Good Deed of the Day Thread.

My good deed was yesterday. I just got done mowing half my yard. I noticed my neighbor across the street underneath the hood of his sons Beetle that just got back from the dealer about a week ago. The 2.0L went to engine heaven and a new used one got installed. The car has been sitting since it came back.

I walked over when I saw him under the hood. He had a Haynes manual out and seemed to be stumped so I asked what was going on.

He said it stopped running and he had a diagnostic run and it shows the transmission selector switch had a malfunction. He was having a problem finding it.

I showed him what he had to remove to find it. I then went back to mowing my yard.

I got done and saw him still under there, so I decided to go back and see what was up. He was in the process of removing the wrong part, so I asked if I could take a turn and he said ok. I ran across the street, got my 1/4 inch drive set, got in there, and pulled out the shift switch.

He was grateful and I told him it was no problem if he needed anymore help to let me know.

Mine was doing a crank sensor and timing belt on a friend's Hyundai. I was rewarded with a noisy pulley/bearing when "we" were all done at 11:30 PM Saturday night. Now I get to pull it all back apart tonight to see what went wrong. All for free

I got home from the dentist to find my neighbor sitting on the porch. He had a flat tire on his old Corolla and couldn't get the wheel off. He said it was rusted on. I got my 16# sledge and a short piece of 2x4 out of the shed and went back the alley to where he had the car jacked up. Had him hold the 2x4 while I gave it a couple whacks and it came off.

I took me all of 5 minutes to get the tools and solve his problem. He told me he had been trying to get it off for an hour and then waited on my porch for 20 minutes until I got home.

Hal wrote: I got home from the dentist to find my neighbor sitting on the porch. He had a flat tire on his old Corolla and couldn't get the wheel off. He said it was rusted on. I got my 16# sledge and a short piece of 2x4 out of the shed and went back the alley to where he had the car jacked up. Had him hold the 2x4 while I gave it a couple whacks and it came off. I took me all of 5 minutes to get the tools and solve his problem. He told me he had been trying to get it off for an hour and then waited on my porch for 20 minutes until I got home.

in those cases, it's more fun to either stand a few feet back and throw a 2 foot long chunk of 6X6 lumber at it until it comes off- you stand back because you will hit the tire sidewall the first couple of times and it will come back at you- or loosen all the lugs a few turns and do figure 8's in the yard until it comes apart..

my good deed for the day was when i slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting the older gentleman in his 10 year old Park Avenue that stopped right in front of me in a traffic circle.. he was going around, and i was coming in planning on merging in behind him.. he panicked when he saw me and slammed on his brakes to stop in front of me... i did the nice thing and didn't hit him...

Hmmm. Well I bought a homeless guy dinner and a very thick pair of wool socks. He was happy for the dinner and coffee but he declined the socks. Said he had some real good ones in his coat pocket. So I am up one pair of pretty dang warm socks.

As I pulled into the local Chick-Fil-A for a large waffle fry...best driving food ever...I noticed a mid 90s Thunderbird jacked up and 2 guys crawling around under the gas tank. Tools scattered about and where they were working lead me to believe that they had a non-functioning fuel pump.

While still in line, I jumped out and convinced them to pop the trunk as I reset the inertia switch for them. They waved at me as they drove away before I had made it to the window for my delicious treat!

Once while delivering pizza, I stopped at an address and noticed a lady with 2 kids and a van half out into the street talking on her phone. As I returned to my car she was kicking the exhaust pipe as it had somehow been bent into her back tire while she was backing up. Being the helpful guy I am I walked over offered to help. As I grabbed the pipe and tugged...and pulled...and grunted to the point of embarrassment, I realized it was not budging. A quick run to my car produced an aluminum baseball bat (currently doing duty as an exhaust pipe of a minibike) which gave me enough leverage to pull the pipe off the tire.

Feels good being helpful sometimes!

Bruce

My friend called to say her car (Suzuki Sidekick) made a loud thump and the brakes got spongy for a bit then it started making a terrible noise. I checked it out and one of her inner brake pads had fallen out. She needed new rotors, pads, and calipers. I helped her out by doing it all just for the cost of parts; she's a pizza delivery driver so not exactly rolling in the dough.

my neighbor came over the other day, wanted to know if I had a 4-way lug wrench

instead I grabbed my HF jack and a breaker bar + my impact wrench … changed her flat and told her I'd scratch around and find her a piece of water pipe to use as an extension for her POS OEM lug wrench …

she's good to go now

Dear Mr. Culberson: The Karma Adjustment Bureau has asked me to inform you that all the goodness you acquired by fixing your friend's brakes has been debited from your account for committing the following sentence: "She's a pizza delivery driver so not exactly rolling in the dough."

Luckily, I had just finished my coffee, so my keyboard is intact.

I helped a young lady at a gas station add some oil to a sorely neglected kia, and helped another motorcyclist who had run out of fuel

Stealthtercel wrote: Dear Mr. Culberson: The Karma Adjustment Bureau has asked me to inform you that all the goodness you acquired by fixing your friend's brakes has been debited from your account for committing the following sentence: "She's a pizza delivery driver so not exactly rolling in the dough." Luckily, I had just finished my coffee, so my keyboard is intact.

I thought about changing that but decided it was worth it.

Guy on the side of the road had a sign that said, "hungry". I threw a wrapped cinibun at him.

A few years ago I was on my way to my girlfriends house to start working on her Mercedes 300E. She said it got hot and wouldn't start. (the mercedes is a story for another day).

Anyway, I had all of my tools with me and my coveralls on. On teh way to her house, there was a guy sitting at a stoplight in his older ford F150. He had his flashers on. I asked if he needed a hand. He responded that he needed a mechanic.

Luckily, I sometimes play the part of mechanic.

He said he was driving down the road and the truck shutoff. Nothing worked. I checked the battery... The battery is NO MORE. It was dead.

I tried to jump his truck but as soon as the cables came off, it woudl die.

I figured it was the alternator. There was an advance auto about 2 blocks up the road. I took the alternator off and took the battery with us. At thsi point I removed about 4 bolts. Nothing serious, nothing strenuous. I am about 30 minutes into this ordeal.

We take the stuff to advance and get it tested. The alternator was bad. They had a rebuilt one on the shelf for around $75.00. The guy bought it. At this point, we were both hungry and decided to grab some crappy lunch while waiting for his battery to get charged.

After lunch, I re-installed the battery and teh alternator. The truck started up just fine. I told him to let it run for a bit so we can make sure the alternator was working.

At this point, the guy asked me if I play pool. I said that I do. He said he can't really pay me for helping him. I didn't care, I was just trying to help the guy out.

He reached in the back of the truck and brought out several hand-made pool cues. He MADE these pool cues for a living. They are beautiful! He gave me one as payment. I found out after a little searching that this is WAY too nice. The guys name is Ben Cooper.

Check this out: http://www.2cool2miss.com/product/ben-cooper-4-point-oval-window-cue

That is a used cue.

Rob R.

i always stop to help when i see a chick with a flat tire, because that's how most good penthouse letters begin. one of these days...

wbjones's

"my neighbor came over the other day, wanted to know if I had a 4-way "

That's the other letter to penthouse..........

yeah .. there is that …….

dculberson wrote:

Stealthtercel wrote: Dear Mr. Culberson: The Karma Adjustment Bureau has asked me to inform you that all the goodness you acquired by fixing your friend's brakes has been debited from your account for committing the following sentence: "She's a pizza delivery driver so not exactly rolling in the dough." Luckily, I had just finished my coffee, so my keyboard is intact.

I thought about changing that but decided it was worth it.

Took me til right now to catch that.

I dragged my kids' first bike out of the garage. Blew the dust off of it. It's in pretty nice shape. I never let them leave it out in the rain like most of the neighborhood kids do. Long ago outgrown, it hasn't been ridden in years. I put a new tire on the back since the old one was bald where my kids had locked up and slid with the rear coaster brake (imagine that!). I'll finish cleaning it up and go over the brakes and such this afternoon. We're giving it to a lady my wife works with for her to give to her grandchild. The parents are young and marginally employed. Their kid gets a bike. I get a little free space in my garage. Win, win.

Ms. Service has been sick and our neighbor has been helping with Thing 1 and Thing 2.

I got a call from her the other day and she had a flat. It was near our apartment and she was wondering if I could change it or if she needed to call AAA.

I told her I would be there in 30 minutes and she said she would call AAA. I didn't think anything about it. Till 25 minutes later when AAA said it would be another hour. She had her little one with her (born on my birthday last year. My wife took her to the hospital and helped deliver the baby after we had only known her for about 2 months... but that is another story)

I was there about 5 minutes later and boy did she have a flat. I don't know what she hit but on a ML350 she bent the rim and punched a hole in the tire I could put the tire iron through.

Ms. Service was there and they were talking and entertaining the kids while I changed the tire. After breaking loose the bolts (They have bolts instead of lugs. Kind of weird I thought) I over heard them talking and my neighbor said , "I see what you mean, my ovaries are tingling."

So I finished up and we all went back to the apartment.

I asked my wife what she meant. She said that my neighbor didn't see what she saw in me. Ms. Service said, "wait till you see him work on a car."

So Good Deed for the day check, finding out my neighbor and wife are freaks, check. Not understanding why my wife complains about me getting dirty when I work on cars given it is the equivalent of watching porn apparently, double check.

Females are weird.

I had an ex that used to get all a quiver when I'd come in from grease-monkeying her car. Females ARE weird.

Stopped at Walmart and gave a boost to a van from a group home. Put the cables back in the trunk. And the keys. On the bright side I went back in and bought a Mystery Machine and A Love Bug Hot Wheels.

N Sperlo wrote: Guy on the side of the road had a sign that said, "hungry". I threw a wrapped cinibun at him.

LOL'd

Flight Service wrote: Ms. Service has been sick and our neighbor has been helping with Thing 1 and Thing 2. I got a call from her the other day and she had a flat. It was near our apartment and she was wondering if I could change it or if she needed to call AAA. I told her I would be there in 30 minutes and she said she would call AAA. I didn't think anything about it. Till 25 minutes later when AAA said it would be another hour. She had he little one with her (born on my birthday last year and my wife took her to the hospital and helped deliver the baby after we had only known her for about 2 months but that is another story) I was there about 5 minutes later boy did she have a flat. I don't know what she hit but on a ML350 she bent the rim and punched a hole in the tire I could put the tire iron through. Ms. Service was there and they were talking and entertaining the kids while I changed the tire. After breaking loose the bolts (They have bolts instead of lugs. Kind of weird I thought) I over heard them talking and my neighbor said , "I see what you mean, my ovaries are tingling." So I finished up and we all went back to the apartment. I asked my wife what she meant. She said that my neighbor didn't see what she saw in me. Ms. Service said, "wait till you see him work on a car." So Good Deed for the day check, finding out my neighbor and wife are freaks, check. Not understanding why my wife complains about me getting dirty when I work on cars given it is the equivalent of watching porn apparently, double check. Females are weird.

"Say What?" is great as far as it goes, but I think the magazine should start a new feature highlighting brilliant stories gleaned from this forum. I do hereby nominate this story to be the first!

Flight Service wrote: So Good Deed for the day check, finding out my neighbor and wife are freaks, check. Not understanding why my wife complains about me getting dirty when I work on cars given it is the equivalent of watching porn apparently, double check. Females are weird.

And apparently working on a motorcycle is even manlier than working on a car. My wife can vouch. Try it some time.