FINDING TRACTION ON THE BACK ROADS
When my mother came to the country in the 1950s, she brought a Ford station wagon that would carry five children and a lot of dogs. The starter had a flat spot, and a mechanic made the mistake of telling her to hit it with a hammer whenever it got stuck. She eventually gave up the Ford, but she kept the hammer, and for the next 50 years, if she ran into problems
