Happenings

Through the years, I’ve learned that mechanics cannot be relied upon. (If you’re a mechanic, I apologize and I’m sorry you’re unreliable).

I have more instances of this than I can count, but the most recent incident occurred when my newest Chicago mechanic, whom I really like, told me in his noble Scottish accent that the PREVIOUS mechanic had put in a temporary oil plug when they performed my last oil change. I mostly like my previous mechanic, which is a Chicagoland Mitsubishi dealership, but I was frustrated to hear this as it seems I cannot even get a simple oil change, without having to endure some new, lingering hassle. And a hassle it was…

Why temporary oil plugs are not ideal.

As soon as I got home, the temporary plug was already leaking my NEW oil all over the garage floor. Here was my dilemma: WHY was a temporary plug put into my oil pan, when the truck came with a perfectly good, PERMANENT oil plug? Most likely, the previous mechanic stripped the plug and rather than tell me they screwed (pardon the pun) up, they just plugged the hole with the temporary plug. Replacing an entire oil pan is very expensive and I’ve yet to meet a mechanic who says “This was our fault, so we’ll replace everything.”

I may be a NOBODY, but it’s one NOBODY I can rely on. So I called myself to action.

I'm going to need to inspect you "down there."

If the hole was stripped, the only option would be to insert another temporary plug myself. After all, no mechanic would admit that the hole was fine and simply screw in a new PERMANENT plug. No, they would want to cash in by sticking me with a new oil pan, new seal and all that lovely labor they love to stretch. So I also bought a permanent plug. I wasn’t going to let my new oil go to waste either, so I got a tray to capture that.

Why are all auto supply stores in Chicago Irish?

Here was the hard part: Temporary oil plugs are almost impossible to pull out of the hole. (Get your minds out of the gutter) They have a butterfly nut on the end that once inserted, is impossible to retract so the plug can be pulled out. After a half hour of vowing to hunt down my previous mechanic, so I could plug HIS hole with an impossible-to-remove temporary oil plug, a brilliant idea came to me–the most important invention of ALL time–a paper clip! Would a paper clip save me from defeat and from a huge auto repair bill?

The best tool Craftsman® doesn't make: The paper clip

I have to confess that I was nearly ready to admit defeat, when I stuck in my customized paper clip. I can’t describe the rush I felt when the “temporary” plug came right out!

My own glorious oil spill.

I had purchased a permanent plug in the event that the hole was not stripped. With great anticipation, I slowly screwed in the permanent plug and it tightened all the way in. Had I not been flat on my back, covered in oil, I would have danced a little jig!

Unlike BP, I captured my own oil and after the plug was put in, I poured the oil back into the engine, added another quart and voila, my truck was back to normal.

One day I’ll be wealthy enough to pay mechanics to break my car and repair it again at my expense. Until then, I’ll do my own repairs, thank you.

My favorite thing about travel is the unexpected way you meet new friends. As we were queing up in the Delta line at O’Hare, I met Svetlana. Her friends asked me if I would look out for her at JFK and make sure she got her connection. After checking through security, Svetlana and I embarked on a twelve-hour odyssey together. She did not speak English and I did not speak Russian.

My Friend and Ukrainian Tour Guide

While we didn’t get to fly together in the Chicago-New York leg, we met up again at JFK–Which, by the way, was the first time in a LONG time that I deboarded a plane right on the tarmac.  Anyway, we found our gate, which was filled with Ukrainians.  Fortunately we met a girl who spoke English and Ukrainian.  Through her, I was able to accomplish several things:

1. Text my friend (already in the Ukraine) that I had made the flight
2. Sort out ground transport in Kiev
3. Explain to Svetlana that I had scored us both exit row seats together

The flight was fantastic.  Svetlana helped to teach me the Cyrillic alphabet and letter pronunciations, which made it loads easier to communicate once I got to the Ukraine.  We made flashcards together, worked the flight attendants for more food and stuttered our way in broken language through a nine-hour flight.  We got along so well that I had to know what sign she was.  It turned out her birthday was two days after mine–Sagittarians.  Two Sagittarians, together, doing what we loved to do best–talk and travel.

It was most fortunate that I met her, because once we were in Kiev, I was clueless how to get to Chernivtsi–a city in the southwestern region of Ukraine.  Not only did Svetlana buy me a SIM card for my phone (which was originally an Irish phone from my friend Kieran), but she bought me a train ticket.  Later, we realized the train wouldn’t arrive in Chernivtsi until 6:00am the next morning, so she offered to drive me to a bus station in Kiev.  As I waited for her to come back with her car, I wondered about travel and how it leads you to put full faith and trust in people you don’t even know.  About ten minutes later, she came zooming up in a new Mercedes, with windows down and Europop blasting.  I was about to get the ride of my life–racing at 100 mph through the streets of Kiev.  At that point you realize that you just have to put aside your fears and trust that you won’t become another statistic.

In Kiev, we were both VERY fatigued.  She still had a five-hour drive, south to Odessa.  We found the bus station and she came back with a ticket for me.  All the while, she refused to take any money for anything.  Svetlana really is an extraordinary person.  We drove a bit through Kiev and I finally convinced her that she had to start heading to Odessa and that I would be fine for three hours.

She dropped me off and I ordered my first meal in Russian–at McDonald’s.  With the cool sophistication of James Bond, I smoothly uttered,  in a perfect Russian accent, “Big and Tasty puzshalista and voda [water].”

It was a bit difficult killing three hours just sitting at a bus station, but finally the bus pulled up and I boarded.  I had hoped this would be a great opportunity to see the Ukrainian countryside, but I was exhausted and kept nodding off.  Each time I woke up, I would catch a scene from the movie “Point Break,” which was a step up from watching paint dry.

Nine hours across the bumpy, pot-holed streets and highways of Ukraine, I FINALLY reached Chernivtsy, where my friend’s sister and her friend picked me up and took me home.  Even though it was midnight, everyone was up and Mariia, their mother, had dinner waiting for me.

Every day, for the last two weeks, someone here has asked me if I plan to marry Svetlana or if I’ve called Svetlana, or if I’ll move to Ukraine for Svetlana.  I certainly plan to keep in touch and hope that one day I can repay the courtesy she showed me in Kiev.  By the way, when I got to Chernivtsi, my friend discovered that she had also bought train tickets back to Kiev for BOTH him and myself.  Thank you for everything Svetlana!

One very good indication that I have chosen the correct grad school is that we’ve already been on a field trip.   Today, our Fossils class went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL.  This is an extraordinary place.  I felt like a child again, wandering from tank to tank, staring in awe at the wondrous fishes, reptiles and sea creatures.

Nature generates some of the oddest adaptations–like this sea horse below, that has been modified through time to blend in with the underwater plants in its habitat.

When you see these creatures–so delicate and so intricate, you wonder how they survive and flourish in the rough oceans.

I am captivated by jellyfish. They’re so alien and so serene. By the time I had photographed them once, they had already changed their colors (see below).

Jellyfish at the Shedd Aquarium

Jellyfish at the Shedd Aquarium

They truly are amazing organisms.

This little guy, below, was such a poser that I felt like I had to photograph him, lest I make him “crabby.”

Crab at the Shedd Aquarium

The underwater colors and landscapes rival anything on land.  This mysterious world seems to challenge everything we thought we knew about Earth.  Take this sea anemone below–is it a plant?  Is it an animal?  Is it both?  Is it neither?  Such is the allure of places like the Shedd Aquarium–a fantastic attraction that gives us land-dwelling hominids a rare glimpse into the hidden corners of the world.

Anemone at the Shedd Aquarium