I'm not a Car Guy

Welcome to Building a Better Dave, and I found myself in a situation that I've done before, but it was, I don't know, 20 years ago that I've been in this position. Every strategy and every tool that I had in the past is completely different. And I sat there and was like, What do I do?

Well, what was it? Right now, as I record this, it's January in Ohio, and January in Ohio is awful. It's always cold. About the time January is over, February comes along and says, Ah, we’re not done yet. In fact, it's actually snowed in April in Ohio. January and February are rough months. My birthday is in February, and I've got a big one coming up. Many a birthday has been canceled because of the weather.

I've mentioned this before: I live on a hill. My driveway is a hill off of the hill. If you were coming down the street and turned into my driveway but didn’t make it, you would often slide into the front yard, thanks to gravity. And when you then went to back out into the street, you’d likely hit the fire hydrant. Luckily, that has since been moved further down the street to someone else’s house.

It’s cold. As I record this, it’s 10 degrees outside. For my friends across the pond, that’s -12 Celsius. Luckily, it’s not super windy. But when my dad lived here, shame on me for not keeping better tabs on him, the garage was deteriorating with age. He propped it up with pieces of wood, but the actual roof was sinking. I found this out from my sister a couple of months ago, and I couldn’t believe it.

The neighbor’s garage, which shares our driveway, caught on fire. They used this thing called insurance to fix their garage, but my dad didn’t. The city eventually made him tear our garage down, so now my car sits outside when it’s 10 degrees. Thanks, Dad! But anyway, I go out every day and start my car just to make sure it still works.

This week, I think it was Wednesday—maybe Tuesday—it was 14 degrees outside, practically a heatwave. My car usually goes, tick, tick, tick… vroom, but this time, it didn’t. It stopped. I gave it some gas, tried again, and nothing. I know this scenario. I’ve been here before. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, we always had hand-me-down cars on their last legs. My dad, who drove trucks all week, would come home and have to fix the cars again. It was rough.

My first car was a 1974 Dodge Dart. It had a top speed of 69 mph, and it was more Bondo than car. Bondo, for those under 40, is like a paste you’d use to patch cars, sand down, and paint over. I had a Chevy Nova that was also about 70% Bondo. I remember another old Ford where the passenger door would sometimes fly open while driving. That always surprised my passengers.

Another car, a Datsun, had a hole in the floor where you could see the ground. We pop-riveted a metal sheet to cover it. That car was fun but falling apart. I’ve had many of these “character-building” cars. Fast forward to today, and my 2010 Toyota wouldn’t start in the cold. I didn’t know what to do. Modern cars don’t have carburetors or the old tricks I used to know.

Luckily, my best friend, a certified Ford mechanic, gave me a tip: Just floor it when you turn the key. Somehow, it worked. The engine started, and I drove to the grocery store for essentials like bread, milk, and toilet paper. Even though I didn’t need it, I figured I better stock up.

This whole experience made me think about how outdated my skills are. Whether it’s fixing a car or keeping up with technology, it’s important to adapt. I’ve been diving into AI and SEO, trying to stay ahead. If you don’t keep learning, you don’t just stop—you go backward. I don’t want to be the guy who can’t even plug in his TV.

So, that’s my story. Thanks for listening. I hope you had a great holiday season. Mine was good, despite the COVID thing. I’ve got a big birthday coming up, and it’s messing with my head. We’ll talk about that in the next episode. Until then, it’s going to get better.

Let me know if you'd like further adjustments!