How to get help with your car. A tutorial.

The other day I thought to pick up oil on my way home from work. Just as I was looking for a car place, my oil light actually came on (apparently I'm psychic), and I figured since I was low on oil and just about due for an oil change, I'd just go ahead and get it done. So I went to my friendly neighborhood Jiffy Lube. I like the quick, cheap oil change, but before I could even get out of my car, the guy was telling me I had two brake lights out, I needed my windshield wipers replaced and he could fix my rock chips for free if I had insurance.

Now I will tell you that I have 3, count them THREE, cracks running across the bottom of my windshield, not in my line of sight. So I ask him, what is the point of filling the rock chips since the windshield is already cracked? There isn't one. And he tells me the wiper blade is cutting a semi-circle into my windshield. Technically, it was the wiper blade before this one that did that, and again, do I care? MY WINDSHIELD HAS 3 CRACKS IN IT!

I did, however, allow him to replace the brakelights. Don't want a fix it ticket, right? As I'm trying to escape with money still in my checking account, he tells me I need to get my brakes checked. Now, I'm a little irritated because I just got my brakes done this summer. But I think about it, and my brake light on the dash came on about 3 weeks ago. I knew I had new brakes and it wouldn't be the first computer glitch my car has had, so I didn't worry about. Honestly, I thought it had something to do with my emergency brake since I've only ever seen that light when the brake is engaged. Apparently, I'm an idiot. Mr. Jiffy Lube informs me that whoever did my brakes didn't top off my brake fluid. Turns out at Jiffy Lube, they will check your fluid levels, but they don't actually do anything about them.

So, I went to Napa in search of brake fluid. Amazingly, I grabbed the right brake fluid and while standing in line I realized that I was dressed up and I didn't really feel like digging around in my engine to fix this. But I didn't want to ask the guy behind the counter for help, either. So when I got up to the counter, after he rang me up, I looked him right in the eye and asked "Can you tell me where the brake juice hole is in my car?" He looked at me for a moment, looked at the guy at the next register, and told him, "I'll be right back". He came out and showed me where my "brake fluid reservoir", as he corrected me, was located.

Apparently, if you horrify a man enough with car ignorance, he will actually drop what he's doing and come help you. I need to remember that for future reference.