Celebrate Good Times! (Come on!)

Happy one-year-one-month-ten-day-iversary!

Well, folks of the Internet, it’s been a little over a year since I published the first official post on the Auto Know for the Average Joe blog. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and peek at some of the things we’ve learned so far (imagine Sarah McLachlan’s I Will Remember You playing in the background):

“Nice to Meet You”

• I am an artistic human being with a BA in Theatre and a passion for learning and helping others to understand things better through humor and doodles and such.
• The team at Chad Miller Auto Care is dedicated to providing “Modern Repair with Old Fashioned Care.”

“Vacation: All I Ever Wanted”

• Before going on a road trip, it is important to check your vital fluids, battery, brakes, belts/hoses, and tires to help ensure that you have a safe drive.
• Watch out for rabid packs of wild dogs.

“Forever Young: An Interview”

• I have telepathic powers with inanimate objects.
• Treat your vehicle like a family member by following the owner’s manual, keeping on top of regular maintenance, keeping it clean, and having a trustworthy mechanic repair it immediately when something goes wrong. Do those things, and your vehicle will last as long as you want it to last!

“One Hundred Degrees of Separation”

• The triple-digit temperatures we have are made even less fun without a functional A/C in our vehicles.
• The basic idea behind an air conditioning system is that it condenses high pressure, hot vapor (Freon) to liquid. That liquid is evaporated into low pressure, cool vapor, which is blown into the cabin. That cool vapor is compressed back into high pressure, hot vapor, and the process starts all over again.

What the Heck Series (selected memories with NEW doodles!)

• Catalytic Converter

  • A catalytic converter takes all the harmful pollution your vehicle creates, and makes it not-as-harmful before it is expelled out of the exhaust system.
  • It is not a type of religious foot apparel.

• Water Pump

  • A water pump is part of an engine’s cooling system. It helps circulate the water/coolant that keeps the engine from overheating.
  • It is not a wet handshake-like gesture.

• Alternator

  • The alternator charges the battery to power the electrical components in a vehicle. It uses battery power to create and send back more electricity.
  • It is not a Green Party political activist who has run for President of the United States multiple times

• Engine Mount

  • An engine mount (also called a motor mount) is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It is the device that secures the engine to the sub-frame of the vehicle.
  • It is not the tallest land elevation in South Dakota.

• Differential

  • A differential is a set of gears that transfers the engine’s power to the wheels, allowing each wheel to rotate at a different speed.
  • It is not a new flavor of Cheetos.

• Throttle Body

  • The throttle body is part of an engine’s air intake system. It controls the amount of air drawn into the engine’s combustion chamber, which ultimately controls the speed of the vehicle.
  • It is not an alcoholic drink consisting of mainly whiskey and a double shot of pure gasoline.

• Control Arm

  • The control arms regulate the motion of the wheels so that they are synchronized with the movement of the body. In other words, they keep the tires on the road.
  • It is not the winner of an arm wrestling contest.

• TIPM

  • TIPM is an acronym for Totally Integrated Power Module. The TIPM controls the distribution of power throughout the entire vehicle via fuses and a computer.
  • It is not the thing you do for your waiter as you leave a restaurant.

Gosh, we’ve had some fun, haven’t we?

……HAVEN’T WE?!?

Please tell me we have—my ego is fragile.

Here’s to one year, one month, and ten days of more information, doodles, and humor for your brain-holes!