On Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:28:32 -0400, "Ed Huntress"
wrote:


"Stupendous Man" wrote in message
...
How many of your family memeber under the age of 60 know how to change a
tire? If you call AAA here in ski season you might wait 5 hours.
Mechanical skills are usually inherited from someone who teaches, not
self-taught. We are the ones who can do that. I have left a long chain of
people in my trade with more than they came in with, as it is my turn.

Cell phones help in that regard. I got a call from my son's girlfriend two
weeks ago (her dad, a retired state police officer, wasn't reachable). She
was in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with a flat tire and two
passengers, God knows how far from the nearest garage. I told them how to
set up the jack, how to loosen the lug nuts and the whole works over the
phone.

Amazingly, it worked. And now three more people know how to change a tire.
d8-)
I find that my cell phone is very helpfull - I get 5 service calls per
year for any car near my phone. First year I had two tows, second year
a lockout, this year two tows so far, and none of these for my
personal vehicle as it is covered under extended warranty. The cost of
this comes out of the surplus on our pay and talk 10.00/month plan for
an emergency phone we rarely use (we currently have over 16 hours
local call time available).
As to DiY repairs, SWMBO is the only one that might have problems as
she is a city girl who's father passed away when she was a year old
and her mother was too busy raising nine kids to think about looking
for another man. I grew up in the country and was ten years old before
we got electric lights.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada