That's a funny name for a pipe!

This is one of the many things I LOVE about Mr. Bird. I remember the first year we were married, my car died. I had no clue what was wrong. I just assumed we'd call a tow truck and have it towed to the shop. They'd fix it, call us to come get it and we'd pay them a load of our hard earned cash. We'd take it home and go about our lives as usual. Well, Mr Bird had other plans. He tried starting it again, listening very closely to the car. Within seconds he says, "It's the starter." OK, so now we'd call the tow truck, right?

WRONG!

He called his dad instead and had him bring a tow rope. What is a tow rope you ask? It is a fancy name for a chain you hook to a truck and to the car you want to pull. The truck pulls the car. The car has a driver in it to brake when the truck brakes and to steer. The car stays in neutral. It's kinda scary driving down the road in the car being towed that way. We end up dangerously close to the truck in front. I always have visions of the chain snapping and flying up through the windshield. In any case it is free. All you have to do is find a willing family member to help bail you out. And you have to be willing to bail out any one of your family members at any time. So when Jay told me he'd get his dad to tow us home I asked, "Don't you mean to the shop so we can get it fixed?!?" Wrong again. You see, it was JUST the starter. It would be a piece of cake to fix himself. I thought,

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"You realize I want to DRIVE this car around? I don't want any parts falling out while I am driving down the road." He assured me it would all be OK. So he bought the part at Checker Auto and within an hour it was installed and ready to go. It started like a dream. To my amazement that car never had a problem with the starter ever again. I was floored that an ordinary person like my sweet hubby could do something himself that I would never have dreamed of even contemplating doing. He has done this too many times to count in our marriage. He has fixed leaky pipes, toilets, water heaters, furnaces, sprinklers, cars. He even remodeled the bathroom in our first house entirely by himself. He laid the linoleum, installed a new tub, toilet and sink and built a tile shower. When he is not quite sure how to do a project he buys a book, reads it, then does it. And it works! We have more car repair manuals and home improvement books to count. I love that about him. He is not afraid to take on a new challenge. And it usually ends up saving us a ton of cash. All we have to buy are the parts. This particular quality came in handy again this week. I was at my sister's house picking up her daughter so we could all go swimming. We got back out to the smoldering hot car and turned the key, waiting for the blast of cold air from the AC. The blast of air came, but that was all. It was as dead as a doornail. We figured it was the starter again (different car this time). My sweet sister loaded us all in her 16 passenger van and drove us the 2 miles back to our house. Swimming was canceled. Bummer, I know. By now I knew the protocol. Mr Bird would have his Brother-in-Law tow the beast home. He took the day off work today and got up early this morning and got the part from our beloved Checker Auto. Within an hour it was installed and it started like a dream. I went out to offer him a bowl of cereal and I found Doodle under the beast with her daddy. I caught him showing her the exhaust pipe and telling her what it was. She laughed and said,

"That's a funny name for a pipe!"

Now we have a whole day to play with Mr Bird. What should we do first? The possibilities are endless!