A New Name For My Car

The adage is true that you get what you pay for, though.  This pay period I have had to replace all four tires ($250) and now I have to replace the alternator ($110).  I’ve now put in a fifth of what I originally paid for the car.  Really though, it makes me feel like I’m in an episode of Top Gear.  A plucky little car, bought for almost no money, with a personality.

This hasn’t happened …. yet!

 I have owned 4 cars in my driving history and each has had a name: Olba, Mrs. Donner, Kassem, and now …. Lazarus. You can’t keep him down.  He floats like a Chevy Spark and stings like a SmartCar.

The story of actually getting the car repaired is pretty funny.

The closest mechanic doesn’t speak any English.  He is a happy little man and we communicate one word at a time.  I had stopped by his shop after work to set a time for him to pickup my car.  His wife writes down “17:30” on a piece of paper and tells me I can leave.  I sit in my apartment, watching comedy central shows I’ve missed, waiting for 5:30 to roll around.  At 5:22 I decide I should go outside and wait for my buddy … who has already outside, has opened up my car, and is jumping the battery.  No owner needed!

After I come down, he shows me that my battery is holding plenty of charge and that my alternator is the problem.  He does this by making me hold a multimeter while he sticks his hands into the whirling, 57 horsepower beast that is Lazarus.  “Battery. No.” he says, crossing his arms into the shape of an X.  “Your friend. We leave.” he says.  I need a friend to follow me to his shop.  

We drive down the backroad, through the orange orchards, in an awkward caravan.  My headlights are off and I avoid using my wipers to clear the rain on my windshield as my battery is clinging to life.  I was smart to do so. The car sputters and stops as our parade comes to the the turn onto the highway.  I get out and get my mechanic buddy’s attention.  What comes next is the sort of ingenuity and disregard for safety that Korea should be famous for.  My mechanic literally ties the jumper battery to the hood of my car, connects the leads and drives it back to his shop … leaving me to drive his work truck.

You have to laugh.

Maybe he will come back looking like this!