My Father and My Car

I want to express my exasperation with something that has been going on for the past few days between my father and my car.

Last motzi shabbos, Saturday night, I went on a shidduch date. While I was waiting to pick up the girl, I noticed that my brake light went on and that my headlights turned off. This was weird.

I told my dad about it, and he offered to fix the car. Being that he was a mechanic for many years and that he owned a Service Station at one time, I accepted his offer.

Three nights ago, he accidentally set my wires beneath the steering wheel on fire when he decided to bypass the fuses. Noticing that the wires were melted, he said, "Houston, we have a problem." I told him that we should bring the car to a dealer. He insisted on fixing it himself. Then he broke the cigarette lighter.

The next day while driving to meet up with someone from law school, I noticed that only one headlight worked. "He must have blown out the bulb to the other headlight when he set fire to my car," I thought. I went to the dealer, picked up a bulb, and changed the light. No luck. The left headlight itself was now somehow broken.

Last night, I stood out in the rain watching him take off my steering wheel and airbag to change the piece that is used to signal left or to signal right or to pull to switch to hi-beams. He was convinced that switch was the problem. When he put the steering wheel back on, the airbag light went on indicating that it was not working.

This morning when I was driving my car, a sound started playing that would normally play when I left the keys in the ignition. I drove to school without lights, without windshield wipers, without power in my cigarette lighter (that I use to power and play my iPod), and without a fan for the heater. Mind you, it was raining outside.

Tonight, he's been "fixing" the car for over three hours. He installed a new light switch. He called me down to start the car. When I started the car, only one headlight worked, but the light behind the dashboard stopped working. Then after running the car for a minute or so, I shut it off and I tried to restart it. It wouldn't start.

I would like to comment that just a few days ago, I had a car that was running perfectly with one problem that could have been easily fixed by the dealer. Now, the more my dad fixes the car, the more things are breaking. I do believe that he will eventually fix the original problem of the headlights turning off while driving, but I am sure that many more things will be broken. I fear that my beloved car that I bought new will soon be going to the junkyard because of my dad's "expertise." I wish I never let him touch it.