Going Back for More
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing...
I think that well-known saying is spot on… as long as we focus on the words, ‘can be’, because a little knowledge is only dangerous if the person who understands a little thinks he or she knows it all.
But if we maintain a bit of humility, a little knowledge on any subject can be extremely handy… and it can often save us some money.
That’s what happened to me recently after my daughter told me her 20-year-old car was struggling to go up hills, and that she was having difficulty shifting gears. Fortunately, I had enough automotive knowledge to determine the four-cylinder vehicle was only firing on three, so I decided to change the spark plugs and leads and to free up the gearbox by changing its oil.
When I tried to get to the plugs, however, the old leads seemed to be welded on. I realised it was probably just corrosion but it was raining and cold over here in England and my hands were going numb, so the job was starting to look like a royal pain in the butt. And when I struggled to locate the gearbox drain and fill plugs, I seriously considered giving up.
My feelings changed, however, when I called the professionals to find out how much they would charge to do the work. Things are generally a bit more expensive over here than they are in Botswana, but the equivalent of P3,800 for new plugs and leads and two litres of gearbox oil is way over the top, and since I had enough knowledge to know that, I got on with the job.
And the first thing I did was turn on my computer so I could get a bit more. I often go on about people being on their phones and computers too much, but when those things are used as tools, they are fantastic. A few blurbs gave me the confidence to crack the old leads off the plugs with a pair of channel locks and a Youtube mechanic showed me how to deal with the gearbox.
Then I hopped on my bike and set off to buy plugs, leads, oil and the other bits I needed to sort the car. The reason I’m writing about this is that I really enjoyed the ride and doing the work myself. Sure, taking that route saved me P3 000, and along the way I found a new auto parts store with a helpful owner, but the biggie for me was simply that I was learning… and that made me feel good.
Hopefully, there is a lesson in that for all of us because from what I can see, many people are struggling to enjoy themselves during the current economic cutbacks and health restrictions. So, now seems like a great time to learn new skills that might save us money or just to learn for the sake of learning. And if we have a computer or a smart phone and we have access to the internet, we can find information about almost anything… and when we realise we don’t know enough, we can go back for more.