Anyone remember when gas station attendants used to put gas in our tanks, check the tire pressure and fluids, AND wash the windows? Must have been some other life time.
And then, more recently, every three months, when I had an oil change, they automatically adjusted my tire pressure. I never had to think about it. That's when getting an oil change cost something in the low two figures. But now, my 2015 model car, uses a synthetic oil that only needs changing every 6 months (and costs a bundle) so I now need to adjust the tire pressure myself since I can't expect it to maintain itself for that length of time. But for some reason, I tend to make it more complicated than need be. First, I have to be sure to screw off the pressure caps before even starting the process. Then, I ask myself, does applying air produce a swishing noise ... or does that come when the desired pressure has been applied? (Once I thought I was all finished when in fact, I'd let air OUT of my tires. I know because I found a gas station with a real attendant and asked him to check my work. If it had been a class room project, I would have gotten a failing mark.) Then, another time, I nearly drove off with the four caps still in my pocket.
Then my 2015 car has a little dashboard light that tells me that either my tire pressure is low or I have a flat tire. (I wish it would distinguish between the two.) So when that little light comes on, I have to pull over (if there even is a place to pull over), get out, and inspect all the tires to see if one is flat. If it is, that's a whole different ball game. Or if it isn't, I need to find a place to try and fill the tires. It's not that I've gotten lazy. It's just that I feel less competent about how to do things.
On the other hand, I can remember when radiators had to be filled ... or when they boiled over on a hot day climbing a mountain. Then you had to wait for them to cool off to refill--that is, if you remembered to bring a container of extra water. Then cars were standard shift, not automatic ... which made it very difficult to drive someplace like San Francisco. You'd stop for the light at the top of a hill, only to slip back a bit (hoping you wouldn't bump the car behind you) in order to get started again. I drove a standard shift for years but now wouldn't have anything but an automatic.
And then (I've mentioned this before), drivers used to have to open their windows and hold their arms out to signal left or right turns. That seemed simple enough, I thought, but we lived in a warm dry climate so
always had our windows open. That meant, of course, that when we got to where we were going, we had really messy hair. Then air conditioning came along and windows had to be closed. And turn indicators took the place of putting your arm out. It seemed a great innovation.
Here are some photos of a few of our old family cars. Pre-war, they are.
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| This belonged to my parents. |
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| Then they bought this Nash sometime in the very early '40s. It had the "Bed in a Car" feature which converted the back into a sleeping compartment--handy when we took camping trips. |
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| Our Nash. I think it was a 1941 model, a good car, but it didn't appreciate pulling a 26-foot trailer when we bought one after the war to "take to the road." |
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| This is what road signage could look like then. We were near California's Anza Borrego State Park |
