Floating Leaf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
floatingleaf) wrote2010-12-30 08:57 pm
floatingleaf) wrote2010-12-30 08:57 pm
Entry tags:
car trouble saga, chapter #$*^%!!$$#%^#$ - or how I got rid of a thousand bucks in 24 hours :/
Did I just make a post whinging about jury duty?... Let's forget about that one. It's a non-issue right now. Life surely has a way of making you realize how petty your problems were... by increasing them tenfold.:/
My car died on me - again - last night as I was driving home from work. And by died, I mean just randomly stopped moving in the middle of the road. With no warning whatsoever. It took probably about a minute or two from the moment I noticed something was "up" to the complete dead stop. I barely had time to steer a little closer to the curb - on a street with no parking allowed, I might add. It is a two-lane street, so I wasn't completely blocking traffic - but people had to slow down to pass me, obviously, and a few fellow drivers let me know how upset they were about me just sitting there, during rush hour, with no emergency lights on or anything. Well, so was I - and the lights weren't working, thank you very much, because the car had NO POWER. It was, for all intents and purposes, a piece of junk metal. Anyway... once I got over the inital "WTF?????" reaction, I grabbed the cell phone and called my brother-in-law, who happens to have a friend running an auto shop in the area (notabene, the same guy who fixed my alternator a year ago). Unfortunately, it turned out that the guy is out of town for the weekend. Then I called my dad and asked him to go online and look up some local service stations for me - but I realized that there really was no point sitting in the car waiting, because I was about 10 minutes away from home and could go online myself. Also, my phone needed charging. So I left the car where it was and walked home. The next few hours were spent online and on the phone, trying to find a nearby shop that would still be open after 6 p.m. and offer its own towing service - easier said than done, I can tell you that much. Long story short, the only guy who picked up his phone was the cute young Pakistani (I think) who fixed my car last summer, when I had failed the emissions test. He said no problem, and gave me the number to some other guy who does towing for him - except that other guy was totally unreachable. I kept calling him all evening, while at the same time continuing my online search for other 24-hour service places that might be able to help me sooner. There weren't any. In the so-called meantime, I realized I hadn't had dinner yet and I was starving, so I took a little break - unwisely, perhaps, but I am only human, okay? Finally, I decided to check if the car was still where I left it - it could have been towed by the police, after all, and then I would be just wasting my time trying to arrange for someone to pick it up. It was there, sure enough, but that didn't mean it would still be there in the morning - and the towing guy wasn't picking up his phone. And I realized I wasn't going to be able to sleep not knowing what the fuck might happen by morning and how much it will cost me. So I went online again and found a 24-hour towing service, and told them to deliver the car to the Pakistani's shop - since he was expecting it anyway. By then, it was already past 11 p.m. The towing service said I had to be there by the car before they can set out to meet me, to make sure I don't get towed by the city in the meantime - so I got dressed again and went back to the car, and called them again, and waited. By then I was so tense and exhausted I really didn't fucking care about money anymore - I just wanted the whole thing to be DONE and over with and to be able to go to bed. I should have known I wouldn't sleep much anyway... but yeah. I digress. So the tow truck arrived, loaded up my sad little junk pile and gave me a lift back home - and then departed with over two hundred of my "Christmas gift" cash ($225, exactly, because it was past midnight already - if only I'd called them an hour earlier, I would have saved about $50, but I was still trying to reach the OTHER towing guy from the shop who was supposed to give me a discount). The "new PC fund", as you may recall. New PC my ass. In my fucking dreams, as far as I can tell, because this is only the beginning.
So, after a night of much tossing and turning and not much sleep, I called the shop to find out that they need to replace: 1) the alternator (again!); 2) the battery; 3) the oil gasket (which was supposedly leaking on top of the alternator, causing it to stop functioning properly). The total? About $600. Added to the $200 I had paid already, it's more than the new PC was going to cost - but I was still kind of relieved, because I had feared the worst (like the failure of the entire electrical system, which might have cost over a thousand just by itself). So I just sighed heavily and resigned myself to my fate, and went on to take a much-needed hot shower. I was just having lunch when the mechanic called me again, saying that he had finished all the above-mentioned work, but as he was checking the car out afterwards, he realized I needed new brakes. And he's going to do the full brake job for $500, which is supposedly a very good price. I wish I had a clue, but yeah. When I did the math, I basically felt like I had been hit over the head by a baseball bat. But I've heard that brakes on an average passenger car normally last about 2-3 years, and it's been at least as long since I had them replaced - so he's probably right. And judging by the skyrocketing prices of everything these days, it may just as well be a good deal. Still, this is going to pretty much clean out both my credit card AND bank account balance - with a very small margin left for basic utilities and stuff until I get the next paycheck. There might not be an overdraft if I'm lucky... but I don't really know. The rest of the cash that my parents gave me will be spent on food and other essentials - and I'd better make it last as long as possible, because I will need that next paycheck to cover the credit card bill. *sigh*
It could have been worse, you know. I could have been towed by the city, which would have cost me double what I paid for that tow truck. It could have happened at a busy intersection, or somewhere too far from home to get there on foot, which would have complicated things a great deal more. It could have been freezing cold, instead of just wet and gloomy. It could have happened on a regular weeknight, instead of the onset of a long weekend - which saved me the trouble of figuring out how to get to work the next morning (indeed, today is technically the last workday of the year for me - but I had taken it off, to use all remaining vacation time). I don't really NEED the car until Monday - I mean, it would be nice to have it back tomorrow, so I can do an all-in-one grocery shopping trip... but I can walk to the nearest store for a few essentials if I need to. I don't have much of an appetite right now, anyway.
Btw, according to the scale, I seem to have lost 3 lbs since yesterday morning. Stress is the best, most effective weight loss technique for me, apparently. When I am in a stressful situation, my stomach knots up, my insides shake and the very thought of food makes me nauseus. Also, my whole digestive system seems extremely intent on getting rid of any lingering waste ASAP. It's actually kinda funny how fast that happens - but I'll spare you the unsavory details. Anyway - I seem to be on an unplanned, but very effective diet at the moment.:/ Which saves me some money on food, I suppose. I just wish insomnia wasn't part of the deal, because that truly sucks, no matter how you look at it. But whatever.
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Back from the shop already. The car is all done, with a one-year warranty on everything. The cute Pakistani guy said I should have called him again last night to let him know I couldn't get a hold of his towing service - he would have contacted someone else, and I would have paid $60 for the towing instead of the $200. WHY did he even tell me that??? It's too late now anyway, and I am suicidal enough as it is.:[ But we had a nice chat, and he did say that if I waited any longer to replace the brakes, it would have cost me even more. He claims he gave me a very good price on everything. And who knows - maybe he did. The question is, if this is how much maintaining this car costs me at a discount, can I afford to keep it? The answer is all too obvious, I'm afraid. If I can't get a new one by the end of next year (and I most likely can't, unless my parents contribute), then that's it. Hello, public transportation. It's not easy being green, but I bet it's easier than dumping all your savings into a pile of junk metal that might fall apart on you any minute. Don't get me wrong - I used to love this car, and I had no complaints whatsoever for a good few years... but now I'm done. I look at it, and I go, okay... what's next? And I think of all the endless hundreds of dollars I could have spent on other stuff if I didn't need it. Maybe I don't need it. Maybe it's just force of habit and laziness that keep me convinced I do. Maybe it's time to rethink priorities. Just something to ponder during this long, relaxing (HAHAHA) holiday weekend.
Happy New Year, everyone.
My car died on me - again - last night as I was driving home from work. And by died, I mean just randomly stopped moving in the middle of the road. With no warning whatsoever. It took probably about a minute or two from the moment I noticed something was "up" to the complete dead stop. I barely had time to steer a little closer to the curb - on a street with no parking allowed, I might add. It is a two-lane street, so I wasn't completely blocking traffic - but people had to slow down to pass me, obviously, and a few fellow drivers let me know how upset they were about me just sitting there, during rush hour, with no emergency lights on or anything. Well, so was I - and the lights weren't working, thank you very much, because the car had NO POWER. It was, for all intents and purposes, a piece of junk metal. Anyway... once I got over the inital "WTF?????" reaction, I grabbed the cell phone and called my brother-in-law, who happens to have a friend running an auto shop in the area (notabene, the same guy who fixed my alternator a year ago). Unfortunately, it turned out that the guy is out of town for the weekend. Then I called my dad and asked him to go online and look up some local service stations for me - but I realized that there really was no point sitting in the car waiting, because I was about 10 minutes away from home and could go online myself. Also, my phone needed charging. So I left the car where it was and walked home. The next few hours were spent online and on the phone, trying to find a nearby shop that would still be open after 6 p.m. and offer its own towing service - easier said than done, I can tell you that much. Long story short, the only guy who picked up his phone was the cute young Pakistani (I think) who fixed my car last summer, when I had failed the emissions test. He said no problem, and gave me the number to some other guy who does towing for him - except that other guy was totally unreachable. I kept calling him all evening, while at the same time continuing my online search for other 24-hour service places that might be able to help me sooner. There weren't any. In the so-called meantime, I realized I hadn't had dinner yet and I was starving, so I took a little break - unwisely, perhaps, but I am only human, okay? Finally, I decided to check if the car was still where I left it - it could have been towed by the police, after all, and then I would be just wasting my time trying to arrange for someone to pick it up. It was there, sure enough, but that didn't mean it would still be there in the morning - and the towing guy wasn't picking up his phone. And I realized I wasn't going to be able to sleep not knowing what the fuck might happen by morning and how much it will cost me. So I went online again and found a 24-hour towing service, and told them to deliver the car to the Pakistani's shop - since he was expecting it anyway. By then, it was already past 11 p.m. The towing service said I had to be there by the car before they can set out to meet me, to make sure I don't get towed by the city in the meantime - so I got dressed again and went back to the car, and called them again, and waited. By then I was so tense and exhausted I really didn't fucking care about money anymore - I just wanted the whole thing to be DONE and over with and to be able to go to bed. I should have known I wouldn't sleep much anyway... but yeah. I digress. So the tow truck arrived, loaded up my sad little junk pile and gave me a lift back home - and then departed with over two hundred of my "Christmas gift" cash ($225, exactly, because it was past midnight already - if only I'd called them an hour earlier, I would have saved about $50, but I was still trying to reach the OTHER towing guy from the shop who was supposed to give me a discount). The "new PC fund", as you may recall. New PC my ass. In my fucking dreams, as far as I can tell, because this is only the beginning.
So, after a night of much tossing and turning and not much sleep, I called the shop to find out that they need to replace: 1) the alternator (again!); 2) the battery; 3) the oil gasket (which was supposedly leaking on top of the alternator, causing it to stop functioning properly). The total? About $600. Added to the $200 I had paid already, it's more than the new PC was going to cost - but I was still kind of relieved, because I had feared the worst (like the failure of the entire electrical system, which might have cost over a thousand just by itself). So I just sighed heavily and resigned myself to my fate, and went on to take a much-needed hot shower. I was just having lunch when the mechanic called me again, saying that he had finished all the above-mentioned work, but as he was checking the car out afterwards, he realized I needed new brakes. And he's going to do the full brake job for $500, which is supposedly a very good price. I wish I had a clue, but yeah. When I did the math, I basically felt like I had been hit over the head by a baseball bat. But I've heard that brakes on an average passenger car normally last about 2-3 years, and it's been at least as long since I had them replaced - so he's probably right. And judging by the skyrocketing prices of everything these days, it may just as well be a good deal. Still, this is going to pretty much clean out both my credit card AND bank account balance - with a very small margin left for basic utilities and stuff until I get the next paycheck. There might not be an overdraft if I'm lucky... but I don't really know. The rest of the cash that my parents gave me will be spent on food and other essentials - and I'd better make it last as long as possible, because I will need that next paycheck to cover the credit card bill. *sigh*
It could have been worse, you know. I could have been towed by the city, which would have cost me double what I paid for that tow truck. It could have happened at a busy intersection, or somewhere too far from home to get there on foot, which would have complicated things a great deal more. It could have been freezing cold, instead of just wet and gloomy. It could have happened on a regular weeknight, instead of the onset of a long weekend - which saved me the trouble of figuring out how to get to work the next morning (indeed, today is technically the last workday of the year for me - but I had taken it off, to use all remaining vacation time). I don't really NEED the car until Monday - I mean, it would be nice to have it back tomorrow, so I can do an all-in-one grocery shopping trip... but I can walk to the nearest store for a few essentials if I need to. I don't have much of an appetite right now, anyway.
Btw, according to the scale, I seem to have lost 3 lbs since yesterday morning. Stress is the best, most effective weight loss technique for me, apparently. When I am in a stressful situation, my stomach knots up, my insides shake and the very thought of food makes me nauseus. Also, my whole digestive system seems extremely intent on getting rid of any lingering waste ASAP. It's actually kinda funny how fast that happens - but I'll spare you the unsavory details. Anyway - I seem to be on an unplanned, but very effective diet at the moment.:/ Which saves me some money on food, I suppose. I just wish insomnia wasn't part of the deal, because that truly sucks, no matter how you look at it. But whatever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back from the shop already. The car is all done, with a one-year warranty on everything. The cute Pakistani guy said I should have called him again last night to let him know I couldn't get a hold of his towing service - he would have contacted someone else, and I would have paid $60 for the towing instead of the $200. WHY did he even tell me that??? It's too late now anyway, and I am suicidal enough as it is.:[ But we had a nice chat, and he did say that if I waited any longer to replace the brakes, it would have cost me even more. He claims he gave me a very good price on everything. And who knows - maybe he did. The question is, if this is how much maintaining this car costs me at a discount, can I afford to keep it? The answer is all too obvious, I'm afraid. If I can't get a new one by the end of next year (and I most likely can't, unless my parents contribute), then that's it. Hello, public transportation. It's not easy being green, but I bet it's easier than dumping all your savings into a pile of junk metal that might fall apart on you any minute. Don't get me wrong - I used to love this car, and I had no complaints whatsoever for a good few years... but now I'm done. I look at it, and I go, okay... what's next? And I think of all the endless hundreds of dollars I could have spent on other stuff if I didn't need it. Maybe I don't need it. Maybe it's just force of habit and laziness that keep me convinced I do. Maybe it's time to rethink priorities. Just something to ponder during this long, relaxing (HAHAHA) holiday weekend.
Happy New Year, everyone.