I'm just a girl with an oil filter...

I have been horrified by the price I pay each time I go to the quick lube to get my Jeep's oil changed. So, after 2-3 years of steaming at the ears every 5,000 miles, I decided to learn to change my own oil! I first sat down to make a list of "oil change accessories."

The list included the following:

• an oil pan
• a funnel
• an oil filter
• oil
• one of those wrench thingies to get the oil filter on and off
• gloves (no grease under the fingernails for me)
• an old rag 

My first stop? Autozone! Or was it Advance Auto Parts? I can't remember... Anyway, after I declined to buy a lovely gold necklace from the man in the parking lot (I was up on Summer Avenue - interesting people shop there), I entered "no woman's land". I wandered up and down each of the aisles acting like I belonged before approaching a salesman and begging for his help. His name was Shakeem, but his coworkers called him "Shak." Shak had a long braided ponytail that reached halfway down his shoulder blades, but the hair only came from a small area at the base of his head. The rest of his head was bald as a newborn. In a voice sounding like James Earl Jones, Shak asked how he could help. "I'm planning to change the oil in my Jeep for the first time and need all the oil changing accessories," I brightly replied. Bless his heart. Shak gave a little laugh, pulled up the info on his computer, and I walked out of the store 10 minutes later with everything I needed for a successful oil change!

I had had a few conversations with my daddy and with Kathryn (my friend mentioned in earlier blogs) about the process of oil-changing... so I felt like I knew what I was doing. I got home, unloaded my new accessories, placed the accessories strategically around my Jeep, and crawled under the vehicle. I had picked out my outfit with oil-changing in mind, so I was able to easily brush the dirt from my camouflage shorts as I soon crawled out from under the Jeep. I called my daddy to ask where the oil drum was, for I couldn't find the place where the oil would drip out! He was helpful and told me "just go somewhere to get the oil changed, Meagan". Well, I couldn't stop now - I had bought all the accessories AND picked out my oil-changing outfit! So if Daddy isn't there to give me the answers, whom else should I ask for guidance? Well, the answer was obvious... YouTube!  I ran inside and searched "how to change the oil in a Jeep" on the website. A few seconds later I was learning everything I needed to know from Billy Bob and his 1986 Jeep Wrangler... I watched the entire 8 minute video then went back outside, my confidence restored. I slid back under my Jeep only to realize the bolt was screwed too tightly for me to get off without a socket wrench. So I ran next door and asked my neighbor, Jim, if I could borrow his wrench. He immediately got a worried look on his face and politely asked what I was doing... I explained the oil change, YouTube, etc, and he told me to come get him if I had any problems as he handed over the wrench set:)

See? Oil on my fingers! I'm legit.

Once I had all my equipment, the actual oil changing process was pretty easy! I made a little bit of a mess, had a couple of hiccups to conquer (like when the oil filter wrench got stuck on the filter or when the oil missed the pan when draining), but the operation was a success! I felt like a winner! The feeling of accomplishment was quickly dimmed when I looked around at the mess I had to clean up. Oh, well.

So now my Jeep is running as smoothly as silk. And whose fault is that? Mine! Whoop, whoop!