Sometimes you need to reveal personal blunders, admit ignorance (read stupidity), and share laughs with the world, and then move on. So, here’s how I wasted 60 minutes on Sunday afternoon:
My orange Mini Cooper needed wiper solution, and it was a beautiful day so I stuck my head under the steering wheel to figure out how to open the hood. After more than four years, I had never opened the hood of this car. Couldn’t find the pull, so hit the other side of the car to get out the owner’s manual and the dash was locked, but in the process I found the pull on passenger side and opened the hood.
What a lovely, empty plastic receptacle smack in the middle of the stuff under the hood; it looked so inviting. The icon on the front had a big X through what did look like a windshield with wipers; however, I chose to ignore that and poured half the gallon of solution into the receptacle.
Only after it was topped off did I begin to wonder if I had added the fluid in the right place. Went to find the keys to open the dash for the manual and learned that of course the icon I had chosen to ignore was correct — the clear plastic box was for something else like engine overflow something or other?
Thinking…
Ran inside to rig up some straws in a long line; just like on TV I began to suck the solvent out and had to pull hard because there were about six bendy straws lined up. The first taste of the solvent was pretty nasty, so I spat that on the ground and exclaimed. Then, I did it some more to try and get the stream going but to no avail. After burning my mouth, I decided to read the label – “harmful if swallowed, poison, contains methanol.” Really? So, I ran inside to swish my mouth with water and was happy I had not swallowed any.
Next…
The shop vac! I sucked up 90 percent of the fluid and wasn’t sure how to get the rest. I ran back inside and grouped 15 straws into a bunch, taped them together, inserted them in the shop vac hose. It worked – almost; still fluid in bottom.
I had seen the little hex screw (or whatever) on the top of the container, and determined that it would do nothing to remove the little container. After this charade, that screw looked pretty intriguing. I ran back inside to open my handy-new-Christmas-present-from-a- neat-friend tool kit and tried a socket wrench (I had no idea how to use it, but I liked how it clicked around in circles making cool noises); but it was too large. I took an adjustable wrench (the one where you scroll the dial and it gets smaller?) and loosened the screw, bolt, nugget thingy.
That’s when the cute plastic box came right off and I could turn it upside down, empty the wiper solution, and put it back in place. I did find where the wiper solution was supposed to go; what I’m wondering about now is what should go in that empty box?
(I hate to admit what my friend, above, razzes me about; the moral to the story is to, uhmm, read the directions.)
