Only Human

It's a pity, but it appears I may not be Superwoman after all.

Today was Car/s day. Sort out the Ford, sort out the Landy. Ummmm... ja. Well some of it got sorted. Some things I hadn't planned to got done. Some other things, not so much.

The Landy got its new trailer plug (thanks E!), and I found out that all trailer plugs are not created equal. Some the wires stick in from the side, some from the top - which may lead to swearing. And sometimes you need to make holes to accommodate the bundle of wires heading off into the chassis. And sometimes there IS only one screw-hole to hold the thing on (mental note - drive Landy to within reach of non-cordless drill and make some extra holes). But I got it right, and it looks good. One day I may actually be able to plug in a trailer and check my connections! BUT - in the spirit of technological car-maintenance - I'm sure I do have it right. I employed my old standby of "carry camera, take pictures, put it in the way it came out". See, I can be a clever chick on occasion! :-)

Then the Ford. I took the front panel off to get at the lights wiring, but for the life of me can't see where the issue is. This week I'm looking for an auto-electrician near work who can take the thing for the day while I sit in the office. Then I jacked the car up to take a look at gearbox oil. But my jack is not very lekker - it's a flimsy affair indeed, and the Ford sits close to the ground so I can't just crawl under. I managed to stick an axle stand under one axle while it was jacked up... but didn't trust the whole contraption. And when I got to the gearbox plug.. well then I got a little peeved. You see, the last guys who serviced the car ticked off "checked gearbox oil" but there's no way that plug's been taken out in years. It's stuck fast - gunked up. I tried to shift it.. but the car started to move on its flimsy jack and axle stand, and I seriously don't want to end up flattened. My yard has a slight slope to it, and I'm not sure how effective the bricks at the back wheels would have been if things had gone awry... So I left that one for now. Fixed some rubber seals on the boot and bonnet instead, then gave the thing a thorough vacuum, and am just waiting for the sun to subside a little before it gets a wash too. It won't know what hit it!

But - and here's the non-Superwoman part - I couldn't fix the lights. I don't know what's the problem there, and it frustrates the heck out of me. I also haven't finished what I wanted to do on the Landy (diff and gearbox oils, last three plugs) - though I did manage to collect quite the garden down the back of my jeans sliding around on the ground under both cars.

There are days I wish I had all the knowledge in the world about how my cars work. That I could open them up, go "aha!" and fix whatever needs fixing. I know, it's impossible to know everything. But some days I wish I knew more. A lot more.

::update::
WARNING - sliding around under cars on tar and brick surfaces may lead to extreme lower back bruising...