Addendum To: The Real Reason For The Rattling And Squealing, And I Am Ashamed

You know, come to think of it, I had trouble gauging my oil level in my old car, too.  I remember that when I brought it in for service once, the mechanic told me that he found the car "bone dry" of oil.  I didn't hear any squealing or feel any rattling, though.  And then, one other time, probably remembering when it was completely out of oil, I was told by another mechanic after I brought it to him that was overfull with oil.  Too little, and then too much?  I can't win.  And I probably can't tell how the hell much oil is in my car at any given moment.

On a side note, I checked the oil level in my parents' minivan after work yesterday/Thursday.  I have thought of the car as my savior, a tough son-of-a-bitch that, while not doing it with any style, got me to where I needed to be with minimal incident.  But it is an old car, and I got paranoid as hell after being told that my new car had virtually no oil in it.  Now, I checked it on our driveway, and it is not level.  Also remember that I don't think I can tell what a dipstick tells me.  Saying that, there was no oil in there -- I think.  So I got the 5-quart behemoth Father got for the minivan and poured the rest of it (just over one quart) into the engine and waited five minutes.  Measured it again ... and the level seemed to be above the low mark.  So it's now good to drive.  Unless that quart I put in still isn't enough.  Or maybe because the minivan wasn't level it had enough oil already and I just overfilled it.  Dammit, man, I don't know.