Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 16:40:29 -0500
Reply-To: "Robert A. Alexander" <satcong@VOL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Robert A. Alexander" <satcong@VOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Philosophy, long, working on VW's
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Matthew - George Lyle is absolutely correct, as are you, too! My Dad
was an M.D. and used to use the excuse for his never even checking the
oil on his vehicles that should he get his hands too dirty with
oil/grease stains, which of his patients would feel particularly
comfortable with his poking his hands into various body cavities!
Secondly, the danger he perceived of damaging his fingers, which he
depended upon for his work in his profession keep him out of the engine
compartment.
One of my old drinking buddies, a Dentist (died several years ago of
liver cirrhosis), used to tell me he quit working on his '71 VW Van
after he finished dental school because of his perceived possible
objections of patients to his fooling around in their mouths with
oil/dirty grease stained finger skin/nails. Of course, his concern was
long before the AIDS scare and the subsequent use of gloves to cover up
dirty grease/oil stains.
Face it, old farts like us make enough monies to pay folks to work on
our vehicles. Everything you wrote is true, for some folks. But, there
are some folks (including fellow Old Farts) who still cling to the
"do-it-yourself" mode of thought AND some who can't absorb the release
of bucks for someone else to do what they might be able to.
My patients have NEVER objected to soiled hands examining body
orifices! In fact, it seems that the "dirtier" I am, the better I get
along with my patients!!! I am sensitive, though, to their owners', my
"clients", perceptions about my cleanliness. SO, I make a half-hearted
attempt to remove as much goop as possible when I have to work on me
Van.
I used to try to calculate how much I would be making (per hour) in the
office as compared to my time spent working on me Vanagon, to justify
hiring someone else to do the work, when I came to the conclusion that
working on my Vanagon IS really a bit of "therapy" for me. I really do
not desire to keep my office open for extended hours when I can stroke
the Karma of me Vanagon, occasionally, which, I think, keeps my
requirement for Pepcid AC down to a reasonable level.
At my age, as one of the honest Old Farts, the decision of whether or
not to perform maintenance on me Vanagon boils down to previous
experiences concerning just how long my lower back OR neck will require
to return to "normal"!
BTW, I do have me VW Guru, who only charges $35/hr.
BOB - WA4RRN
'85GL - "Bourgeoise"
OLD FART
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