The Daring Book for Girls - Andrea J. Buchanan [126]
3. If you have tire blocks, put them under the other tires to keep the car in place. Mediumsized rocks work too.
4. Start to loosen the lug nuts; these are the nuts that keep the hubcap on. Not all cars have hubcaps, but look and you’ll see what needs to be loosened. Put the lug wrench on each lug nut. Remember “righty-tighty, lefty-loosey” to guide you which way to turn the lug wrench.
If your car’s lug nuts were last tightened with a hydraulic lug nut tightener in a mechanic’s shop, they will be very tight. Jump on the cross wrench. Get everyone in your family to jump on the cross wrench and in any other way work the lug nuts free. Some very organized people keep a length of hollow pipe in their car, which can be attached to the cross wrench for extra leverage. If you have it, WD-40 also helps. Some people swear that in a pinch, pouring cola over the lug nuts will do the trick. Caution: don’t take the nuts all the way off, just loosen them.
5. The jack will keep the car up and off the ground while the tire is changed. Each car has a slightly different way to do this, so consult the manual if it’s nearby. In general, there’s a solid metal plate on the car frame, in front of back tire frame and just behind the front tire. Once you’ve found this, the cool part begins, in which you raise the car.
Put the jack right under the metal plate, and start pumping. The car will lift off the ground. From time to time make sure that the jack stays connected to the metal plate. Stop pumping when the car tire is 6-8 inches off the ground.
6. Now you can remove the lug nuts entirely. Stash them somewhere safe. Grab the tire and pull it toward you. It will be dirty. You can clean up after.
7. Pick up the spare tire and align its holes with the bolts. Push the spare onto the tire bolts until it absolutely stops. Replace the lug nuts and tighten, but not all the way.
8. Carefully pump down the jack to lower the car, stopping when all four tires are back on the ground.
9. Now tighten the lug nuts. Don’t tighten them around the circle; instead, tighten the first, then tighten the nut across from it, and continue on from there. You’re done.
Make Your Own Quill Pen
THE MAIN INGREDIENT in a quill pen is, of course, the quill. As not all of us live in close proximity to turkeys, crows, or geese, it may be necessary to ask your local poultry farmer for a spare feather. In a pinch, you can try an art supply store or a calligraphy studio. Wherever you find your feather, it’s best to get more than one, just in case. The other tools you’ll need are a sharp knife or razor, a cutting board, and a pencil.
MAKING THE QUILL
Hold the tip of the quill in boiling water for a minute or two to soften it up so that it can be cut without splitting or breaking off. (It should become soft and somewhat pliable, like your fingernails after a hot bath.) You may also strip some of the feathers off to make room for your hand to hold the quill.
For this you will need adult supervision. Use the knife to slice horizontally across the end of the quill. This angled cut should begin about an inch from the end of the shaft on the underside of the quill.
Make a second cut at a steeper angle, about a half-inch from the end, to shape the nib (the “point” of the pen). Clean out the hollow part, scraping out any fluff of fuzz from inside the quill.
Use the knife to make a slit in the middle of the nib.
Use your pencil to open the slit slightly by pressing up gently from underneath. Lay the nib on a cutting board and slice the tip off so that it is square. At this point you may refine the nib by further cutting down the angled sides or using fine sandpaper to gently smooth out rough edges.
USING YOUR QUILL PEN
It’s a good idea to practice on newsprint or water-color paper before moving on to fancier papers. You may want to pencil in some lines or margins as guides before you begin, but this is not required. Dip your quill into the ink you’ve bought, and then begin to write on your paper. Try not to drench your quill with