11 days working under car, in the cold. No desire to dress.

[Alice Torn]

I am low income, spent 1700 dollars on my old Dodge, but have to replace the leaky oil pan. 11 days ago, i started the job, which requires raising the motor, and taking off steering parts, and more. The weather has been subzero most of the time, with only a few above freezing days. I have hit snag after snag, complication, after complication, and my hands are dry and full of sores, body strained and aching all over, and mind pretty demoralized. I wear tights at night, to help stay warm, in my cold place. But to tell the truth, i am too shot to want to dress up at all, and too beat. My guy side has had to take over , until this hellish job is done. If the car is ruined, i will just not have a car anymore. Push has come to shove, with this Siberian type bitter cold winter. I wear an insulatied mens coveralls. I grew up in this stuff, but at 59, and under the car 7 hours in subzero weather, for 11 days or more, even CDing takes cover.

[suzy1]

Oh how I do sympathize Alice!
When the car is finely done just get in that shower girl. Then rub some skin cream all over you, a squirt of perfume and you will back in Alice mode in no time.:)
I have spent too much time under a car myself and I know the misery of it all.:sad:

[Alice Torn]

Suzy, Thank you for the post, and empathy , and sharing. This is the last time i ever am doing MAJOR car repairs myself!!!! Next time, i will get rid of it, and just walk or use the bicycles.

[Anna H]

Alice, I think that could very well be my worst nightmare to
ever have to go through that type of thing again.

At least with dressing, there's something Special to look forward
to. Everyone else gets to watch TV after the Hellish job is done.

It's hard for me to find any positives with deep-freeze mechanic jobs,
but I do feel for you! Very Much!

[Finally Happy]

Been there, I feel for you! I think a lot of us have had to switch to full on guy mode a time or two. But that's one of things that I think is very cool about what we do. We can, if we want to, have the best of both worlds. There are things in either mode that I won't do. Combine the two, there's nothin I can't do. With all that said, in 'guy mode' I always wear panties (it's all I have) and usually wear bra, especially if it'll go unnoticed, like under a car wearing heavy jackets... :)

[suzy1]

I once worked under a car and as I lay in the gutter the rain flowed into my collar ran down my body and went out through the bottom of my trousers. The job took over an hour! I am now very lucky. I can afford to get the garage to do the work.:)

[Ilsa]

A most dreaded situation doing your own maintenance, but look at it this way. It sure beats the car breaking down when you're out for the night dressed to the hilt in the middle of nowhere.

[MonikaTirola]

Nothing wrong with being all guy. Somehow I don't fully believe it as you posted your story here. ;)

In any case days will get longer and sunnier soon.

And that might just unfreeze your girly side too. ;)

Also I'm impressed you could fix your car in the cold.

[Kate Simmons]

It's pretty similar to being in a hardship military tour in a foreign country in a combat situation. Can't get too much worse than that. I've done it all and survived my friend. This is when fortitude, determination and long suffering kick in. There is always a light at the end of that bleak looking tunnel.:battingeyelashes::)

[Beverley Sims]

Alice,
You will warm up, thaw out and the urge will return....
I assure you. :)

[Stephanie47]

Time to relocate to where the weather is not so extreme.

[Paulacder]

I agree, once the car is finished a hot bath, a total body shave, a wiff of your favorite perfume will put you back in the mode....This has always worked for me...

[thisgal16]

I have the same problem but during the summer where it is well over 100 all the time and couple that with working outside 12 plus hours a day and I don't feel like doing anything other than showering and sleeping. This is the time of year I like to dress and so things due to the mid 70s highs and high 40s for the lows

[bimini1]

Damn that's rougher than rough. I want to get out in the cold en femme but Jack Frost just laughs at the coat I have.

[julia marie]

Alice. Best of luck with the car. We can all sympathize, and I'm sure you will feel more fem once you have the wheels back and spring hits. BTW, one of the worst feelings besides the raw chill is touching any metal parts when it's sub-zero. Ouch!

[josrphine]

Hi Alice, Like u, been there done that, but my worst was as a power lineman ice storm in Connecticut. Cold had too climb the ice side of the pole, electricity running up an down the arms, but guess what we wore pantie hose to keep warm . JO

[DorothyElizabeth]

HI, Alice! Like you, I have been there, done that, and got the tee shirt. (In fact, I have several, if anyone wants one of my extras. - insert wry grin here) I spent the first four years after graduating rom college working as an automobile mechanic, but that was back in the seventies, when all you needed was common sense and the right tools. Today, the only things I do my self are things like brakes and wheel bearings. BUt I certainly know the frazzle of not having cash, and having a car that is really on its last legs, so to speak. My car is nineteen years old, and whenever I drive it, I wonder what is going to die next.

My friend, Teresa (a genetic female) says the worst part about working on cars is there is no way to clean up your fingernails afterward, and polish does not stick to the grease that gets ground in around the edges. She recommends nitrile gloves, and following up afterward with Bag Balm, which she buys from Vermont Country Store.

Best of luck to you, and stay warm, Girl!

[char GG]

I admire your ability to fix a car. As a GG, I wish I had more mechanical ability, however, the best I can do is memorize pictures of an engine and try to recite how it works. (I had to take a test on it once). No matter how hard I try, I still don't understand. My poor SO just shakes his head, it so easy to him. Sorry about you having to work in the cold, I also live in the midwest, it has been a wicked winter so far. The best advise I can offer after working in the cold on a miserable job is to take a hot bubble bath.

[Vanessa5]

Yes this winter has been rather on the cold/freezing side of the coin. I live in MN and last weekend I did sparkplugs in the car we just bought. I have a bullet heater and luckily is still works. I applaud you for doing your own repair work. I have a car that seems to like to be broken. Everytime it goes to the shop (I can't work on it-too many things I just want to smash) it is at least $400. That is on the cheap-just spark plugs! Had to replace entire front end (mechanically) and that was $5000.

[flatlander_48]

Yes, it has been cold, very cold. This morning I cleaned my car, my wife's car, drove to work (a 10 minute trip), parked and walked into the building. I sat at my desk for nearly 30 minutes before the numbness left my fingers and they quit hurting. However, the real problem is that I am not really acclimated to northern winters any more. Out of the last 10 years, 6 in Taiwan and 1 in Wilmington, NC have seen to that...

[Jilmac]

I fully sympathize with you Alice. I always try to do things as cheap as I can but I still haven't learned my lesson. That evil Murphy who's law states, "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong" accompanies me on every job I tackle, and it seems that Murphy is at his worst in winter. As cold as it has been this winter, if anything goes wrong with my car, I'll just let the snow pile up on it and stay indoors until August.

[Adriana Moretti]

dont worry.....that urge will come back....especially when the flowers start to bloom...and the skirts go up a little higher !

[KristyE]

My truck is in the driveway with a rot hole in the frame, bad ball joint and an emmisions problem. Driving the SO"s car till spring, I won't spend another winter under it if I can help it. Hope your done with yours for now. A hot shower, a cup of tea, a soft nighty, and a good nights sleep can cure anything...
Love KristyE

[Donnagirl]

Just be thankful you can repair a car. I don't want to think how many thousands of dollars I have saved being able to fix just about everything. Rewired the AC / heater control, replaced two taps and replaced the lower control arms on the car this weekend. Money saved I would like to think will go towards wardrobe items, but no.... I must entertain the kids whilst the wife works. Did get some gladiator heels on sale. Maybe one day I'll post a pic.

[flatlander_48]

No matter how hard I try, I still don't understand. My poor SO just shakes his head, it so easy to him.

In part, this speaks to how society views the roles of men and women. We tend not to encourage (and even discourage) exposure of so-called masculine activities to young women and so-called feminine activities to young men. My first wife and I did do some of this with our son and daughter. Our son knows how to cook and clean and our daughter knows her way around a clutch and gearshift and a toolbox. It is to the point where her husband recognizes her skills are superior to his own in that regard. I hope that she will pass the thought process along to our granddaughter.

The complications of a machine such as a car are not learned overnight. However, the suggestion would be to start from the inside with what makes the BANG and work your way outwards.

[Jesse Six]

Hey Alice,
IMHO, it's pretty natural for your personality to shift in a high-stress environment. I sympathize.

A couple years back I was working a couple jobs at the same time. I felt like I joined "manual labor monastery". My personality was amputated: interests, friends, sexuality. Work, eat, sleep, repeat.

Hey, at least when you're done, there's a sense of accomplishment!

[Tina B.]

First let me say, Alice you have my sympathies, I hate working on cars, spent to much of my youth laying on a cold garage floor putting a car back together.
But I've never had to do it in weather like you guys are having this year!
After a day like that, how could you want anything but a warm shower and a bed.
Hope you get it running, it's to cold for a bike.

[Violet-13]

sounds hard, I'm going to school to become a mechanic. I get how hard it is in a nice warm garage I couldn't imagine trying to work in the cold, make sure you take a break every once and a wile so you don't get frost bite

[Alice Torn]

Thanks to all of you who replied!! A lot of outdoor workers are in the bitter icebox this year. I had a unheated shed most of the job, but did some outside. Yes, Murphy's law. The manual had only a paragraph, making it sound easy, and quick. TODAY, Jan 26, after 12 days, of agaony, and good ups, redo's, beating my head against the wall, hands numb with cuts and sores, and splinters, and a very sore body. In the below zero stuff, i had four layers of clothes. No gloves. A fur trapper hat. I was not really cold, but hands did, after a while. I screwed up countless times. I am bipolar, and losing some of my ability to concentrate, and think logically at times. Anyway, I did things i did not think i could do, and despite yelling and cussing and utter frustration, after 12 days, i am driving the old 1976 Dodge Aspen. But, all the salt spread this winter, is taking its toll on the body. I miss the northwest, no salt! I know a lot of you have horror stories about icy weather, and cars, and other thing. That must be hell on the crews out restoring power, in extreme cold. I complained and moaned, when i had to replace my transmission, in 90 degree and humid. I would choose the heat, now, even though that drains you of energy , also. I don't mind working on car in cold, but not this sub and below zero stuff. Makes me think of the German Army stuck in the extreme hell winter in Russia.

[DorothyElizabeth]

Well, Alice, I'm glad to read that you're back on the road again
"On the road again
I just can't wait to get on the road again
The life I love is making music".............um sorry. I got a little carried away for a moment there. Maybe I can just blame it on the ADH...........Oh, look! There goes a bunny rabbit!...um Where was I...oh yeah..
ADHD

Anyway, glad you got it running. :)

[Celeste]

Hi Alice,We are getting one of the most frigid January's.I too am on a budget, so I know how it is being forced to make a repair or else!You have a major win under your belt with getting it running again ....not quite conquering the Russian winter,but pretty close.lol

[Patty F]

I have to do this as my son in-law and I go back and forth all the time. He loves chevy and I am a former ford mechanic (20 years in a dealership) You should have bought a Ford. Just Kidding. Been there many times no fun when weather is like we have had recently. When all is done take a hot shower, a deep breath, and say look what Alice has accomplished.

[donnalee]

Before I retired almost 5 years ago, I decided to buy a new car as I figured I'd was getting too old to be crawling under them. Up until then I had always done my own repairs and maintenance, mostly on cars about 2 steps from the junk yard. I learned by doing over a pretty long time and watching those who knew how when I could. I had a low income and more time than money and was in decent physical shape, so could manage pretty well, but it was never comfortable; dirt seemed to have a magnetic attraction to me and lodged deeply in every crack in my skin and nails and was nearly impossible to get out.
You have my every sympathy; I hope you are successful with the repairs

[Eryn]

I think that if I were in your situation I would invest in a drip pan and just keep pouring oil into the engine until spring! :)

My upbringing was one of "Real Men fix their own cars" and I really can't shake it. As the de facto male in my household those tasks fall to me.

[Leslie Langford]

My sympathies, Alice!

But here's a youtube video (a clip from one of the classic Fawlty Towers episodes) that you can probably relate to, and which should give you a bit of a chuckle...;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc

[JenniferR771]

Way to go, Alice! A car that runs is just so much better. A huge reward to your efforts in itself. And fixing things is just so educational---lol! Somewhere there is a woman than needs things fixed--and who doesn't care what you do in your spare time.

Now tell me--what happened with the high heel dents in the floor situation? Was any blood spilled? (Mainly yours I was concerned about).

[heatherdress]

Hang in there, Alice. I admire you for your skills and your hard work. Don't worry about dressing. Just think of doing something special while dressed after you get the job done. Also, it is cold everywhere. BE CAREFUL! Take care of yourself. Good luck. Heather.