Date: Thu, 25 Apr 1996 23:07:31 -0500 (CDT)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: David Schwarze <ddes@zeus.anet-dfw.com>
Subject: Re: '69 BUS; NEW ENGINE HELP/INFO
Edmund A. Hintz writes:
>
> Bravo! Kudos to you and a job well done. I didn't mean to say that
> only morons are mechanics. What I was getting at is that anyone can do it,
> which is not always the case in other fields. Not anyone can discover the
> Theory of Relativity. I certainly can't. But I can maintain a VW engine. So
> can anybody else.
I hate to disagree with my new neighbor, Eddie, but I think vdubdude is
correct. Not everyone can be a good mechanic, and not everyone can
maintain a VW engine. You can argue that *most* jobs are simply a
matter of following procedures, often from books. My profession,
programming computers, is a good example of this. With a couple of
reference manuals, anyone can do it... right?
> I'm also not trying to say that all mechanics are robbers
> or incompetent-that number I am sure are in the minority-but they exist.
More like 80%, but I digress.
> Many people seem to think that an
> automobile is a strange and magical thing, and that they are incapable of
> maintaing it. I was trying to point out that it is in fact a simple beast,
> and that we can all do it with a little outside advice.
The same can be said for programming computers, or making a Boston Fern
live for more than a month, or cleaning the outsides of windows on the
35th floor, or managing a portfolio of stocks and bonds. Repairing a
type I engine is no different than any other profession in that it takes
knowledge and experience, and most people would rather pay someone else
to do it than make a significant time investment to learn how to do it well
themselves (which could ultimately fail).
My history professor from college would have said, "Back in the
really old days, everyone grew their own food, made their own
clothes, and built their own furniture. Our society has advanced
because of specialization, which has given individuals the time to think
about other things besides meeting their basic needs."
Makes sense to me. Hats off to the good mechanics out there...
-David
============================================================================
David Schwarze '73 VW Safare Custom Camper (Da Boat)
Dallas, Texas, USA '73 Capri GT 2800 (Da Beast)
e-mail: ddes@anet-dfw.com '87 Mustang Lx 5.0 (13.986@100.81)
http://www.teleport.com/~des '93 Weber WG-50 (Da Piano)
============================================================================
