A Day Late
October 25th, 2006 by natalie
So, I found out that last Friday was officially “Change Your Oil†day. Rats. I always find out about these things too late. I didn’t get around to my yearly oil change until Saturday morning. The weather was certainly not ideal, but Naomi and Joey braved the chilly rain to help me get the job done in record time. 21 minutes to be exact. From the time we drove it up on ramps until we closed the hood on the newly filled engine oil reservoir. We know. We timed it.
Last summer, my brother-in-law taught me how to change the oil in my car and I’ve been doing it ever since. I really do do it more than once a year (for those of you who were panicking on my behalf…) - usually about every 4 months. Joey has helped me the last couple of times and pretty soon I should have him well enough trained to do it on his own for me. 
Once we got the oil changed and all the other fluids replenished, Naomi vacuumed the interior while Joey and I cleaned the windows and other surfaces. We safely disposed of the used oil at the auto store and stopped by the car wash to clean the exterior and undercarriage of the car. This decision was carefully weighed by the three of us in light of the rainy weather, but we all agreed afterward that the fresh feel of the clean car made the additional washing well worth it! In just over an hour, we had completed our important mission for the morning.
The afternoon agenda included a trip downtown to a political rally to hear from several candidates running for office in Kansas and to pick up materials to be distributed in our Derby precincts.
Pictured: Phil Journey, our state Senator and acting representative for the Phill Kline campaign; Jim Barnett, Gubernatorial candidate; Todd Tiahrt, US Representative for our district; and David Thorne, organizer of the event.
I arrived home with a bag full of literature and hundreds of plastic bags in which to place said literature. Eager to help with anything election-related, Noelle, Naomi and Joey volunteered to join me in stuffing the bags. We decided to time ourselves to see how quickly we could get it done. (This timing thing is getting to be serious business…gracious, I’m beginning to feel like Debbie…)
Approximately 1 hour, 36 minutes and 54 seconds later, we had 600 bags stuffed and ready to go – and that includes the time it took me to make a quick trip to pick up additional bags! Next plan of action: deliver a bag to the front door of every house in our precinct. Anyone want to help? The more, the merrier! Just let me know.
Election Day is less than two weeks away! If you’re a Kansas voter, here are a couple of helpful links:
Kansas Voters Values – view Voter’s Guides for every Congressional District with information on candidates in House, Senate and State-wide races.
Project Vote-Smart – very helpful information for all state offices. Look at the state specs at a glance and then type in your zip code to see a list of all the current office-holders and candidates running in your voting area.
Kansas VoterView – a very cool new site where you can view your personal voting history, polling place location and what Districts you are in for each type of election, even down to local city races.
Candidate Listings – you can view a complete list of every candidate who has filed to run in a given election.
Kansas Judicial Review – a new site that looks promising with its aim to make Kansas voters better informed regarding judicial elections, but so far it hasn’t been updated with recommendations for the November 7 election.
Kansas District Courts – information about the Kansas court system with links to each District’s website, where you can find lots of additional information about specific judges.
Kansas Court of Appeals - brief biographies of each of the judges serving on the Kansas Court of Appeals.
A lot will be decided on November 7 and I hope that every reader of this blog will be sure to get out and vote!
Wow, Natalie! I am so impressed. You can change the oil in your own car and stuff 600 election literature bags in a little over an hour and a half! Now that’s what I call a “Proverbs 31 woman!”
OK, so I’m being silly, but I really am impressed with your skills. I have sort of wanted to learn how to change the oil in my car for awhile now. I think the inter-workings of a car are fascinating. It kinda’ reminds me of the intracacies and interconnectedness of the human body. (well, to a much lesser extent anyway). My dad use to change the oil in our cars himself, but now he takes them in to the shop because he doesn’t like to dirty his hands. It sounds funny but I know what he means. When he used to work more with the public in pharmacy, he didn’t want to be counting change or handing someone a prescription with gunk under his nails and oil stains on his finger tips. I am the same way about wanting to work on cars. I think it is interesting and I would be willing to learn, but I don’t think a nurse with grease-stained hands in a very welcome sight to patients (or me for that matter) :). Maybe you have some suggestions for preventing this dilemma. And also, do you do brakes? I was drving to an appointment this afternoon and my “ABS” light came on. I think I need a break job on my car.
I enjoyed your report of an afternoon’s activities. And way to go training Joey to do the oil changes for you. Maybe that’s how I can keep from getting my hands dirty. Train Nathan to do the oil change for me.
I think he would love to learn something like that. It would certainly come in handy if he ever has his own farm someday.
Have a good week and happy literature dropping! When do you plan to go?
Hey Lydia~
You’re too funny! I must say, being a Proverbs 31 woman wasn’t what first came to my mind as I crawled under the car. But I’m glad to know that it does indeed qualify me as such.
Dirty hands…you’ve gotta be kidding! I’ve just gotten down the keeping my face clean part. You’re going to have to give me some more time before I can offer suggestions for keeping the hands clean.
I do agree that is an important consideration for a nurse.
Brake problems…Nope, not a clue.
Aren’t little brothers wonderful? Hmmm…what else do you think we can train them to do while we’re at it?
Thanks for your always-entertaining comments, Lydia!
What a fun day! Scott and I have been enjoying watching and talking about the election race this year. He was able to go to his first debate this week between our rep. and really enjoyed it. Of course, it is always fun when your canidate “wins” the debate.:) Thanks for posting those links for voter info- that is great!
I noticied the above comment about keeping your hands clean. Now sure this would work, but an idea. When using an oil base paint one day at our house, I realized after cleaning the brush with the last of the mineral spirits that we did not have another bottle to clean my hands with. I tried MANY things, and what eventually worked was a salt scrub. (THis one was from Bath and Body I think) Anyway, one of those super nice, scented oil and salt scubs. I scrubbed it all over my hands and it removed all the paint. Then I wiped off the remaining oil with a dry towel. It still leaves a bit of oil feeling on your hands, but after a while it sinks in and you can wash normally. Anyway, I think the concept would work well with any oil products.
God bless!
LA
Hey Lydia A!
Yes, election season is full of excitement to be sure! We were at a rally for Phill Kline tonight. He is always so passionate and inspiring. We must do everything we can to get him re-elected!
Thanks for the tip on keeping hands clean - who would have thought the solution could be found in one of those “fun” products?!
I’ve loved keeping up with you via your blog and love seeing pictures of your adorable little guy. Hope you keep them coming!
~Natalie
Natalie
Check out Kansas Judicial Review of Johnson County www.kansasjudicialreviewofjoco.org. We are affilliated with Kansas Judicial Review and have recommendations on the KS Supreme Court and Kansas Court of Appeals justices. We are a group that formed almost a year ago that was upset by the State v. Marsh (dealth penalty) and Montoy school funding decision by the KS Supreme Court tried to take a nonpartisan look at the justices and were looking for activist judges.
Jim Atchison, Treasurer, Kansas Judicial Review of Johnson County