Need An Oil Change - I'm Your Girl

I promised another story this week about my somewhat masculine affinity for engines and working with power tools. The reality is, I have a pretty darned good set of power tools and can do some decent work with wood. I'm not a fan of sheetrock and wouldn't want to tape and bed an entire room, but in a pinch, I can do a patch that you probably wouldn't notice unless you're looking for it. But where I've really used my skills is with engines.

You see, my husband and I met at a motorcycle shop (he sold me my gear and told me he came with it - turns out he was right). We raced motocross for a lot of years, then shifted to competition watercraft, shifter karts and crotch rockets. All the while we did our own wrenching and I have to say, I'm not half bad. In fact, one evening I picked up my husband's new after market pipe for his crotch rocket and did the install myself because he had to work late and wanted to ride the motorcycle (with new pipe) to work the next day. My husband was thrilled and he got huge kudos from the other guys at his job (he works in the auto industry) for marrying such a handy woman.

But the story I want to tell is one from the beginning of our relationship and it points out how two people raised in the same household, who have the same parents, can be totally different. So here we go:

I had been dating my husband, Rene, for a month of so when I was getting ready to make a trip back home to Louisiana to visit my parents (we live in Dallas). So I was packing to leave the next day after work when I realized that I had meant to change the oil in my truck before I left. So the following conversation ensued:

Me: Darn it, I meant to change the oil in my truck before my trip home.

Rene: I'm off work tomorrow - I can do it. Who does your oil change?

Me: Me.

Rene: (looking at me suspiciously) Well, I'm not going to do it personally, but I can definitely have it done.

Me: Okay, but you HAVE to get the OEM filter from the dealership and you HAVE to use Mobil 1 synthetic.

Rene: (now looking impressed) Okay, no problem.

Now this might seem strange to some, but my dad is a petroleum engineer. I got my first motorcycle when I was five and have been lectured on the value of synthetic oils since I was a kid. I listened - I learned - I gave my vehicles (and other extreme sports equipment) no less than the absolute best. Not so my brother.

Flash forward four or five years later and Rene is at my brother's house and my brother is preparing to sell his truck. It's one of those small-sized ones and he's literally almost run it to death. Standing in front of the truck, the following conversation ensues:

My brother: It was a pretty good truck. I got 120,ooo miles out of it and only changed the oil three times.

Rene: Really? How many miles do you think you would have gotten out of it if you'd changed it four times?

So Rene comes home, walks straight in the house and says "you and your brother cannot possibly have the same father."

We still laugh about it today. So what about you? Any siblings? If so, are you different is some of the oddest ways?

In celebration of release week - yep, that's right, UNLUCKY officially releases tomorrow - I am giving away a signed copy of the book in addition to the gift basket drawing that will happen tomorrow! Just post on the blog any time today and you'll be entered to win. Happy Halloween!

- Deadly (with a wrench) DeLeon