The Death of a Lexus (could be "inspiration in adversity" if you read it that way)

My fingers are dirty. And sore. I just spent several hours taking apart various parts of my dead Lexus (1994 LS400) to get to the parts that are dysfunctional. In the process I managed to discover the cause of the death of the Lexus: a malfunctioning O-ring in the power steering pump reservoir. This malfunctioning O-ring allowed PS fluid to drip onto the PS pump and then down onto the alternator, causing the alternator to short out and die, which of course then caused the whole car to die (once the battery was drained; fortunately, it got me into the driveway while it was still running on battery power, but wouldn't restart afterwards). One tiny little O-ring.

Now, my friend Dean would probably try to extrapolate this into a long post about how, similar to the body of Christ, each little part - as insignificant as it may seem - has an important role to play, and how, when that seemingly insignificant, hidden part doesn't do its job, it can cause the entire vehicle (the "church") to falter and die. I won't make such a leap, however... you'll have to wait on him to take this and run with it (if he ever does). I'll only share my frustration at the design... you'd think that someone could have foreseen this issue and designed it such that a PS fluid leak wouldn't cause the death of the entire car (because of the alternator shorting out). I mean, if you were on a trip cross-country and this died in the middle of your trip, that would be pretty lousy. Fortunately, for me, it was around town and we made it home before it died completely.

I'll also express my frustration at "modern vehicles" - they cram things in there so tight it's nearly impossible to get anything done. The PS reservoir was irritatingly difficult to take off, and managed to get PS fluid all over the place (despite my attempts at emptying the reservoir with a suction-type food baster and to cover things with paper towels to catch the remaining fluid). I also managed, while attempting to push the radiator hose a little in order to get a better view of things, to cause the thermostat housing to crack its seal and start leaking coolant (actually, I think the O-ring that seals that housing probably needs replacing, too, although it wasn't leaking before I stressed the housing by pushing on the radiator hose). The alternator is not exactly an easy piece, either - after getting it loose, I struggled with getting the electrical plug out (finally resorted to a pair of pliers to get enough grip to pull out the plug). Then it still wouldn't come off the stud that holds it since the PS pump pulley was in the way - I had to pull the pulley off the pump in order to get the alternator off the stud. And there still wasn't enough clearance to get the alternator out, and I had to pull the radiator hose off (spilling a lot of coolant in the process despite my attempt to drain the radiator through the drain hose - it did drain a lot of coolant that way, but apparently not all of it) and the radiator shroud.

But I did finally get the alternator off, and it's in a box ready to take to the parts store tomorrow (my wife was out with our one functional vehicle, so I couldn't go get the parts tonight, assuming they're even in stock at the local auto parts store). One little O-ring. Probably a $6 part (maybe less, that's the figure I saw for the part from Lexus, although I haven't actually seen that price quote from a Lexus parts place). Hours of hassle and effort (not to mention plenty of frustration, and a period over which we had no running vehicles because of our van breaking down previously), a $142 alternator, sore and dirty fingers, and gallons of coolant and quart(s) of power steering fluid. Oh, and I broke the radiator shroud when removing it... hopefully some super glue will fix it.

I have other thoughts (different subjects), but I'll wait to post them in a separate post in order not to overload you with too much at once (you know, keeping the post-size and number of subjects per post to a minimum). :)

2nd post of March (in case you're keeping track of that sort of thing)

There's an interesting article here on wikiHow about "How to Think Ahead" (you know, for times like when I haven't posted a blog article in a while and you don't know what to do with all your free time you'd have otherwise spent reading my blog... in that case, you can go back and read (or re-read) past articles, comments you may've missed, add new comments, or consider what great things you can do with all your spare time because I'm not causing you to waste your time reading this drivel).

Anyway, if nothing else, the picture (to the right) in the article is pretty neat... if you click on the picture, it'll take you to its page on Flickr.com. As a warning, though, don't overanalyze things... that's what we perfectionists tend to do, and end up doing nothing and being unproductive. As an alternative to thinking ahead, you could just live in the present. Of course, that means your entire life would be reactionary instead of actionary (hey, that's not a word!), which might or might not be a good thing. But it might be carefree, if you don't care about or for anything. Hey... is that what it means to have a carefree life, that you care about and for nothing? If so, I'm not sure I want to live a carefree life, since I like caring about things (like my wife, my kids, my friends), but there are of course other things for which I care that I probably shouldn't quite so much (like my "toys" - guitar(s), car(s), computer(s), video game(s), geocaching - wait, that's a good family hobby, a great way to spend some time outside with the wife and/or kids, so it's probably ok).

My dad used to have this problem, this "caring" issue. Once upon a time, he bought a 1991 Buick Park Avenue Ultra (just before the Ultras came with superchargers), brand new. On the second day (I think) of ownership, he was out showing it off by taking my mom, brothers (I was in college then), and my grandmom out to lunch, when someone in an old, beat-up station wagon changed lanes into the front of the Park Avenue. Turns out the guy was unemployed and uninsured, and said, "They make the hoods on these new cars too low, you can't see them." My dad never got that fender or parking lamp fixed - on purpose (it was still broken when he gave me the car several years later). It was a daily reminder to him that "things" are just that - "things." They're not what's important in life. (That's a lesson I still need to learn sometimes.) Years later he bought a 2003 (I think) BMW 525is (again, brand new). He was sitting in his office when a coworker came in, rather distraught, and said, "Ray, I just backed into your car." (She had a large SUV.) He said, "Ok." She was taken aback and said, "Did you hear what I said? I just backed into your car!" And he said, "Ok." Evidently he had learned... it was just a "thing" - and (although he did get it fixed this time) that's all it was to him now... just a "thing." Not something important, just an item, one that is only temporary anyway.

I guess I could have titled this post "inspiration in adversity part 3" (see parts one and two), although this was older adversity.

I guess I don't really need a Sony Xperia X1. Of course, I'll still happily accept one, if some benevolent feeling reader wants to offer me one whenever they come out. It would make my blogging away from home much easier... and then you wouldn't have to think ahead so much as to what to do with all your free time because I haven't posted anything in a while. Just a thought.

I guess that's all for now... but a question: if earthworms were on mars, what would you call them? (my answer: dead)

More Inspiration in Adversity

I was going to post something witty, something silly, something to waste another moment or two of your life, but (lucky you) I found something worthwhile to share. But it's not mine.

If you don't know who Rick Burgess is, he's 1/2 of the Rick and Bubba show, a morning show that's really entertaining and inspirational at the same time. Rick recently lost his 3-year-old son in a tragic accident; the boy drowned in the pool at their house while his dad was away doing a conference in Tennessee. This past Tuesday was the memorial service for little William Bronner Burgess. Rick spoke at the service. The speech is what I want to share. You can go to the Rick and Bubba website to download an MP3 of the speech (warning, it's over 31 MB).

Alternatively, you can see the video in the following links (the volume's a bit low in either MP3 or YouTube video format, so you'll probably need to turn it up a bit):

Rick Burgess - A Father's Heart part 1
Rick Burgess - A Father's Heart part 2
Rick Burgess - A Father's Heart part 3

Listen to (or watch) the videos; they're very inspiring. Seriously, very inspiring.

That's all; I will simply leave you with Rick's challenge: Don't an apathetic, weak, ineffective Christian; there are people out there who need to know Jesus; some you don't know, some you do. Make sure you do your best to tell them about Him.

And Jesus' challenge: "If you love me, obey my commandments."

Inspiration in adversity

In case you missed the last post, the Redskins didn't make it past the wild-card game in the playoffs. But, even through the loss, there's something to be found. Consider the article on the Redskins web site, here. Some excerpts from the article:

"Gibbs learned to respond to the adversity the only way he knows how: through his faith in God."

This, in case you didn't know, is a keystone of Joe Gibbs, his faith in God. (Consider the book, Racing to Win, by Gibbs; it's inspirational and definitely worth reading.) And he's not ashamed of it.

But back to the "inspiration in adversity" part of the post; consider the last part of the article on the 'skins site, some words from Joe Gibbs:

"You have to realize that in team sports, it is kind of rare all of a sudden a team gets that feeling [truly becomes a team]," Gibbs said. "I think this team has that. I think in my experience as a head coach, there have been 4-5 teams that really grabbed that. This team has it.

"What happens with a team like that is that they quit worrying about their roles. We have guys on the team who could be highly upset. Reche Caldwell wants to catch more balls. Rock [Cartwright] wants to run from the line of scrimmage.

"But what they do is they say, 'Whatever the coaches want me to do, I'm going to do it. I'll go as hard as I can.' That's hard for most people. As individuals, we grow up thinking me, me me. I'm the worst. You're focused on yourself.

"To be able to put yourself and your goals to one side and concentrate on the team--this team has that and it's hard to get. I'll never forget the other teams that had that.

"And I'll never forget this one."

This is where the inspiration comes; this is, believe it or not, kind of a picture of "God's team" - of Christians. We're all part of the same team, we all have our roles to play (consider the passage 1 Corinthians 12). Sometimes we have to just do the things that need doing, the things that we're good at, the things that God has gifted us to do. Take, for instance, Rock Cartwright - he's a very, very good kick returner. He is a good running back, true, but his current role with the Redskins is primarily kick returner, and he does a great job at that role. If he was concerned about his lack of utilization as a running back (roles filled, at the moment, by Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts), then his attitude would suffer, and likely his usefulness, his effectiveness as a kick returner would be impacted.

Sometimes we have to simply fill the role we're currently asked to fill. And when we are, we need to do it without complaining, without getting upset about what we're asked to do; otherwise our performance will suffer and our team won't be able to accomplish as much as we otherwise could. It may be that the position will remain the same for as long as we're left here to take part in the team's activities; it may be that our role will change sometime in the future. But, when we have a role to play, we should do our best to fulfill that role and, at the same time, "cheer on" (encourage) those filling other roles. (Believe it or not, this also applies to "regular life" as well - in your job, in your family, in your school, wherever you are, do what you're called to do, do it well, and do it without complaining; of course, "regular life" really doesn't exist for a Christian - there is no separation of our "Christian life" and our "regular life" - it's all the same, and trying to make a distinction between the two is a mistake that needs to be addressed.)

So, there you go... inspiration in adversity, finding something in a loss. Turning a lesson from sports into a lesson for life.