Upkeep gumption

I helped my girlfriend buy a used car recently. The former owner was a smoker, and the car stank of it. We got it on the precondition that the seller gave us a discount to get it cleaned, thinking that getting the smell out would be an easy fix.

Turns out it was. All we had to do change the filter and air it out. But I can’t help but wonder if the former owner had known that. What might have been.

And, just yesterday, while cruising down my street, I saw a BMW fly by. It was burning oil, smoke was billowing out the engine, and I’m not even sure the driver noticed. (He drove right pass an AutoZone.)

Robert Pirsig would have had a field day.

Lots of folks avoid maintenance because it feels like work.

And, to some extent, it is. But knowing how to fix what’s broken—or more exactly, keeping it from breaking entirely—is a boon.

Like any good investment, it gives more than it costs. And, it’s often cheaper too.