Auto Mechanics, Gaming and Guns

I’ve had two classes since my last update. Last Thursday night’s class went more in depth on circuits and it got a lot more confusing. Series circuits and parallel circuits and series-parallel circuits and figuring out the voltage, amps and ohms throughout them all. Though I wasn’t the only student whose eyes appeared to be glazed over, I did begin to feel a bit guilty when Mr. Shoda looked directly at me and said “What about you, Holly? You get that?” every time he introduced a new topic. Ugh.

I did a lot of homework over the weekend and I’m confident that either I understand it very well or I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I’ll know which it is after tonight’s class. ThatGuy checked my homework last night and gave his seal of approval, which is comforting. He’s smart like that.

Last night’s class was the first in my Intro to Auto Tech course so we met a new teacher and introduced ourselves to him, which was interesting because I got to find out a little bit more about my classmates. Mr. Forrest is younger than Mr. Shoda and has a very diverse background (from forklifts to cars to trucks to airplanes, instructing in all of those areas as well). He’s a soft-spoken avid outdoorsman and I can already see some problems with him trying to compete for the class’s attention against Jiffy and Boom Box.

Since we did another round of introductions, let me introduce a few more characters to you as well. We sit alphabetically so I’ll start with the beginning of my row.

First, in his right and proper place in the world, there’s All-American. Blond, dimples, perfect cheerleader teeth, smiles a lot, easy-going personality.

Jiffy. My mentor.

Me

Brooklyn to my left. I’m going to drag a little more information out of him soon.

Low-Pants. If he wore a ballcap, I’m sure it would sit sideways on his head. From Detroit but been here for 10 years. Quiet.

The Mumbler. Wants to become a mechanic so he can fix people’s brakes in his front yard. Currently unemployed.

Then we have a row of boys that don’t talk all that much, ending with Sleepy who you’ve already met. He hasn’t slept since that first class so maybe I should rename him, but I like calling him Sleepy. During one of our breaks, I happen to find myself walking out with him and saw his right hand was all wrapped up in an Ace bandage. When I asked him about it, he shrugged (these kids like to shrug a lot) and said, “qualifying round in a gaming competition.” He’s serious about his gaming.

On the far wall, we have:

Boom Box. He and Jiffy get in a lot of discussions across the room about cars. And guns.

The Ex. Used working on cars as a means of therapy through his divorce and found out he really enjoyed it.

The Kid. Just graduated from a technical high school. Hasn’t said a single word the entire time and keeps his head down.

Pitbull. Been married for 9 years and has a 19-year-old stepdaughter who is also in college. Shows American Terriers.

There are several others and I’ll introduce you to them a little later.

Overall, I think I’m becoming the class pet, or at least Jiffy’s pet, which I’m completely cool with. When Mr. Forrest asked if everyone knew what something-or-other was, Jiffy would turn to me and raise his eyebrows as a gentle inquiry on whether I needed further instruction. I generally did. At one point I whispered over to him “What’s a hemi?” and he promptly drew a technical diagram to show me the differences between a hemi cylinder and a regular cylinder. He’s very helpful.

Before class, in discussions with All-American, Jiffy, The Mumbler and Boom Box, I found out that:

1. Jiffy just ordered a C-93 which is the Spanish equivalent of the AK-47 assault rifle, but the AK-47 isn’t technically an assault rifle -- it’s a battle rifle because of the size of the bullets. The C-93 is an assault rifle.

2. Eggs and apples make for great target practice. All-American pointed out that honeydews also make great targets, but they're expensive and taste really good so you should probably just eat them instead. Jiffy's more of a cantaloupe guy. For eating, that is.