Oil Change

So the Bettingers, about like everyone else, are pretty busy at this time of year. From having our Fusion college ministry at our home last Tuesday (which was a blast, by the way), to Jenn's Girl's Only group coming over, gift exchanges, friends and family functions, it's enough to wear you out. I'm glad that I did about 90% of my shopping around Thanksgiving, or else I'd really be sweating bullets right now.

We had a small gift exchange at our small group last night. Again, it was a blast. Good food, good fellowship, and good football talk. During the gift exchange, one of the first gifts that was opened was a box of 5 quarts of oil and an oil filter. A real prize for anyone that changes their own oil (I drive between 3 to 5 thousand miles per month, so count me in in that group). The standard is, is that you can steal a gift from someone else when it's your turn, but once a gift is stolen three times, it's considered frozen, and can't be stolen again.

The oil was opened, and all the guys looked at it. About 1/2 through the exchange, it got stolen, held for a few people, stolen again, however someone stole my hex set, so I was left without a gift. I stole the box of oil, and it was considered frozen. With my prize in hand, I beamed with satisfaction.

I had a slow day at work today (I work for the state, most of my clients are severly understaff at this time of year), so I decided to change the oil in the SUV and my car this afternoon. I already had a case of oil and a filter for my car, so I bought a filter for the truck (in exchange for the filter I got last night, so it was free). I found an old receipt in the truck from when I pulled into a Jiffy Lube. It was for almost $32.00. The oil and filter for my car I had found at a great sale, so it only cost me about $9.00. So, for 9 bucks, I changed the oil in both vehicles. I've spent $23.00 on the car before, so add both vehicles together, and it would have cost me about $55.00. Not a bad savings for about 45 minutes of work. Merry Christmas to me...