Howdy folks, happy holidays!
So why badass? Okay. So. In the midst of my crazy scramble-to-buy-everyone's-Christmas-present-before-flying-to-MD-this-weekend madness this week, brought on by the lack of time or mental space to think about it up until PME's holiday concert last weekend (which went great but took up many of my waking moments, between carting myself up to Berkeley by car/BART and rehearsing), I discovered that my driver's side headlight bulb had gone bust. I thought, noooo, I don't have time to take my car to the friggin' shop! I'm already taking on Christmas shopping as my second job!
But thanks to the suggestion by Catherine that I actually change it myself, and the help of these two webpages:
http://www.monkeyouttanowhere.com/thoughts/archives/2005/09/01_12_40.php
http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl197h.htm
I DID IT!!
Not impressed? Well, keep in mind that I'm totally car illiterate (while Catherine, on the other hand, used to own and maintain a motorcycle), and also that my 2004 Jetta owner's manual didn't even say how to change the bulb--it only had a small paragraph describing why I shouldn't attempt to change it myself, that I should let a professional do it, and that dire consequences including objects exploding in my face could result if I tried. Yeah, some manual.
That monkey guy (first link above) wasn't kidding; while it's doable, it wasn't easy or too pleasant. Because it was the driver's side, the battery was in the way--if my hand were any bigger, I don't know that it would have happened. And it was rather touch-and-go a couple of times. It was nighttime, and therefore rather dark, though I was able to maneuver my car around sort of near an overhead light; my keychain flashlight was still my savior. It took me a good 15 minutes to try to get one of the spring clips off of the lamp cover in the inch of space between it and the battery, and in the end I only succeeded because I said, damnit it's just going to hurt my fingers like hell and I just have to get over it and push harder. I may have let out a grunty yell, like one of those people in those action movies who does some heroic act of strength through sheer will. Okay, maybe my feat was slightly less heroic.
Anyway, at every step of the way I felt as though there were some obstacle I hadn't expected, and I just had to keep myself from getting frustrated and think calmly about what to do next. Totally channelling the guy from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I finally had a glimpse of what he kept talking about in the book about manuals only taking you so far. The actual experience of changing the bulb was much more down, dirty, and difficult, but in the end I felt like a champ.
So, I successfully avoided touching the bulb glass, which I only learned today would cause the bulb to burn out immediately. And when I turned the headlights on when I was done, voila! It worked! I was so happy, and in my euphoria started imagining myself a genius mechanic in the not-so-far future. For now I'll stay content with having avoided needing to schedule an appointment, leave my car at the shop, and pay for labor, and with having learned something significant about the so-called black box that is my vehicle.
And that's my story. :)
So why badass? Okay. So. In the midst of my crazy scramble-to-buy-everyone's-Christmas-present-before-flying-to-MD-this-weekend madness this week, brought on by the lack of time or mental space to think about it up until PME's holiday concert last weekend (which went great but took up many of my waking moments, between carting myself up to Berkeley by car/BART and rehearsing), I discovered that my driver's side headlight bulb had gone bust. I thought, noooo, I don't have time to take my car to the friggin' shop! I'm already taking on Christmas shopping as my second job!
But thanks to the suggestion by Catherine that I actually change it myself, and the help of these two webpages:
http://www.monkeyouttanowhere.com/thoughts/archives/2005/09/01_12_40.php
http://autorepair.about.com/library/faqs/bl197h.htm
I DID IT!!
Not impressed? Well, keep in mind that I'm totally car illiterate (while Catherine, on the other hand, used to own and maintain a motorcycle), and also that my 2004 Jetta owner's manual didn't even say how to change the bulb--it only had a small paragraph describing why I shouldn't attempt to change it myself, that I should let a professional do it, and that dire consequences including objects exploding in my face could result if I tried. Yeah, some manual.
That monkey guy (first link above) wasn't kidding; while it's doable, it wasn't easy or too pleasant. Because it was the driver's side, the battery was in the way--if my hand were any bigger, I don't know that it would have happened. And it was rather touch-and-go a couple of times. It was nighttime, and therefore rather dark, though I was able to maneuver my car around sort of near an overhead light; my keychain flashlight was still my savior. It took me a good 15 minutes to try to get one of the spring clips off of the lamp cover in the inch of space between it and the battery, and in the end I only succeeded because I said, damnit it's just going to hurt my fingers like hell and I just have to get over it and push harder. I may have let out a grunty yell, like one of those people in those action movies who does some heroic act of strength through sheer will. Okay, maybe my feat was slightly less heroic.
Anyway, at every step of the way I felt as though there were some obstacle I hadn't expected, and I just had to keep myself from getting frustrated and think calmly about what to do next. Totally channelling the guy from Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I finally had a glimpse of what he kept talking about in the book about manuals only taking you so far. The actual experience of changing the bulb was much more down, dirty, and difficult, but in the end I felt like a champ.
So, I successfully avoided touching the bulb glass, which I only learned today would cause the bulb to burn out immediately. And when I turned the headlights on when I was done, voila! It worked! I was so happy, and in my euphoria started imagining myself a genius mechanic in the not-so-far future. For now I'll stay content with having avoided needing to schedule an appointment, leave my car at the shop, and pay for labor, and with having learned something significant about the so-called black box that is my vehicle.
And that's my story. :)
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2 comments:
I'm jealous. And am still grumpy about the grease I got on my fingers from holding up the hood on my Civic yesterday..
Woohoo! Congratulations on your first experience with hands on car repair. You'll find that while the more difficult stuff is worth leaving to the professionals (i.e. what are you really going to do with the can of old motor oil, anyway?), there really is something nice about doing minor stuff yourself. A sense of physical accomplishment that we white-collar professionals don't really get in our day to day work. :) Here's to having success with the other bulb!
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