CODY SOSSAMON PUBLISHER I’ll be the first to admit that I know next to nothing about automobile maintenance and/or repair.

That’s not to say I’m completely helpless. I can put gas in when the gauge indicates the tank is nearly empty. I can put air in the tires and even have my own handydandy air gauge, which I use on an irregular basis to check the pressure.

I can change a flat tire, a skill I have not — knock on wood — had to use in many years.

Once I changed the blades on my windshield wipers. Did you catch the “once” part of that statement? Once was enough. That seemingly simple task took me about an hour and filled me with frustration. Besides, some of the auto parts stores provide that service when you buy the blades from them.

That about sums up my auto repair/maintenance skills.

I do know some do-it-yourselfers who take pride in performing all sorts of routine maintenance procedures like changing the oil in their cars and trucks. They also do minor repairs. Some people are just wired that way. They like doing those things.

I admire them and admit to being somewhat envious. The key word there being “somewhat.”

That means I’m not envious enough to take the time and expend the effort to learn how to do what they do. Besides, if everyone was a do-it-yourselfer just think what unemployment levels would be. There’d be no oil change or auto repair shops for starters. Everybody would be doing it themselves, except for the mechanically-challenged among us like me. What would we do?

I guess I could watch one of those auto maintenance shows on TV and learn how to do it, but I’d have to spend a small fortune on the right tools and supplies. Those shows make everything look easy.

My cousin says he could probably do brain surgery after watching it done on TV.

My wife knows a lot about oil changes and such. We had a discussion about it just the other night.

For one reason or another she has it in her head that you absolutely must not go over 3,000 miles between oil changes. If you do, something terrible will happen like maybe your car will explode or at the very least you’ll break down and be left stranded on the side of the road.

Don’t you breath a sigh of relief every time you see someone like that and say to yourself “I sure am glad that’s not me.”

Wife Sherry tends to get very nervous when the odometer indicates she is getting close to 3,000 miles since her last oil change. She almost goes into panic. “I’ve got to get my oil changed!”

If SHE ever goes OVER that 3,000 mile mark, she DOES go into panic mode. “I’VE GOT TO GET MY OIL CHANGED!”

I tried to explain to her this last time the subject came up that nothing bad will happen if she goes a few miles past 3,000 or even a few thousand miles past that number. Some auto makers are now recommending oil changes every 7,500 miles.

She didn’t seem to put much stock in what I was saying. My obvious ineptness at car repair probably led her to that opinion. I could sense she didn’t believe me when she said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

She does think some of my friends are much smarter about these things than I so out came the friend card.

“Stan gets his oil changed every 5,000 miles.”

She raised her eyebrows as if to say “He does?” but instead retorted, “Well, I’m just saying (she says that a lot) my car has 180,000 miles and I’ve never had any trouble with it so I’m going to keep getting my oil changed every 3,000 miles.”

And with that the conversation was over.

After all, who am I to argue? I’m worse at that than I am with auto repair.

Cody Sossamon (cody@gaffneyledger.com) is publisher of The Gaffney Ledger.