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There are many Instructables about changing your oil, but only one starts like this:
I learned to do oil changes in high school speech class. One of the boys worked in a garage. He gave a really great how-to demonstration/speech about changing oil. He gave another about rotating tires, but there isn't anything complicated about that. After each speech the teacher had the other students critique the performance. I didn't understand one of the speeches given by a boy who had polio or cerebral palsey. He thought I was unkind to his speech when I asked what it had been about, so he beat me up after class. My karate was not effective against polio-based techniques.
Check out the rest of Tim Anderson's oil-changing Instructable here. In addition to catching the rest of what happened with the "fight," pay attention to how Tim turns a mundane topic into an engaging Instructable!
Hmm, perhaps we could use an instructable on boiling water. Seriously..doesn't everyone know how to change oil or are there so many momma's boys running around that really need this?
Next edition: how to turn a screwdrivers (Metrosexual style)
You young men should learn how to be men. I won't be around forever to carry your lame asses.
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How to change your oil? This is a joke right?
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David and gear head, I think you missed the point of the post.
1) For beginner makers:
I would say that you are in the minority of America if you change your own oil. There would not be thousands of "quik-lubes" if you were a majority. This post links to a very accessible instructable for doing a task that you would consider basic. It includes lots of tips for doing it without spilling or how to tighten the filter properly. Most people are not like you. If you were 16 and just got your first car, this might be the right thing for you. If you were 40 and have gone all your life without changing you oil and are now starting to feel the rising tide of a DIY mentality, this would be a great place to start. Start with changing oil soon you're feeling confident to change your alternator.
I obviously don't speak for Make, but from what I gather, they have one goal: facilitate all people making things themselves. This may mean being more inclusive on introductory articles. If this had replaced the article on surface mount soldering in the printed magazine, I might have been upset as well. But this is a blog; a blog you don't pay for. I think that this article has a place here.
2) For advanced makers:
"pay attention to how Tim turns a mundane topic into an engaging Instructable!" -
As an advanced maker you have an obligation to communicate things like this to beginners. If the DIY consciousness is going to rise in this country again, we can't be scornful of the people who didn't have it already. Someone has to teach everyone else.
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Wow, come on now!
Everyone should know everything about everything! I mean, when I was born, I was holding a cold fusion reactor that I had built when I had some spare time in the womb. My parents threw it away because they thought it was a choking hazard.
Changing oil is so simple, I won't even drive vehicles that use oil! I just teleport from place to place using my continuum transfunctioner.
You've got to step it up if you want to keep my interest.
--Mega Super Genius of the Galaxy
p.s. Don't reply, I already know what you will say and it is too simple to even be worth reading.
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Hey, Mike and Marc. This website and the magazine isn't about routine car maintenance. It's supposed to be about tearing stuff apart and re-purposing it... or creating stuff that people think they need, or at least think is cool. When Make starts playing to the DIY home mechanic and the 'everyday chores that you can do yourself and save money at' then I'm done supporting the Make franchise. Sure, I've spent my time in grease pits and wet driveways fixing my cars, and to a degree they are useful skills to learn, but it's not the purpose of this website. This kind of post is lame filler that the majority of the readership doesn't want.
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