How Not To Change Your Oil

Well I have to admit I was way psyched to pay $1.97 for gas yesterday. Wow. I thought $2.00+ was going to be it forever. Made me realize I should pay a little more attention to my car.

So I looked under the hood for the first time in while. Checked the oil - it was low so I added a quart. That was Thursday night. Friday morning I noticed a funny smell, chalking it up to a bad exaust. Older car ('99) in the NE states with salt & rust. Figured it's time, right?

Nope - not me. Not so lucky. Tonight I stopped back in to the office. Upon leaving, I got nearly a block away and noticed the engine saying grhunxchnkadahnkadahnkada. So I pulled over and noted that the cap was off the oil resevoir,

Shit!

Look at that glistening engine. Why,everything in there has a nice light coating of fortyweight.

I am SO damn lucky I did not:

A) Statrt the engine on fire

B) run the sucker dry

So three quarts later after limping cautiously 2 blocks to the Walgreens, the Altima is humming along as if nothing ever happened. Boy is she a forgiving little 4-banger. I think perhaps a guilt-visit to the carwash is in order. And a legitimate oil change.