is over, let me start from the beginning.

8 a.m. yesterday, I walked into the mechanic’s shop, half expecting to be turned away.  To my relief, manager K smiled and waved me in.  After briefly introducing me to everyone, he left me on the shop floor and went on to greet customers.

Louis, a mechanic who’s worked there for almost twenty years, gave me my first task — fetch the correct oil and air filters for a 2001 Toyota Sienna, which involved looking them up from a thick catalog and getting the parts from the supply room.  After that, I became his unofficial apprentice/assistant.  3/8 torque wrench?  Here we go.  Axle pin?  No problem.  I felt like a nurse in an operating room, especially when Sam, who is in charge of diagnostics, showed me a pair of stethoscopes that are used to listen to the car’s internal noises.  He had me put them on while he moved the probe over the fuel injector.  He mimicked the type of noise I should be hearing versus the noise that would bode trouble.  As an uninformed car owner, I’ve always been mystified by how a good mechanic can tell what’s wrong with a car simply by listening to the noise it makes.  A stethoscope extends that diagnostic ability by allowing you to hear noises that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to isolate with your ears.

Aside from my assistant work, the crowning achievement for this dare is to do a complete oil change.  I had paid special attention to all the steps whenever such a job came in.  I thought I would have to beg for permission to do one, but instead, Louis practically shoved me over to a car barely two hours into my apprenticeship.  My first — a 2004 Subaru Forester.  I was beyond excited as I pulled the car into the bay.  After cranking it up onto the lift, I loosened the drain plug on the oil pan.  I wasn’t able to pull the plug off as adeptly as Louis did, and got engine oil all over my gloves.  But I got it done without spilling anything outside the drip pan.  With the oil filter, I struggled a bit getting it off but with the aid of a specialty tool called an oil filter wrench that fitted like a cup over the bottom of the filter, I was able to pry the thing loose, pictured below.

Next, I put four and half quarts of oil into the engine.  Checked the oil level with the dipstick.  Oh, so grown up!  Then, I checked the tire pressure and got all four tires to where they needed to be, topped off the windshield fluid and, finally, printed out a reminder sticker and slapped it on the inside upper left corner of the windshield.  Voila!  It was done!  I bet no one at the shop had ever been so giddy over an oil change as I was.

While I was working, one of the customers did do a double take when he saw me working under the car.  I guess you don’t see that many female Asian auto mechanics.  I did my best to look nonchalant and that I knew what I was doing, partly so I don’t get the shop in any trouble, but I must admit that I couldn’t help gloating inwardly as I lived out this super-tool-chick fantasy.

Throughout the day, we chatted as we worked.  As a car owner, I have only been on the consumer side of car services, so I was curious to hear things from the other perspective.  Manager K said dealing with customers is the toughest part of his job.  He showed me the computer system where they tracked every customer and every car that comes into the shop.  Every time they give a quote, it is recorded in the system.  He showed me a customer with seven quotes but no actual work history.  That’s a red flag.  The next time that customer comes in, they would politely stall and then send him on his way.  The lesson there, be thoughtful as you engage your mechanic, lest you be blacklisted.

The day flew by fast.  In contrast to the office jobs I’ve had, it was refreshing to be on your feet, radio blasting, moving about and working with your hands in the semi-open air.  There is a comfortable rhythm to the place and the work felt rather meditative.  The guys there seemed light-hearted and joked around with one another.  I was told though that on a really busy day, people can get stressed and occasionally short tempered.  But for the most part, all seven of the them get along pretty well.

It’s no wonder they have so many positive Yelp reviews.  They like their job and it showed.  Sam, the diagnostics mechanic, told me that after 30 years working on cars, he still loves what he does and that he is happy 90% of the time.  When I asked him what he plans to do after he retires, he smiled and looked into the space as if seeing the picture and said restoring antique cars.  As I’ve gotten older and have been on the hiring side of some personal services (baby sitters, lawyer, strippers, just kidding), I’ve come to see what a pleasure it is to deal with someone who is both talented at what she does and loves it.  As a service provider myself, I feel re-inspired to deliver that kind of experience to others, whether it’s on the recruiting side or on the career coaching side.

During the whole day, I was super alert and exercised an utmost level of caution and judgment with everything I did.  I wanted to make sure that I didn’t chop off a finger, mine or anyone else’s.  Honestly, I was more concerned about not causing any trouble and disappointing their hospitality than for my personal safety.

As the day wrapped up and I was ready to say goodbye, manager K jokingly told me that if career coaching doesn’t work out, I have a job at the shop lined up.  I was touched by how trusting they were and how much responsibility they gave me.  They really put a lot on the line and were very generous with their time.  I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.  Today, I thought about my new colleagues and actually missed working there.  Since they are right in my neighborhood, I’m sure I will be seeing them plenty!

 

Links to related posts:

• Part 1: Jiffy Noob

 

Jiffy Noob

This month’s dare is to work at a Jiffy Lube for a day.  One way to go about this is Leonardo-DiCaprio-Catch-Me-If-You-Can style — show up at a Jiffy Lube in a uniform and start working on the cars as if I belonged there.  You laugh, but I wouldn’t put it completely beyond me.  Seriously though, there are so many reasons why that’s a bad idea — the least of which is that I will probably lose a finger due to my woeful incompetence with power tools. Indeed, I suspect this is the reason why my friend Emily challenged me to this dare in the first place.  She, on the other hand, has built her car from scratch and has been the person I call whenever I have a car question.

Given that I’m not seeking any remuneration from my day of work, I was hoping that I could convince someone to let me work at their establishment.  I compiled a long list of car maintenance and repair shops near where I live.   I think my biggest hurdle though is the issue of liability.  Even though I’m offering to work for free, businesses wouldn’t want to get sued if something were to happen to me.  Since preparation is the key to success, I found a release of liability form online. If I encounter such objections, my plan is to whip out the form and go, lookee here, I will “WAIVE, RELEASE, AND DISCHARGE you from any and all liability for my volunteer work, including but not limited to, liability arising from the negligence or fault of the entities or persons released, for my personal injury, disability, and death.”

Next, to dress code.  I needed to wear practical work clothing on the job, but when going out to prospect the job, I thought I shouldn’t look like a slob.  So here is my practical but still feminine choice: skinny jeans, fitted cashmere sweater, black blazer and Cole Hann heels.  I brought a pair of work boots to change into in case I were to be granted permission and could start working on the spot.

On game day, bright and early in the morning, I drove out to the Jiffy Lube in Watertown.  It’s one of the only Jiffy Lube branches near where I live.  I walked into the tiny office attached to the mechanic shop.

“Hi!” I gave my friendliest and most disarming smile.

“Can I help you?”  The guy at the counter greeted me with a heavy accent.

“Yes, hi.  My name is Ann and I’m a career coach.  I’m trying to learn more about different mechanical and technical careers, I would love to work here for a day on a volunteer basis.”  I smiled again and hoped that he’d say yes.

“Oh, you will have to talk to my manager Louis.”  He waved to someone in the shop outside and Louis came in.  I reiterated my request.

From the way he listened and carried himself, I could see that Louis is efficient, practical and no nonsense.  After I finished, he didn’t skip a beat: “We’d love to have you here.  First, you will have to get permission from Corporate.”  He handed me a California number to call and that was that.  I have a feeling that if I had walked in asking if I can paint golden unicorns on the ceiling, he’d respond in much the same way.

Next, I went to a Valvoline on Brighton Ave.  The manager there was super nice.  He hesitated longer, but in the end, he also pointed me to the corporate manager’s contact information.  By this time, I figured that I will probably need to go to a mom & pop place where the managers are fully empowered to make business decisions.  I was driving toward one when I saw Brighton Mortor Service, a small place that didn’t seem to be a chain.  I made a spontaneous stop.  I spoke to the manager there, a very nice man.  He said that he totally would except there will be welding going on and sparks will be flying every where and it won’t be safe.  On top of that, they had an apprentice a few month back who hurt his finger and sued them.  So, he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, my whipping out the liability release form notwithstanding.

Frankly, I totally see where he is coming from.  Why invite trouble?  He has nothing to gain.  I made up my mind to not feel discouraged until the 20th rejection.  There are a lot of places to try if I cover a large enough radius, SOMEONE is bound to say yes.

With that thought, I headed to a local service station just down the street from where I live.  I was referred to the manager K.  He spoke to me in a calm Italian accent.  After I explained what I wanted.  He said, sure and when would I like to start.  I was over joyed and was ready to roll up my sleeves and change into my boots, but he said today is not so good, how about Tuesday.  I told him I will be there bright and early.

I hope hope hope he doesn’t change his mind.

Links to related posts:

• Part 2: Loose Nuts and Dipsticks