Hug your mechanic

When someone does a good job you usually congratulate them. When someone does a great job sometimes you reward them. But what do you do when someone who is supposed to do their job but usually doesn’t, suddenly does just what you need him to do?

I liken the situation to a little child. You tell him not to run around the house but he does. After all he’s a kid who wants to have some fun and no amount of rational justification is going to get to him. But to your surprise, one day he’ll not run around the house. And you wont’ know why he doesn’t. So you give him a hug to say what a good boy he is.

My car has been having morning sickness since I had the timing belt and an engine mount replaced. On some cold mornings, the engine likes to squeak for a little bit and it annoys me a great deal. For those of you who know me, I take pride is making sure my car runs well so these little niggles are not welcome. But being a realist I took the rational stand that all moving parts are bound to imperfection so I decided to let this ride for a while before I had it looked at (my busy schedule forced me to think this way).

Soon enough, I had enough of it and took the car back to get this checked out. The timing was just about right for a routine service too so that’s two birds with one stone. There was this young chap who took a look at the problem for me. He was helpful but I had an arduous time explaining to him in the official local lingo what squeaking was like. I finally got thru when I likened it to the sounds of birds chirping in the morning. Not quite the real thing, but almost there. Don’t ask me where that came from.

At the end of Mr. young mechanics time with my car, I was quite happy to note that the birds have now gone away from my engine. I hope not to reencounter them anytime soon – or ever. That wouldn’t be pleasant. I was very happy with the young bloke who took the time and effort to get it fixed. So happy in fact that I even wanted to tip him.

But I didn’t.

Why? Well it’s because I couldn’t help but to flash back to those times the birds were there. Why where they there in the first place? Obviously the first person to work on the timing belt and mounting didn’t do something right. He was supposed to get it right but he didn’t. So now someone else in his capacity had to come correct the problem.

So does he deserve a hug? I don’t know. Why don’t you hug him and tell me what it’s like.

Ps. I know some readers will misconstrue paragraph 2. Have fun with that.

When beng does a good job

It’s expected that your run off the mill beng, mat or macha with their brand new wheels will modify their car to look hideous. They will plug in a loud stereo system or a GT wing that is not only higher than the height of their rear view windscreen but also wider that the width of their car. They might also throw in some neon lights in Technicolor. And let’s not even talk about the muffler that you could lose your shoe in.

But once in a while, beng (I’m just using beng as a representative of the general less-than-tasteful modification junkie) gets it right. Once in a while someone will surprise you that they can actually colour coordinate. They can actually string together the right decals, the right rims and the right neon lights to make the ride look nice.

Now don’t’ get me wrong, I’m not a fan or decals. Neither do I think neon lights are the way to go. But I give credit where it is due.

Such was the case of a particular Myvi (some call it Passo but this guy didn’t) owner today. His car was black with a decent bodykit. He had customised decals covering all the main parts of the car – from the hood to the doors and roof. Being customised, they were decked out in red and white and it went well with the car. Also the rims were black with a red outline. And the car was clean so it all came together well.

I give this guy props for not calling his ride “TRD tuned” because it wasn’t. He didn’t throw in some lights under the floor pan coz the lizards needed guidance down there. Nor did he have a muffler to inform the whole neighbourhood that he’s coming. His execution was well thought out, planed and well put together. Not subtle but he’s achieved his goal.

Perhaps the difference is in the thinking. So to all you random modification junkies out there, this is what I’d advocate. Think. Think long and hard of what you want to do with you car. And try to inject some details into your thoughts and put it down into a plan. Talk to people who’s put good looking cars together. Know what kind of look you wanna go for and how much moolah you wanna spend.

But I’m not going to spice my ride up. I quite like it the way it is.

Hmm… or maybe I should get some new speakers?

Hungarian Heartbreak

Have you ever felt on top of the world and so close to tasting victory only to see it all go away in a pile of smoke?

If you haven't you can ask Felippe Massa. He's seen it just last weekend as his car stoped on the Hungaroring's start/finish straight just 3 short laps from the chequered flag.

Watching from my living room I could have almost shed a tear. After a superb start from the usually show starter, a dominating performance and what up till that point appeared to be a trouble free afternoon had now just turned on its heals. Great performance, 0 points.

I couldn't help but think this was karma. Earlier in the race I was jubilant at the sight of Lewis Hamilton's deflated tyre. This was just like pay back but with worse results.

Now before you begin to label me as a Lewis-hater or British basher let me tell you that I was impressed by the way the "young" Brit brought the car back into the pits in one piece and took it out again and started to charge. He's a talented driver no doubt. But when you're up against the scarlet cars, I wish you less than well. After all, everything's relative.

Amiss all the drama, I must say I am very impressed with the performance of one Timo Glock. The German rookie has by far been outpaced, outclassed and beaten flat by his Toyota team mate Jarno Trulli thus far but his performance on this tough track was something really special.

What made it special was how he did it. No he did not fuel light during qualifying to get further up the grid. In fact he was heavier than most of the people around him. He didn't benefit from some stroke of luck which saw every other car in front of him fall off the grid either. So he did benefit from Lewis' and Felippe's mishaps, but even if he didn't Timo would have still finished 4th which is a fantastic performance given where Jarno finished and the overall pace of Toyota this year.

He had lots to say over the radio, his race enginner talked some hoof but he kept his cool throughout and a 2nd place is well deserved - although ahead of one Kimi.

Speaking of one Kimi, I must say the bloke is becoming a little boring to watch. I'm not talking about a boring press conference (of which Kimi's have been the worst to watch), but rather the real juice of what makes a GP driver - the fun on the track.

Of the top 3 drivers, he's seen the lest amount of wins so far this year - only 2. Over the last couple of races, there hasn't been a performance out of him either. But what about that fastest lap you might ask. Before you do, let me ask you how many points do you get out of a fastest lap?

At the end of the day, Hekki takes the cake. But not because he was the fastest man on the track nor did he give us something to watch. But because he didn't take any risks and sat still.

I think the bloke on TV said it right, "You've got to be there to get lucky".