What is it about summer vacations? Here one day, gone the next, these momentary breaks from the onslaught of what we call life come with such anticipation and fanfare, only to leave us stealthily dismembered as a ninja would his victim. Well, summer is over, and like so many summers before, I am left wondering where the H did it go?
I'm a week into my second year of medical school, but with the Olympics in full swing, and the gelatin that is my brain after 2 months without a constant study schedule, I find myself once again struggling to get motivated. Well, that was until today... You see, I am the owner of a jalapeno-colored Chevy S10 truckito that has so far been very reliable and trust-worthy. That reliability has come into question over the last few weeks, however. One thing after another! I mean come on! It's true when they say "when it rains, it pours"! Brakes, radiator, rear end, vacuum leaks, check engine lights... all within 2 weeks! Granted, most of this stuff (on the surface) is quite doable by a week end warrior mechanic such as myself, but if medical school (and my truck) have taught me anything, it's that things are never what they appear to be on the surface. Take tonight, for example. I set out to change the up-stream O2 sensor at the advice of a mechanic friend just to see if it would take care of the "check engine" light that came on this past weekend. Unfortunately, it was like trying to pull Excalibur from the rock. I mean that thing was and still is on there tighter than an extra small t shirt on a sumo wrestler. I tried everything that I knew to get it off. It was at that moment, covered in grease and dirt, that I realized one very key reason why I chose to go into health care. I used to think that I enjoyed working on cars, but invariable something happens that turns a one-hour job into 3 days... I would much rather diagnose a sick person than a sick car. PLUS, I'm in medical school. I should not have to be dealing with mechanical failure of my little jalapeno truck!!
