On the move

Or rather, waiting for a ride. Soooo the '98 Nissan Sentra is once again mocking me with its oldness. Brought the car in this morning for a number of issues. When I go to pick it up tomorrow, I will be slapping another $1000 on the credit card to get it back on the road. This thing is a money pit. I've been saying for weeks that we'll need another car by the end of the year.

And it appears that we'll have one. My in-laws called just today (timing - wow!) to tell us that they're buying their leased car and are wanting to give us their Nissan Pathfinder (which is a '95, granted, but has barely been driven). I'm in awe of the Universe's way of supplying the much-needed things of life.

Just last night, in fact, Bizarro and I decided we'd make time to go visit my in-laws in August after I get back from Korea, before the semester starts up. I guess we'll take a flight or a bus there and drive the Pathfinder home. How slick is that shit?

So for the time being, until tomorrow, I am sans car. My Yoga instructor is being nice enough to give Bizarro and me a ride to and from Yoga tonight. We missed the last 2 weeks, and she is so gung-ho that she'd rather give us rides than miss another week.

Isn't it great when a plan comes together?

Carlessness

Without a car for the weekend. Kickin' it old skool. Walkin' with ma legs.

I need to get back into a work out routine anyway.

Still have a bunch of things to do around the house - organizing and putting away of items I don't know where to put.

Addendum: I have a multitude of thank you cards to write, as well. The lovely cards and prayers arrive every day in the mail. So wonderful to receive such love and caring thoughts from family, friends and coworkers.

Cars Suck

The repair will cost $342. The fucking key and cylinder are fried.

Unfuckingbelievable. Makes me wonder if the starter really was the problem 3 months ago when I had that replaced in Boston.

Are you frakking KIDDING me?

My f'ing car broke down last night while Bizarro and I enjoyed a hot fudge brownie sundae at our local pub-n-grub. Came out about 8 p.m. and it wouldn't even pretend to turn over. Battery is fine. So it must be the starter. AGAIN. It has to be the electrical system. I just spend $260 in October on a new starter! At the crack of morning I walked in the below-freezing snow-and-ice tundra back to the car where we'd left it last night (after walking home in even more sub-freezing temps - the hot fudge did NOT keep me warm). The tow truck came around 8:45 this morning and I haven't heard a peep since (it's currently 1:25 in the afternoon).

I am seriously considering the need to buy another car. Paid this one off last summer, but between the multitudes of repairs and the need for car rentals for long trips to Cleveland or Boston, it's starting to feel like I need to bite the bullet and make monthly payments. The cost of repairs/rentals since June of '06 is averaging $100 a month anyway.

I spent the morning researching cars, dealers, APRs and budget constraints. So much for my plan for the day. Completely obliterated. I can still make out the thank you cards though; I don't need a car for that.

I am trying not to get too bent out of shape about this, but it is just one more reason why I need a serious job instead of this piecemeal adjunct crap. Just one more reason, in my mind, to get the hell out of Upstate NY where the winters are brutal and the jobs are flimsy.

And I just have to say: "LIKE I REALLY NEEDED THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW." The Universe can't even give me a full week of mourning without catapulting the next bag of moldy cow shit in my face.

Logging and Slogging

I finally created the space in my head and on my desk for logging the footage from Korea. The good news is that the B-roll is fantastic; bad news is half the interviews appear to be unusable for technical difficulties. But that still leaves 5 great interviews that are very usable. I'm hoping some of the technical stuff might be fixed up a bit in post. We'll see.

I am thrilled with most of the footage, though, and I am ramped up to see this thing through despite all the delays and mom's situation weighing in.

A small victory - had the A/C recharged in my car this morning. Woo hoo! No more driving around saying "how 'bout this heat?" (Name that reference! Bizarro, you can't play, it wouldn't be fair.)

I actually OWN something

As of today's check in the mail, my car is paid fuh. I own it. It belongs to me. Now that it's paid fuh, I will set about undinging the door, replacing the two missing hubcaps, and putting some new visors and mats in. It's gotta last us a long time to come, so it may as well not look like a hooptie.

Carz Suck

Last weekend when I was in Boston, I had to bring my car into a mechanic because when I got off the highway it sounded like a Harley. $213 later it was fixed. By the time I got off the highway coming home, it sounded almost as bad, but in a different area of the exhaust. So I brought it in this morning to my usual mechanic, and $340 later (in about an hour from now) it will be fixed. Throw in an oil change and winterizing, and the final bill will be around $400. That's a grand total of over $600 put into the car in the last week.

Just in time for the holiday season to strike us down. But in all honesty, the exhaust was all factory original parts, and it's a 10 year old car, so it was bound to happen. Better to have it done now than to have pieces falling off on our way to Cleveland next month. Ugh.

But this still cheers me up:



Click on it - I dare ya, esp. if you're a Yankees (or an Indians) fan!

(thanks to Mike Z. in Rockland for the spiffy grafix!)