Reasons to like Costa Rica

The mechanic called yesterday at 4:00 to say that the car, which I dropped off at 7:00 a.m., was ready. We were already home for the day so I told him I'll pick it up in the morning.

When I got there this morning at 8:00 a.m., he explained to me that, since he works alone and isn't able to go out shopping for parts in the middle of the day, he went ahead and installed a used starter he had on hand. He said he'd really rather have put in a new part, but that the one he had would work for a good while. He seemed concerned that someone else, down the road, would see the repair and rat him out for putting in a used part.

Hey. It got the car working; that's pretty much what I was after. I understand that the starter was going to need replacing anyway (he showed me the damaged old one), and a car this old and hard-worked isn't exactly going to be lasting me the rest of my days. Used is fine with me.

"Great, so how much do I owe you?"
"Well, let's see. I'll need $30 for the starter, $6 for the fuses, and let's call it $10 for labor. You need a receipt?"