Preventative Maintenance

"Take care of your stuff" is what my mother used to tell me. When it comes to something as expensive as an automobile, I really have to take care of it. If I do not, it will cost me even more money. Owning a vehicle takes a lot of work. Many things must be done to prevent a vehicle from becoming a money pit, and allowing it to retain some resale value. One process that must be done regularly is changing the oil in my truck's engine.

I perform this operation every 3,000-4,000 miles after the last time I change the oil in the engine. That basically means that I change the oil around four times a year. Since this is not something that is done very often, I forget the part number for the proper oil filter and the correct oil weight that my truck needs. Therefore, I start this operation by checking my truck's log book to recall the proper information needed to purchase the right items.

After I have all the information that I need, I go to the auto parts store to buy an oil filter and a jug of 5-w30 weighted oil. If I am lucky, they will have a deal for buying oil and an oil filter at the same time. With the proper supplies, I head home. At home, I ready the newly purchased supplies, oil spill pan, and the correct socket wrench.

Now that all the correct tools and supplies are laid out, I can begin the actual operation of changing the oil. With the engine cool, I begin by laying the oil spill pan under the drain hole of the truck's oil pan, and unscrewing the bolt that plugs the drain hole. I wait a few minutes while gravity does its work on the oil. As the final drop drips out, I screw the bolt back into the drain hole securely.

Since the oil spill pan is full of oil, I gently slide it under the oil filter, because once I remove the filter, a bit more oil will spill. I reach in through the wheel well and wrap my hand around the oil filter. With a firm grip, I unscrew the old oil filter. After sitting the filter aside, I replace it with the new oil filter. Before I screw the new one on, I wipe some of the old oil around the rim of the new filter. This will enable an easy removal next time I change the oil.

The filter and plug bolt are now both secure, and the truck's oil pan is empty and awaiting new oil. At this point I pop the hood of the truck and unscrew the oil cap. With the passage to the oil pan open, I empty the correct amount new oil in. I finish the operation by screwing the oil cap back on. With the operation finished, I am now able to take the used oil and oil filter to the auto parts store for recycling. I never want to just dump the oil down a sewer, into nature, or down a drain, because this is harmful to the environment and very illegal. Plus, some auto parts stores do not charge me for recycling my oil.

Performing this operation does cost a bit of money, but it is the price I for "taking care of my stuff". Also, if I do not take care of it, the cost will be much higher in the future. Therefore, changing the oil in my truck is an easy way to help keep it running and keep the cost of owning it down.

"On Fire" Question Responses

1. He describes the process of his job as a fireman. He describes what happens before and during a call.
2. He tells about all the hardships that happen on the job to capture the attention of the reader. Then he tells about the preparations that must be done to ensure that hardships do not turn in to something worse, such as death. Describing things this way enables the reader to realize the significance of the preparation.
3. Personification is used when he says that embers can go anywhere. This helps clarify that any exposed skin can, and probably will, get burned.
4. He uses second person to put the reader into his shoes. This enables the reader to seemingly live through his experiences, and understand significance of every little thing.
5. He wishes to show that firefighting is a difficult job, and it takes its toll on the body. Not only physically, but mentally as well, the job conditions and punishes you. It becomes second nature to check every aspect of your gear to ensure the highest possible safety.

Competition

For the most part, I have always had a free thinking mind. Not only walking, but customizing the path that I walk in life has been part of my pride as a man. As I grew up, I formed the view of living life my way. I had always been taught that everyone is different. Therefore, I usually did not see the need to be like someone else. Of course I had role models and friends that I looked up to, but I really never modeled my life after anyone's. However, that did not come without speed bumps and roadblocks.

Having fun in life is a main priority of mine. My time in this world is extremely short, and I am just an insignificant dot in the realm of time and space. Therefore, the only person my significance will matter 100% to is me. I lead my life with passion. I am not saying that I never get lazy and loaf about, but I use my time in life to do things I enjoy. That being said, I usually develop a passion for the things I enjoy. Passion is a great thing, but it can become destructive if not handled properly.

Take for example the nature of competition. Sometimes my passions lead me to competition. Competition is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can easily be formed into ill-natured. Once my passions become skewed past the level of fun, my life seems to be yanked to a halt.

To explain a bit about what I mean, I will tell about something fun to me that I sometimes take too seriously, and let my competitive nature wreck it. I play a video game called "Gears of War" online with friends and stranger sometimes. This is a video game a really enjoy, and tend to schedule time for, even if my life is busy. Even though I really like playing this game, I let it frustrate me.

Frustration sets in when I expect irrational things from myself. It is very rational to expect myself to do a good job on the game, but at the same time it is irrational in the face of fun. If I let competition and standards block the fun factor, why even play the game? If I get mad at something I enjoy, why even play it? My competitive nature sometimes ruins certain events in my life. I really do not like this truth. Therefore, I work on changing it.

Now every time I even think about this particular video game, I think about how fun it is, and about all the great times that have came from it. Then I think about when I am going to play it next. I think about how fun it will be to play with many friends and have fun. That is the key. Have fun. So before I even play the game, I totally accept that fact that I will either win or lose. Whatever happens, it will be a pleasurable experience.

With this type of mindset, I am able to place the game into my Xbox without any thought of stress. I can start talking to all my friends via my Xbox and fire up the video game. With this state of mind, not only will the experience be an asset to my life's enjoyment, but I am free to learn and ask questions. I feel no ill will towards people who beat me, and I can easily ask for advice. This leads to me achieving a higher skill level in this game.

This is only a video game, and it should not matter. However if I can conquer the speed bumps and roadblocks that a video game throws at me, I can apply the same logic to adversities in life. Being able to conquer life's pits allows me to easily make and walk my own path.

"My First Conk" Question Responses

1. He wanted a conk to show that he has become more "upper class". He thought it symbolized all the educated and respected people. However, later he found that he was just degrading his god given body to conform to what was generally accepted.
2. He wrote it as a process explanation because he was not informing the readers on how to conk hair. Conking hair was not his reason to write. He was explaining a point in his life that was significant, and the pain he had to go through during the event.
3. He wrote about the pain to show how some people, including him, go through so much, just to be accepted.
4. These are very powerful words. He uses them to bring his final point into view. He had been previously explaining that he was conking his hair for good reasons, but later realized that the reasons were not that great.
5. His message is still very relevant. Girls and guys still straighten their hair to look "pretty". Even clothes trends still have their grips on people's wallets.

"Family Lessons" Question Responses

1. Since I grew up with two brothers, I can picture the main character as being full of tough love. As far as physical appearances are concerned, I really have no clue what he looks like. Physical attributes may have been good for the cousin, since he was going to try bull riding. If he was scrawny, that would have added to the effect of the story.
2. I would not take any characters out, but I would like to see a compassionate female in the story. Maybe there could be a sister of the cousin or brother to be worried for the cousin. When the cousin got hurt, she would add a bit more drama to the story, because she would be very emotional. Her worries would be coming true.
3. Having to deal with tough love my whole life, the plot interested me. I would have loved to have read a bit more on the cousin's bull riding camp "fun".
4. I could picture where most of the scenes took place, but only during the last half of the story. Even then, the pictures of the places I thought of were lacking detail. Therefore, a bit more detail could be told about places such as the bull riding camp and the store.
5. The dialogue seems real enough, but more dialogue could be used in the store/workplace scene to add an urgency feeling.
6. A good start is to have people read it and ask them questions such as the one asked here. Then use the input to mold the story for the better, without completely changing it. Then have people read it again and give more input.

Building My Tastes

I have never heard of a family food tree, and I don't think my family has one. I'm sure if I ask my elders, they could tell me what kind of dishes have been in our family for generations, but I never have had that type of curiosity. My family members do prepare certain dishes. Also, we gather for different occasions to eat and socialize.

There is, of course, the obvious gather times in which we eat. These times are events such as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. I am not religious, but I guess my family gathers due to religious beliefs, as most families do. During the major holidays such as these, my mother does most of the cooking. Everyone shoes up with a dish, but my mom will show up with a car load of dishes. Pot after pot, pan after pan, she single-handedly makes sure everyone will have enough to eat, and that there is variety for everyone. Her dishes ranged from homemade chicken and noodles to baked beans to cakes and pies. My other family members have great dishes as well. My aunt Debby has a very delicious baked mashed potato dish. The potatoes seem to just slide down my throat. The red velvet cake that my aunt Janet makes is one of the most delicious desserts I have ever had. If you have never had a good red velvet cake, you are missing out on a fine portion of life. Her cake was a firm sponge topped with the smoothest and creamiest sweetness there is. It is way too easy to over eat dessert when her cake is present.

Explained so far was just my mother's side of the family. My father's side of the family is a bit different. We usually gather only to socialize and "catch-up". I rarely see my father, aunt Barb, and grandpa McGrew. Usually, I get to see my grandpa when he is off the road. He is a truck driver, and travels from Florida to Canada. When he is in town, my father usually brings him to Evansville to visit. We used to just gather at a pizzeria or any other type of restaurant to talk and eat. Pizza was usually the food of choice, because it was my brother's and my favorite. However, now that my aunt Barb is married and lives in Evansville, we usually meet at her house to visit, have fun and eat.

Aunt Barb prepares all the food. She is a great cook and has many dishes. Plus, uncle Jim usually grills up some sort of tender meat. It really does not matter what type of food it is, pasta or burgers or chicken, it is always something to look forward to. I am not really picky when it comes to food. I will eat what is put in front of me usually. Of all the nice dishes my aunt cooks up, my favorite is probably the simplest. When she cooks pigs in a blanket (hotdogs wrapped in biscuit dough), I am in love. A simple man with simple tastes is what I am I guess.

So, as far as a food tree goes, I don't know of one. However, each person in my family, who cooks, has certain dishes that they prepare. They prepare them for social gatherings or holidays. Food is a big part of my family's socializing, now that I really think about it.

"Catfish in the Bathtub" Question Responses

1. She explains the rubbery smell of the skunk that her mother is dismembering. To me, this was the strongest description, because I have smelt a skunk fairly up close. Rubbery is definitely one way to explain it. She described how some of the weeds she pulled up had white star flowers, and how she used to hide under her bed with her ears plugged to shut out the screams of the birds being butchered. Also, her mother told her that if it tastes bad, it is good for you. Thus, most things that she had to eat probably tasted bad. As far as touch is concerned, she mentioned how the cooks would grasp a clump of the monkey's hair to open its eye lids and do what they did.
2. Kingston uses the dialogue from her mother without editing. This bluntness enables me to form an image of how her mother was, and that image is one of someone who would cook so exotic animals without hesitation.
3. The story is used to show the mentality of her mother, as mentioned previously. Her mother obviously carried a certain mind set from China to the United States.
4. She used a simile that the flowers were like white starts. An example of personification was where she said that a glass jar kept a clawed hand. I don't really find any metaphors in the reading, though.
5. It is easy for the reader to just read all the things she had to eat, without having to decipher anything. After explaining what she had to eat and how long she had to eat it for, she ended with the simple statement because it was strong enough to describe her disdain for the food she had to eat. Eating plastic would be disgusting, so that says a lot about what she did have to eat.