What is this sludge mister??

I went on a trip to Kansas City with a buddy from work the week before and I was way farther over 3000 miles than I care to admit, especially being the son and brother of mechanics.  They think (and they’re probably right) that I’m so derelict in my care for my car.  I really wanted to hang out with ‘little’ but I felt like if I went one more mile on the sludge (oil) in my car that everything would lock up and I’d be carless, which would be no good.  It’s incredible how I negelect the tools that are so important to me and my life.  I only appreciate them when I don’t have em.  Well,  I thought I’d like to take this situation and turn it into a teaaching moment.  I’d teach little about something I fail daily at, appreciating what we have and taking good care of our assets.
When I picked ‘little’ up I told him to go right back into the house and get his greasy clothes on because we were getting dirty this afternoon.  He looked at me, looked at his clothes, and said, “I don’t know what you mean.  I don’t have any other clothes that are different than these…” alright, onward and upward my friend!!
We went over to my house, and fired up the grill so we could have some hot charcoal ready and waiting when we were done being men and getting dirty.  ‘little’ got right to it.  I gave him the jack to ‘make the car fly’.  I showed him how to make sure he was on the frame and then start pumping.  He didn’t have enough weight to put into it so he had to jump on the handle to get the car to budge.  It took him a while but he certainly didn’t want any help from me.  We got some cardboard slats, slid em under the car and got to work.  I showed him the under parts of the car.  He was hooked.

"Let's Make It Fly"

It was so much fun to impart these skills to him.  It really made me appreciate my old man and what he did for me.  ‘little’ was tough and strong (as strong as a 10 year old can be) but delicate and definitive in what he was doing.  He couldn’t get the nut loosened up at first to drain the oil pan so I got it for him but he was quick to take back the wrench.  When he got oil from the drip on his hands he was so obviously in heaven.  He really was a true grease monkey.  I gave him a shop towel to use and without coxing he draped it from his back pocket like a veteran.  I couldn’t wipe the grin off of myself, to see him so serious.  I showed him the filter and he went to town trying to loosen it.  When replacing the filter I explained that in order to get the best seal it’s good policy to moisten the o-ring by dipping it in the old discarded oil.  He was eating up my direction and trying his hardest to understand what I was saying and why it made sense.  Bolt back in, filter back on, I showed him the dipstick and how to measure the oil level.  He filled her back up to the full line. He looked at me… “is that it?”  You could see it in his eyes, he wasn’t even close to being done. We checked and double checked the air filter, trany fluid, oil level, washer fluid level, tire pressure, wipers, turn signals, break lights, headlights, brights, power windows, power locks… It was amazing.  He was even intrigued by the double latch underneath the hood and we opened and closed the hood about 5 times.

Natural Grease Monkey

It’s fascinating seeing what excites him and what doesn’t.  The week before we had gone to the science museum (which I still need to write about) and it was so hard keeping his attention on one task at the exhibit hall.  He was all over the place and really just wanted to play around and he really wasn’t in learning about science related issues.  Here in this situation he was so set on learning more, doing more, and immersing himself in the internal combustion engine.  It was great to see him so fascinated.  Seeing inspiration in other people is one of my favorite past times.  That may sound weird but was more he was more intrigued than I’d ever seen him before and that includes cruising on the lake the week before in the fishing boat, ha ha.
This outing with ‘little’ was hands down my favorite.  I finally have tapped into something that he wants to know more about.  I’m not sure where this is going to go, but I’m sure we can find more similar activities together.