2008-06-05
Here is not how to conduct the business of keeping your dying car alive:
1. Late April: Spend money on a new alternator because car is failing to start: $105
2. Mid-May: Spend money on new brakes because it is squealing and braking inconsistently: $460
3. Late May: Spend money on a new fuel filter and an opinion from the Subaru dealership on why it is still being a slow and inconsistent starter: $200
4. In the meantime, rent a car for visiting family so the car does not do anything crazy whilst carrying small babies around.
5. June 4: Drive it slowly and carefully off I-95 in traffic at 5:12 PM because there was a clicking sound and something is most certainly wrong. Something that you cannot evaluate until you park in the parking lot of a defunct religious organization, where you realize that the front left tire has exploded from the sidewall and that you way indeed have a broken swaybar.
6. Conclusion: save your money before this and accept that perhaps the car only wanted to live to 200,000 miles.
7. Thank the higher powers that you are still alive. Make decision to stop ignoring the earlier signs that it was indeed time to say goodbye.
Some things to be freaking grateful for:
1. My dog of exceptional pawishness.
2. My proximity to the train station, which makes carelessness less troublesome.
3. My new place, which has a walk-in closet that is amazing and powerfully inspirational.
4. My new porch, which is infinitely more private and wonderful than the old deck.
5. My intact personhood, unscathed by car troubles.