Four Things

Puzzler time my friends. As promised, this is an automotive puzzler this time.

Years ago, a customer came into the shop right around the start of winter. And at that time of year, people tend to have winter things done to their car, especially up here in Our Fair City.

So, this fellow came in with a list of things he wanted to be done. Winterizing, we call it.

He wrote out the list for us and he said, "I'd like you to do these four things."

And here are the four things on the list. Check the belts and hoses. This is always a good idea when your car is in the shop. He wanted us to change the oil and filter. And also to change out his wiper blades, because he was having trouble seeing the front. And also, drain and refill the coolant. Okay, so it was those four things he wanted us to do and nothing else.

So, the young fellow that was working in the car addressed all these four things, and only these four things. Nothing else. Belts and hoses, oil and filter, wiper blades, and coolant. Then, he comes over to the car's owner and asks, "Hey, are you getting lousy mileage?"

And the owner said, "Gee, now that you mention it, I am."

So the puzzler this week is, what did the young mechanic notice while doing one of these four things that would cause him to ask that question? What did he see while working on one of those four things that led him to believe the owner was getting bad gas mileage?

Good luck!

Answer the Puzzler »

Remember last week's puzzler?

Ralph on a Jet Plane

One of the guys that worked in our shop, Ralph, had to take a little trip on a plane on time years ago. A flight. Probably to avoid prosecution, but that is a detail for another puzzler entirely!

Anyway, Ralph had to leave late on a Friday night at the end of the workday. He was taking a flight to New York to visit a relative and I guess he forgot to bring his change of clothes. So he changed into a crisp new mechanics uniform. Crisp, clean new mechanics uniform like a lot of guys wear in the shop.

So anyway, he goes to the airport with his work attire on and he buys his ticket, because this was so long ago that you could buy your ticket at the airport... So he has his ticket and he walks to security and goes through the metal detector that they have there. And the metal detector alarm sounds. So the guard goes, "Excuse me, sir, would you kindly empty the contents of your pockets?"

So, Ralph empties his pockets. Puts all his stuff in the little tray. Wallet, keys... everything. And he tries to walk through again. And again, the alarm goes off. So they asked him to remove any jewelry he had or his belt and try to walk through again. He does that and then walks through a third time. And the alarm goes off, for the third time.

So finally, the guard looks at him and says, "What do you do for a living?"

And Ralph says, "I'm a mechanic, I fix cars."

And the guard says, "Oh, okay. That answers it."

So, what is happening here? And here is a hint, it wasn't just auto repair mechanics that were having this issue. And remember, this was a long time ago, so this issue never happens now. But back when Ralph worked with us at the shop, this was something that happened.