Car talk. . .

A couple of weeks ago, we took the mighty Hyundai Galloper in for an oil change and to check the transmission and power steering fluids. All turned out well, as it drives much smoother since the visit. However, a byproduct of the visit turned out to be that the speedometer and odometer no longer work.

Not a bad deal if you're a used-car salesman, but pretty humbug when the thing has 250,000-plus hard kilometers on it, and you're relying on the numbers for regular maintenance. Not to mention it could cost us when "Leadfoot Lucy" gets behind the wheel.

Since I was passing by the oil change place, I decided to stop in and let them know that since the change, the mileage has not altered at all.

It went well for the first two minutes until the teen-aged girl asked me exactly what the problem was. After several minutes of pantomining (has anyone ever tried to do charades for a freakin' speedometer or odometer?) I waved her outside to show her the problem.

"Ah, yes," she said.

"Ah, finally," I said.

More charades and 30 minutes later, it was determined that they had popped a cable while doing the change. They didn't have the part there, but would do the work for free when we buy the part.

After more conversation, there was some trepidation on their part when they asked when I would be coming back. I told them not to worry, that my much better half, Lucy, would be returning with the Galloper to get it all hammered out.

Their relief was palpable.