hahahaha thats awesome!!

My little sister calls and mentions her heat isn't working, and BTW the temp gauge is low and when she has heat it'* normal. I told her (who helped me change the radiator 6 months earlier) to add coolant until the tank was full and if it didn't straighten out to call me and I'd look into it right away beause the condition could be bad for her 3100.

A week later she calls and says it has been doing that odd thing for the week. To further the faceplant, she drove an hour to her boyfriends and back with my niece (aka her daughter) in the car. I tell her to bring the car by that night, because overheating or not cooling a 3x00 motor is not smart. She arrives and the coolant in the overflow (pressurized one) is white. Not reddish from trans fluid, but nearly stark white. After a while of trying to figure it out I ask what color coolant she added. Just a second she has the bottle. Hands me a white quart bottle with a red label that says "Power Steering Fluid" in 1 inch high letters. I turned the bottle for her to read it.

She had her oil changed the day before for $35 at a local place instead of having me do it for cost of filter/oil ~$15. I mentioned needing a coolant flush, $20 in coolant and it could be fine. She had no money at all for a week.

reminds me of when my grandpa worked at a Deli in a supermarket.

he said someone came in and wanted 1/4 pound of something. So he puts in on the scale and it comes out to 4 ounces, and he says "OK, here it is".
The customer says "I wanted 1/4 pound",
Grandpa says "Yes, this is 4 oz"
Customer repeats "No, I wanted 1/4 pound"
Grandpa replies, "Yes, this is 4oz, which is the same as 1/4 pound"
Customer "Are you sure?"
Grandpa "Yes, there are 16 oz in a pound, this is 4 oz, which is one-forth, or, 1/4 pound"

to think, if that'* the average person, 1/2 of all people are even worse....

You guys do realize that you can torque a bolt that requires 120inch lbs to 10 foot lbs, right?

also known as 1.66666 fathom/lb.

wait, we don't use that measurement anymore?

I worked on a parts counter in university, and a woman came in saying her husband sent her in to buy a left hand ratcheting widget. We explained that her husband was playing a joke on her, so she had us sell her an empty bag for $45. Husband shows up an hour later all pissed and looking to pound on someone. After he rants and raves for a couple of minutes he turns around and the wife is standing there. Who do you think had the last laugh?

I always wondered how long their marriage lasted.

Had a friend ask me about a problem with her Jeep. I said it could be the blinker fluid. So off she went to ask her dad for help. I got a interesting Email shortly after that.

When I was a teen I convinced a girl whom I worked with that window tint would make her car go faster and improve fuel mileage. My reasoning was the the window tint had an effect on the way sunlight refracted off the glass, which in turn affected the air.

She believed me.

How about having fun with the parts counter folks. Ask for an alternator for an 83 Vette or a 96 Chevette, Dodge Omni etc etc. Go for something outside of it'* year range that'* popular enough to mess with them.

Although..the 83 Vette is a classic. Because 99% of those guys don't know they didn't make an 83 vette.