Its been a while since I blogged. What's new. I have had so much going on that it seemed impossible to be able to organize my thoughts enough to write it all out. But I found myself emailing Abi and Jen and other friends about it, and figured I pretty much wrote it all out anyway.
So here it is.
Two weeks ago -
My car is officially dying - just so happens I actually paid off my car loan this month too. I borrowed the money for the furnace from my mom and am paying her every month for that, but I have ended up spending most of it on the car. Last week we dumped almost $700 into the car - and its still broken because no one can tell what's wrong with it. I've been told its not worth putting anymore money in to it because I'm about to exceed the value of the damn thing. Soooo, I want to save what money I have for a down payment on something that actually works. Earl is in Canada for the week and won't be back until this Sunday, so I am having to deal with this car and getting to work all by myself.
But, after this morning, it's at the point that I am afraid to drive it at all. It started off by doing weird shit only on the highway, like its not getting any power or gas all of a sudden. The tactometer freaks out and the engine sputters like its misfiring. I brought it to the shop Tuesday, they worked on it and sent it home. But the mechanics can't tell if its an ignition or a fuel problem, so they have to try different things. I brought it back Wednesday still broken, they worked on it and sent it home. I brought it back Thursday still broken, they worked on it and sent it home. Friday I didn't have anymore money and just dealt with the problem. Then Monday I was on the highway doing 65mph, gave it gas, and I actually lost speed. It went from 65 to 50 and then kicked in again.
Since then, instead of going all the way to work with it, I've been driving 20 minutes to a co-workers house, leaving my car in his driveway and carpooling in with his truck. But this morning when I got to his street, my car died at the stop sign. That's the first time I had a problem off the highway. We thought it was a high rpm problem, you know? I started it up again, drove 10 feet and it died again. I started it again and drove it one block to his house, which is where it might stay until I can figure out what to do. I have the company van for the rest of the week to use back and forth, but it all comes down to getting something else as soon as Earl gets home.
Then I'll end up financing the new furnace on top of it....
Last Week -
I got the company van for a night. I have no problem driving it... but I had NO IDEA WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS IT WOULD BE TO PARKKKK. Yes, I have a driveway. And yes, I have a chain link gate to squeeze through to get into that driveway. I've seen it done with other vans and trucks owned by others, but had I known what type of freaking insane angle you would have to start at, morph into, and complete to get into said driveway, I would never even had tried. I have two cars parked in front of the gate to avoid and many parked across the street to not hit WHEN TRYING TO BACK THE FUDGE OUT. Yes, out. Back OUT. I had to because I had the dentist appointment. BTW, do you know how freaking rediculous it is to try to park a big old work van in a tiny parking lot? As I pulled in pointing east, I had two choices. Pick the spot directly in front of me, or the one behind me at a 90 degree angle... hmmm. The one in front seemed like a good idea. Except that my back end was blocking half the entrance.
Did I mention I have no windows on the side of this big old work van? Which made it IMPOSSIBLE to pull out into traffic coming from the right up a hill. After deciding not to "just go", I had to pop my selt belt off and crawl over to the passenger window to look down the hill. WTF?? Who made this van? So imagine when I decided to PARALLEL park instead of attempting to pull into the gate again. Um, yeah. I couldnt see the end of the car in front, I couldnt see any of the car in back... So I pulled forward, backed straight back and thought I would just face the gate again. But that just wasnt going to ever work again for me. Then I wondered if I could back in. What was I thinking? I couldnt see the gate PERIOD. I thought I might have to drive around until I saw a spot on some road that I could just pull into. But I realized that on the other side of the road was a spot big enough for a car to have plenty of room and might just be enough for a van. Only one way to find out...
The best part was it was on the left side of the road which meant I could roll down my window and stick my head out to see what the HELL WAS GOING ON. After 10 minutes of an inch forward, an inch backwards, an inch forward, an inch backward (thank DOG it was an automatic) I got in there - all the while someone was having their fun watching me from their porch. I had literally one foot between each vehicle, but I did it. And when I got out I looked at the guy on his porch and said, " THAT WAS NOT EASY."
So there it sits for the night. Getting out of the spot tomorrow morning has to be easier...
My coworker I've been carpooling with said I could use his wife's car to bring home so I can give the van back tomorrow. THANK THE GODS. And then I will attempt to wheel my pathetic excuse for a motorized vehicle home Friday after work and be careless for the whole weekend.
But after the "van thing", thats okay with me.
Yadda yadda yadda.
This week -
And so it comes to an end - the anxiety, the stress, the drama of it all. All thanks to one little 2-year old Honda Civic that was just begging to come home with us. Her name is Vicky cause she's very Civ-vic-ky and she has only 23,000 miles on her with a - get this - 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty to boot. A two year old vehicle with a warranty like that. Who could say no??
I found her through cars.com (awesome site!) and of all places, she was at a Chevy dealer. All by herself. The only Honda on the lot. She got nasty looks from all the Chevy's cause they were jealous of her reputation. And they wanted her gone.
So we came and got her and now she sits next to the Cavalier, and they talk quietly amongst themselves about the ways of the world. The old tired Cavalier tells her tales of travel and of the hard roads that lie ahead, and the little Civic just smiles gently and says, that's okay, I'm built to last.
Um. Okay, so there you go.
Chevy threw two new tires on the front on top of everything. I guess Chevy isn't all bad... Did I mention the check engine came on again in the Cavalier as we were driving to the dealership?
Yeah. Nuff said.
So here it is.
Two weeks ago -
My car is officially dying - just so happens I actually paid off my car loan this month too. I borrowed the money for the furnace from my mom and am paying her every month for that, but I have ended up spending most of it on the car. Last week we dumped almost $700 into the car - and its still broken because no one can tell what's wrong with it. I've been told its not worth putting anymore money in to it because I'm about to exceed the value of the damn thing. Soooo, I want to save what money I have for a down payment on something that actually works. Earl is in Canada for the week and won't be back until this Sunday, so I am having to deal with this car and getting to work all by myself.
But, after this morning, it's at the point that I am afraid to drive it at all. It started off by doing weird shit only on the highway, like its not getting any power or gas all of a sudden. The tactometer freaks out and the engine sputters like its misfiring. I brought it to the shop Tuesday, they worked on it and sent it home. But the mechanics can't tell if its an ignition or a fuel problem, so they have to try different things. I brought it back Wednesday still broken, they worked on it and sent it home. I brought it back Thursday still broken, they worked on it and sent it home. Friday I didn't have anymore money and just dealt with the problem. Then Monday I was on the highway doing 65mph, gave it gas, and I actually lost speed. It went from 65 to 50 and then kicked in again.
Since then, instead of going all the way to work with it, I've been driving 20 minutes to a co-workers house, leaving my car in his driveway and carpooling in with his truck. But this morning when I got to his street, my car died at the stop sign. That's the first time I had a problem off the highway. We thought it was a high rpm problem, you know? I started it up again, drove 10 feet and it died again. I started it again and drove it one block to his house, which is where it might stay until I can figure out what to do. I have the company van for the rest of the week to use back and forth, but it all comes down to getting something else as soon as Earl gets home.
Then I'll end up financing the new furnace on top of it....
Last Week -
I got the company van for a night. I have no problem driving it... but I had NO IDEA WHAT A PAIN IN THE ASS IT WOULD BE TO PARKKKK. Yes, I have a driveway. And yes, I have a chain link gate to squeeze through to get into that driveway. I've seen it done with other vans and trucks owned by others, but had I known what type of freaking insane angle you would have to start at, morph into, and complete to get into said driveway, I would never even had tried. I have two cars parked in front of the gate to avoid and many parked across the street to not hit WHEN TRYING TO BACK THE FUDGE OUT. Yes, out. Back OUT. I had to because I had the dentist appointment. BTW, do you know how freaking rediculous it is to try to park a big old work van in a tiny parking lot? As I pulled in pointing east, I had two choices. Pick the spot directly in front of me, or the one behind me at a 90 degree angle... hmmm. The one in front seemed like a good idea. Except that my back end was blocking half the entrance.
Did I mention I have no windows on the side of this big old work van? Which made it IMPOSSIBLE to pull out into traffic coming from the right up a hill. After deciding not to "just go", I had to pop my selt belt off and crawl over to the passenger window to look down the hill. WTF?? Who made this van? So imagine when I decided to PARALLEL park instead of attempting to pull into the gate again. Um, yeah. I couldnt see the end of the car in front, I couldnt see any of the car in back... So I pulled forward, backed straight back and thought I would just face the gate again. But that just wasnt going to ever work again for me. Then I wondered if I could back in. What was I thinking? I couldnt see the gate PERIOD. I thought I might have to drive around until I saw a spot on some road that I could just pull into. But I realized that on the other side of the road was a spot big enough for a car to have plenty of room and might just be enough for a van. Only one way to find out...
The best part was it was on the left side of the road which meant I could roll down my window and stick my head out to see what the HELL WAS GOING ON. After 10 minutes of an inch forward, an inch backwards, an inch forward, an inch backward (thank DOG it was an automatic) I got in there - all the while someone was having their fun watching me from their porch. I had literally one foot between each vehicle, but I did it. And when I got out I looked at the guy on his porch and said, " THAT WAS NOT EASY."
So there it sits for the night. Getting out of the spot tomorrow morning has to be easier...
My coworker I've been carpooling with said I could use his wife's car to bring home so I can give the van back tomorrow. THANK THE GODS. And then I will attempt to wheel my pathetic excuse for a motorized vehicle home Friday after work and be careless for the whole weekend.
But after the "van thing", thats okay with me.
Yadda yadda yadda.
This week -
And so it comes to an end - the anxiety, the stress, the drama of it all. All thanks to one little 2-year old Honda Civic that was just begging to come home with us. Her name is Vicky cause she's very Civ-vic-ky and she has only 23,000 miles on her with a - get this - 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty to boot. A two year old vehicle with a warranty like that. Who could say no??
I found her through cars.com (awesome site!) and of all places, she was at a Chevy dealer. All by herself. The only Honda on the lot. She got nasty looks from all the Chevy's cause they were jealous of her reputation. And they wanted her gone.
So we came and got her and now she sits next to the Cavalier, and they talk quietly amongst themselves about the ways of the world. The old tired Cavalier tells her tales of travel and of the hard roads that lie ahead, and the little Civic just smiles gently and says, that's okay, I'm built to last.
Um. Okay, so there you go.
Chevy threw two new tires on the front on top of everything. I guess Chevy isn't all bad... Did I mention the check engine came on again in the Cavalier as we were driving to the dealership?
Yeah. Nuff said.
posted by Sp00kalot at 3:03 PM
1 Comments:
Yay! Good for you! Now what's up with the furnace???
Also, there's a Ghost Investigation weekend here at Mountain View the first weekend of October. Go to http://www.mountainviewinn.com/specials/ghost_weekend.htm and let me know what you think! I never knew the Inn was haunted so I am still stuck on that part.
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