Showerthought: A talk with my dad about his old Detroit Diesel 8V71

He was over for dinner last night and we got onto his old truck, a '78 Freightliner with that screaming Jimmy in it. He said something that stuck with me: 'We used to fix things with a hammer, a wrench, and a prayer. Now you need a laptop just to say hello.' He wasn't even mad, just kinda tired. It hit different because I just spent three hours fighting with a CAN bus fault on a 2020 Cascadia, tracing wires and waiting for software updates. His generation could hear a miss and know which injector was lazy. I feel like I spend more time looking at a screen than listening to the engine. Anyone else feel like the 'mechanic' part of the job is getting buried under the 'technician' stuff?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary_foster929d ago

Your dad's line about the laptop hits hard. Do you ever worry that the diagnostic skills, the real listening and feeling, are just getting lost for good? Like if the power goes out, are we all just stuck?

wendyk569d ago

Used to think tech was the only way forward, but that exact fear changed my mind.

jordan_webb9d ago

Honestly, that fear is why we need tech more than ever. It's the only way to back up and save that knowledge before it's truly gone.