I helped my girlfriend with her 2005 Jetta today. We replaced her outer tie rod ends (no real surprises) and her rear brake pads, which had plenty of material left, but because one pad lost its integral spring, they were binding and screeching. Ridiculous.

Even more frustrating, though, was that the rear calipers were unlike any I had ever seen before, having dealt with brake calipers on modern Fords, Dodges, and of course, my Volvos. These looked like the average single-piston, sliding caliper design that many modern vehicles sport. However, unlike any other brake caliper I have seen, these required a special tool to push the piston back to make room for the new pads. They had to be pushed in and rotated at the same time! Luckily, an Autozone about 10 miles away had a loaner tool that worked well. I have told her she must buy me a Bentley if I am going to work on this marvel of idiot engineering, but . . . hasn't happened.

ANYWAY - and here is the point - after the sun was going down, and the temperature dropping, and I was still struggling with the damned caliper, I smashed my finger, had a minor cursing fit, and threw a ratchet.

After finishing up, she expressed concern that I had lost my temper. I told her it was just a normal part of working on a car; sometimes you just gotta let fly with a few choice words and chuck something (hopefully in a safe direction). But then I really started to think about it and I wonder if this is natural and widespread behavior, as I believe, or just learned behavior.

Survey: at the epitome of frustration, do you look like a maladjusted chimpanzee with Tourette's syndrome, or do you find your Zen and walk away for a breather?