Harmonic Balancer, there are birds under the hood of my car

The conversation went something like this … 

“I recognize balance when I swing by it.” Anonymous (Photo by Gary Phillips)

Me: If it sounds like birds under my hood, what could it be?
Spouse: I don’t know.
Me: So, is it okay to drive it?
Spouse: Probably.
Me: There wouldn’t really be birds under there. I’d hate to…well, you know.
Spouse: No, it’s not birds.

I pulled over and popped my hood. No birds, no nest, not even a feather.

Next day, the conversation went something like this …

Me: It still sounds like birds under there.
Spouse: Well, honey, I don’t know what to tell you. Do you want to take it to Junior (our car guy)?
Me: Not really, but I also don’t want to listen to them chirping any longer. Plus, I don’t want to end up broken down on the side of the road.
Spouse: I hardly think birds are going to cause a breakdown.
Me: Well, that’s because you’re not driving around with them.

My husband drove my car that evening. Not a chirp.

Next day, the conversation heated up something like this …

Me: Birds!
Spouse: Fine, I’ll call Junior.
Me: Good. Let me know what he says.

An hour later, the conversation cooled down something like this …

Spouse: Sorry. I kind of blew you off. Junior said it’s most likely your harmonic balancer.
Me: Well, I could have told you that. My harmony is way off balance after driving this car around.

A tweet ending to the final day with my birds …

Junior replaced my Volkswagen’s harmonic balancer – a device that attaches to the front end of an engine’s crankshaft and is used to reduce and absorb the vibrations produced by the engine. Reducing the engine’s vibrations is vital to the life of an engine.

Thankfully, no animals or husbands were harmed in order to write this blog post. When I get wigged out, to this day I still say, “I think it’s my harmonic balancer.”

Is your harmonic balancer aligned?

WRite wHere I’m supposed to be – A noisy car gave me reason to think about what I do to balance my daily life. Reducing my head’s vibrations is vital to the life of my spirit.

On the side: Wigged out means “to freak out in such an uncool way.”

For more cool photography, check out Gary Phillip’s Facebook page.

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