The Turn Signal

And the old guy says, “In the old days, we fixed cars ourselves. There was nothing much to do, basically, anything that was wrong was solved by rebuilding the carburetor, a job that could be done in and hour or so with a kit from the Pep Boys (the US equivalent of Canadian Tire) for about $2.”


My left turn signal was fast flashing, signaling a burned out bulb. I checked it out and it was a front one. In the old days we could buy a bulb for under a dollar and replace it in about 15 minutes. If it was a headlight, it cost more but 15 minutes was the top time.

At 12:20 p.m. I docked the Queen Mary at my favorite neighborhood car fixit place and went in and said I had an emergency bulb repair. They told me no problem, and I went to Tim Horton’s, across the street and up a bit, for lunch.

I returned a while later and my car was on a lift. I watched it come down and be moved to a different lift and I began to get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Why in the hell was my car on a lift! It had a burnt out bulb!

It turns out the only way to reach the bulb, which it took a while to locate after checking parts inventory on the computer, was using a lift. One had to dismantle a wheel well in order to reach the tiny, little, turn signal bulb.

It took about an hour and 15 minutes to do the job, with other snow tire jobs coming in before and after. There was, thank God, an old man who needed a left turn signal bulb in his Buick! Remember when we didn’t need snow tires any more after radials? And now we need them again. What’s a marketing ploy?

So, it wasn’t that bad, it cost $26 to change a bulb that should have cost about 15 cents in the old days.

Lets hope the right turn hold s out for a while longer.