Friday, September 27, 2013

Diogenes of Sinope's Modern Quest Ended

Diogenes of Sinope was rather a character. You'd have to be to mess with Plato, insult Alexander the Great  in public, and be the grandfather of stoicism. Other than living in a large ceramic jar, he is probably most famous, at least outside of history and philosophy circles, for carrying a lantern in the day and declaring that he was looking for an honest man (my generation knows him from the show "Arthur" if nothing else). 

I have always joked that my modern day version of his quest (minus the lantern) was to find an honest car mechanic where I live. At least twice I know for certain that mechanics I have gone to have tried to get me to 'repair' my car for exorbitant sums when nothing was wrong (per a different, trust mechanic, who lives nowhere near me). I know next to nothing about cars, so I admit, I am a perfect target. I also naturally respect people in their area of expertise. But I dislike being taken for a milk cow. 

Low and behold, my quest has come to an end. A honest mechanic who is thorough, but also works in a way to save me money. Thereby purchasing my custom until one us moves or joins the choir invisible.   

Something was leaking water in my car. And when I say in, I mean in the passenger compartment. The front passenger seat carpet is wet like I left the window open in a typhoon. I'd listened to enough "Car Talk" to guess air conditioner wasn't draining properly. The whole system had been replaced in the spring, by mechanics I no longer trust, and who had always found something expensive and wrong with my car. I would not have put it past them to 'forget' something so they could fix it later for another payday. I took it to a highly rated mechanic who I sadly did not know about before. The whole repair will cost less than $80, parts and labor, including all the testing/time figuring out what was wrong. And he sat down to explain exactly what was wrong until I was satisfied. I have never had such a good (or inexpensive) experience with a mechanic.  

The honest mechanic does exist. Hallelujah. 

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