Return of the Beastmobile? AUGRH!!!

Ladies and gents, life is on hold. Strict, strict budget for things like entertainment and eating out. No travel. Maybe getting rid of the cell phone. And you KNOW things are bad when there will be no dancing lessons, either. Commence crying now.

My car has fallen under the curse. The evil, evil curse of the Beastmoblie. Those of you who have been reading this blog for over two years have read the posts about my old car. There were scores of them. This post is the best introduction, and one of my finer song re-works. When the Beastmobile (aka a 1989 Olds Cutlas) finally bit it in November of 2005 (thanks to a dear sir who felt that he didn't really feel like stopping for a red light), it was joyfully replaced by a beauteous issue-free 1994 Civic with a piddly 94,114 km on it. 59,480 miles, for you Americans out there. :) And it's been glorious. Only the routine oil changes and a scheduled timing belt replacement at about 100,000 km.

Until now.

Last winter my trunk began leaking. So much so that when I braked, you could hear it sloshing around. Off I went to my parent's house so that we could drain it and run a space heater in it to dry it out while it sat dry and toasty in the carport (I only have street parking). It was a few months till I could get it into the body shop to have the leak fixed, but eventually I did, and voila! No more leak!

This summer, though, my car began to overheat, so I took it in. It needed a water pump. Ok, fine, that's expected. I got that fixed and a few other odds and ends and forked over around six hundred and fifty bucks. Oof. Oh well, such is the cost of owning a car.

Of course, having just replaced the water heater in July, one would not expect that the cooling system - including a problematic fan that wasn't an issue last time - would have to be done AGAIN in November. Such was the case, however, when I began to overheat on a long drive out to the valley (which reminds me, I really need to write a few posts...). My mechanic - God bless him - charged me no labour. Still it was five hundred and twenty bucks for parts.

As summer turned to fall and fall faded into winter, the weather got wetter. So did my trunk. Just a bit at first, but come the full-fledged rainy season, it was back to a sloshing pool of rain water in the back of my trunk. Goodie goodie gum drops. Now, having the folding seats that I do, there's a little flap of fabric that rests in the trunk. All the better to soak up the water and bring it into the seats, my dear. This I discovered as I picked friends up for Christmas dinner and they arrived at my parents house with wet a$$es. Classy. All the subsequent driving around I did over the holiday involved folded up towels in the back seat for people to sit on. Double classy.

Over the last week of the holiday, I noticed that my car would chug a little bit when it was idling, and sometimes there was quite a bit of really nasty smeling white exhaust. But only sometimes. Then, last Friday, it chugged so much it felt like I was sitting in a massage chair and as I dropped off my friend Becca, it filled the neighbourhood with noxious smelling white smoky exhaust. I only has about 30 blocks to home, so I tried to make it. The temperature guage was up higher than the red and I was billowing massive clouds of smoke as I went. When steam began to billow out from under the hood, however, I pulled 'er over post haste and walked the remaining fourteen blocks to my house. Of course, not before opening the hood to find that the small amount of water in the overflow resevoir was boiling. So let's recap, shall wee? I had water in my trunk and no water in my engine. You'd think they'd learn to share or something. Geez.

I waited till the next morning and drove it straight to the mechanic to be parked there over the weekend. No chance I was gonna drive around with it ready to blow at any second. Of course, the drive there was without incident. Anyway, there it sat, to be looked at on Monday. Two guy friends of mine both told me - independently of each other - that from what I was describing, it sounded like a blown head gasket. Now I don't know much, but I know that THAT is expensive. Like really a lot. Oh happy fun times of joyousness.

I called to check in with the mechanic after school on Monday (yesterday) and he told me that one of the things that had puzzled him last time was still acting up - the computer that controlled the fan that helped to cool the engine. So he changed that. I asked about the head gasket, and he told me that while all the symptoms pointed to exactly that, he could find no evidence of a blown gasket. No mixed fluid anywhere, nothing on the spark plugs, and he drove it all over the place all day long and never once did it chug or smoke for him. He did everything he could and couldn't make it do what it was doing for me. Typical. He got the other mechanic at the shop to look at it, too, and he couldn't find anything either. He told me that when gaskets blow, they blow, and it's not intermittent, so he was very confused. Head gaskets are a very common fix, but he had never seen this problem before in all his years of working on cars. Goooood. That makes me feel SO much better. Yerg. Ah, but of course! We forgot that we're talking about one of MY cars.

He told me that he really couldn't bring himself to fix something he wasn't convinced was broken, so we'd leave it at the computer and the other tweaks he'd done and see how it fared. He was cautiously optomistic that this was the final fix. So off I went tonight after work to pick it up. And to unload another five hundred and twenty bucks. What are we at now, about $1700 since July? No problemo, I'll just go pick it off the money tree in the back yard... Oh right. I DON'T HAVE ONE.

While I was at the shop, I asked, "Well, just in case this isn't the final fix, how much would a blown head gasket actually cost me?" He told me that under normal circumstances it would be a couple of thousand dollars (CHOKE! COUGH! SPUTTER!), but that he'd have pity on me, and I shouln't worry, it would be painless. But the car is probably fixed now. So home I went with my probably fixed car.

Of course I watched the temperature guage and exhaust like a hawk all the way home. Temperature? Fine. Exhaust? Normal. Chugging? Non-existent. Woohoo!

That is, until about the last 8 or 10 blocks. Was that a cloud of white smoke I saw, or am I just paranoid? And I'm starting to feel that slight chug... or is my mind playing tricks on me? I pulled up to my parking spot and let it idle for a minute.

POUF!!!

And there is was. Billowing cloud, chug-a-lugging engine, crying Hillary.

Let's see how much my mechanic's pity is gonna cost me THIS time. Oh yeah, and that trunk leak is still not fixed, either. It's not like THAT can be left alone forever, either. Good thing I just got my Christmas mastercard bill and bought myself a bedroom suite, too. Anyone got some excess wealth they'd like to share?

Frickity frackity flappity FLIP!!!

Pardon me while I go cry now.

Litterally jumping up and down

No, really. I am about to POP. KA-BLEWIEEE! I! Am! So! Excited!

'Member my Beastmobile? (really, go check it out!) And then when Beasmobile got shmooshed and died? And the resulting whiplash (that still kicks up every now and then, grrr)?

Well I just got an email from my lawyer - a longtime family friend - with the final settlement amount, AND IT'S TWICE WHAT HE TOLD ME HE WAS EXPECTING TO GET!!!!!! Nope, not enough exclamation points yet. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's even more than what he told me he'd START negotiating at!!! Wow-ieeee!

I'm going to be able to cut my debt in HALF! And I do believe I'll stick thumb to nose, wave fingers, and give the big PPPBBBTTTHHHHH! to teaching summer school this summer. Either that or take a wee holiday guilt-free after summer school ends (but no jetting off to Europe again for me. Most of it is going to ye olde student loans).

Oh happy day!!! Thanks, God! Thanks, Lawyer! Thanks guy-who-put-my-Beastmobile-out-of-its-misery!

I'm off to do a few more happy dances. Not even Mr. Photography Instructor can ruin THIS day!

YEAHOOOOOO!!!!

Oooh! It's got hubcaps!

It really doesn't take too much to impress me.

I've been car shopping a little over the break. After my Beastmobile, almost anything looks nice! I am, however, being much pickier this time around. I've been to Beatertown. It was fun - kinda - but I don't feel the need to go back. I've been looking at Toyota Corollas and a few Honda Civics: they're such good cars - they go and go, and are usually pretty reliable. I've seen a pretty nice Mazda Protege, too. I would love to buy new, but alas, Mr. Bank Account is not quite ready for that. The Beastmobile was an '89, so my goal is to buy something that's within ten years old. We'll see how that pans out.

I have to say, if there's one thing I've learned from trooping around to look at used cars, it's that I hate car shopping! Ug! It's phenominal how much JUNK is out there. Even more unbelievable is how much people are asking for said junk.

A few cars I never even ended up seeing because the people selling them had accents so thick I couldn't even tell if they were telling me it was a standard or an automatic (and I'm not your wussy need-subtitles-for-a-teensy-weensy-accent kind of gal!). I coulnd't even get any information on those cars, nevermind directions to go see them!

And then there were the cars I did see. Let me tell you this much: if you have been breeding wet, chain smoking dogs in a homemade swimming pool in the back of your car, NOBODY will buy your car.

I don't know what some people do to thier cars to make them smell so horribly putrid (nor do I want to know!) but phew!!! I thought my dad was kinda strange when he kept poking his head into cars on used car lots to sniff them. Uh, no. Good plan. Also a good plan? Check for indoor swimming pools. While a luxury on some super swanky limousines, it's not generally a feature you want to see in a Corolla or a Protege. About the only good that has come from the ten days of pelting pouring rain here in Vancouver (and another 14 days at least in the forecast!) is that if the car is leaking, you're going to know about it. One car I saw, in addition to the puddles on the floor in the back seat, was so full of water below the floor of the trunk that the plug was removed so it could drian. PLUG? I didn't even know cars had plugs! Too bad, cause everything else looked great!

And so I shop some more. If anyone out there if feeling overly generous, I'm taking donations (of cars or cash)!!! :D

Sitting on my hands

That's about as productive as I feel in the whole car-shopping area. Will I EVER get a car??? I put off shopping after the Beastmobile got schmucked for a month till I actually had the time to go look. Now I'm waiting... and waiting... and waiting... for the bank to get back to me about extending my line of credit so I can actually PAY for it! My holidays and borrowed car time are quickly running out. ARG! Why can't timing match up? First I had no time. Now I have no money (well, ok, I had no money when I had no time, too). As soon as I have no time again, I'll have the money. Or maybe not. *sigh* I really don't want to go to Beatertown again. I've had a beater, it was fun - kinda - but I'm ready to move on. I don't need a new car (though hey, if anyone's offering... !!) but I want something reliable, with things like a working transmission. See? I don't ask much!

I need to buy a jet pack. Then I could just fly to the places I want to go. It'd really cut down on the commuting time, too!

It's a done deal.

Yesterday, among all my running around, I stopped in at ICBC (insurance company) to sign the salvage release form and to pick up the cheque for my totalled car. $1440.10 isn't gonna get me very far, but at least it's a start. I wonder how they pinned the value down to the nearest ten cents? I picked up my plates, too. Well, my plate. The front plate came off in the accident, something I didn't realize till the day after on my way to work when I saw it lying in the middle of the intersection. It was sad to sign that form, handing the Beastmobile over to ICBC. It was like a final farewell. I know I shouldn't be so attatched to that silly car, but oh well, what can I do?

Walking back to the bus, a check, a copy of the slavage release, and a licence plate in hand, I found it odd that a big metal machine could be so easily reduced to a few slips of paper and a metal plate.

R.I.P. Beastmobile

I got the call today. Sid from the insurance company's estimating facility called me this morning(What??? They actually work on the weekends?!?!) to inform me that, "unfortunatley, your vehicle is a total loss."

Yeah, that doesn't come as a surprise... Yes, I'd like you to bag up all my personal belongings that were in the car and send them to my nearest claims center, please and thank you... $3500 damage just on the big stuff alone, not to mention anything they might find when they open it up? Wow!... Yah, parts are expensive... So someone will call me later this week with the value of the car?... Any guesses what that'll be?... ok, I'll send along receipts of all the work I've had done on it recently... ok, thanks for letting me know... yes, you have a good day, too... thank you... bye.

When I got the call, I found that I was actually kind of sad. I realized that smashed in the intersection was the last time I'd ever see my car. No 'last goodbye.' Isn't that crazy? For heaven's sake, it wasn't a person! I guess it's more the shock of losing it like that. It would be a different story if I had sold it. (Which, now that it was actually working properly - for the most part - I was considering doing. Bah!)

It's funny how attatched we get to our stuff. You'd think from all my ranting and raving about my car that I hated the thing. It was quirky. Irritating at times when yet another thing broke, yes, I'll give you that. But honestly, it was a good source of stories. It always got me from point A to point B. It was basically my first car, other than a car I had for six months in university for a job.

To the Beastmobile: Rest in Peace.

Hillary and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Also known as, "Beastmobile: The end of an era?"

I woke up yesterday morning with a raging sore throat. I've been having problems with my voice lately (I'm an elementary school music teacher!) and some days are worse than others. I was gonig to call in sick today to give my battered and abused vocal cords a rest, but I had nothing, zip, zero, nada prepared, and it's just cruel and unusual punishment to call a TOC (teacher on call) into the chaos that is my day without having anything at all left for him/her, especially since I don't often get a sub who can read music. So I decided to head on in anyway, and just try to talk less/sing more quietly. Ha! Right.

The good news is that, because my throat woke me up earlier than I usually get up, I had plenty of time to get ready and head off to work. I hopped in the now not-so-hated Beastmobile.

[ Side note: I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet, but my car is actually shifting into drive RIGHT AWAY now!!! No more 17 minutes of waiting or multiple engine revs to have it ka-CHUNK into gear with a violent lurch. My dad found a miracle goop-additive for transmissions called Bi-Tron. It actually brought MY BEASTMOBILE back from near death!!! It's no less than a miracle, let me tell you!!! So, I've actually been quite fond of my car these days. This is the first time since I've owned it (2.5 years) that I haven't had to wait or slam it into gear before I can drive! No kidding, there is at most a 2 second delay now between shifing and it clicking (not clunking!) into gear. I've been thinking that, "Quick! Now's the time to sell the beast while it's actually working, and before anythig else blows on it!" ]

Off I went on my trying-to-be-merry way. It was about 8am, and I was waiting to turn left at a major intersection. There was another car in front of me, also waiting to turn. Both of us were in the intersection. The light turned yellow, and one car went through, pushing the light. The light turned red. THe car in front of me turned, and me, grimacing at being in the intersection on such a red light, began to turn as well, when WHAM!

Some dopus (notice my restraint in my word choice there?) decided that he was just in TOO much of a hurry to stop for that RED light, so he ran it. Only problem was, I was in the intersection, trying to get out of the way of the very-soon-to-be oncoming traffic. I had started to turn, saw him coming and slammed on my brakes, but it was too late. We collided front driver's side to front driver's side.

The bumper was busted off, the front panel smashed in over the wheel, the lights and grill all punched in and broken... The crash was even enough to dislodge the signal light on the OTHER side of the car! I limped my car off to the side of the road, the sound of metal against the wheel and the bumper dragging on the ground making me cringe.

I walked back over to the other side of the street where the other driver was, watching the busy rush hour traffic drive over and obliterate pieces of my car still left in the intersection. Hands shaking like they've never shaken before, I exchanged information and asked a guy waiting for the bus to be a witness. The other driver said he was going through a yellow light. Yeah, I don't think so, buddy.

I called school to say I'd be late. Tow trucks came and towed away both cars. By the time I got to work and had dealt with ICBC (insurance comapny), I had missed my first 2 classes. Word sure travels fast! Two of my grade 5 students who were supposed to be in my first class saw me as I came in and asked if I had been in a car accident. Whaa?

Anyway, classes 3 and 4 I plopped in front of a video (hey! It was in French AND music-related, so I don't feel so bad about it!) while I wrote out a plan for a TOC for the afternoon. After I dismissed the kids, I ran around and got the VCR moved, picked a non-French movie for the afternoon classes, photocopied worksheets, picked up marking I was going to do at home, made sure someone was going to the union meeting I was supposed to go to, showed my TOC the three different rooms she had to go to in the afternoon, made sure she understood what she was doing, THEN, I went home. (For heaven's sake, why can't I just go, "Hey, I was in a car accident, and I wasn't even gonna come to work today cause I"m SICK, so I'm outta here!") By the way, as far as I can tell, physically I'm fine. I'm a little bit stiff, but I don't think that's anything major. Yes, I've seen a doctor, and I'm keeping a close eye on how I feel these next few days.

I'm still waiting to hear from ICBC about liability. It's dicy, cause I was turning left, and even though the guy ran a very red light, ICBC doesn't like to fault people driving straight over people turning left. Also, I'm betting that my car is going to be a write-off. I would be very surprised if they decided to fix it. I jsut hope I get something decent for it, cause I reeeally can't afford a new (or new-to-me) car right now. Nor can I afford the $250 "Crash responsibility charge" (what a crock that is) or the spike in my insurance rates if they find it to be my fault. *SIGH*

Today (the day after the accident), I got a ride to work with another teacher, and as we went through the intersection where the accident happened, there was my licence plate out on the road, crumpled and beat up from 24 hours worth of traffic rolling over it, totally unaware of how that discarded piece of metal represented the worst day I've had in a very, very long time.

Life is not all bad, though, cause once home and settled a bit, I lit some candles, put on some jazz, poured myself a glass of wine, and got some marking out of the way. My friend Dave came over later for dinner, a guitar "jam session" and some good conversation. It was just what I needed after that crazy day. I'm so grateful for a good friend like that.

My poor car. It's been broken into, stolen, hit and run'ed, and now smashed. I can't say it's had a very good day either. Yipes.

God must really love me!

Beastmobile strikes again. Well, actually, this was MY fault, but it feels better to blame the car.

I was out at some friends' place tonight, and it was about 1am when I left with my friends Shaun and Sarah. We were parked side by side in the lot. When I got to my car, I noticed that the interior lights were on. "Oh, shoot, I left my lights on! Guys, wait up, I might need a jump." Yup, I did.

Thanks, God, for the parking spot right next to my friends!

Out come my jumper cables, and in the pouring rain, we connect them. Just as we're getting them hooked up, a tow truck pulls up. "Hey, you guys call BCAA [B.C. Automobile Assotiation]?" Uh, nope. "Oh, OK, well there must be someone else around here..." We scan the parking lot. It's empty, except for us and one other car near the far end. He drives down there.

Thanks, God, for a mechanic showing up 'randomly' in the middle of the night just as I think my car is dead!

I try the ignition. A weak little "ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh" comes from the open hood, but the car doesn't start. We try a few more times. Nothing. I still have lights and radio, so we don't think it's the battery. Stupid piece of crap car! This JUST happened at the beginning of October. Now again? Unfortunately neither I nor my friends are members, but in keeping with my "Hey, it never hurts to ask!" policy, I decide to run over to the BCAA guy and see if he can at least come look and give an opinion. He comes over once he's dealt with the other car.

Thanks, God, for the BCAA guy having pity on us and helping even though we're not members!

We try the ignition again. Ruh-ruh-ruh. The BCAA guy confirms that it's definitely a dead battery, and not something else.

Thanks, God, for it not being something worse!

He gives us a few tips and we try a few things, then decide to try my friends' cables. He's determined that mine are faulty, or just can't handle enough power or something. Funny, now that I think about it, I've never been able to jump my car with those cables. Huh. (Note to self: buy new jumper cables.) We hook up Shaun and Sarah's cables.

Thanks, God, for friends who have better jumper cables than I do (and who would drive me home if it came to that, even though I live a 20 min drive away, and they only live basically down the street.)

We let it charge for a minute, then I try the ignition again. VVRRROOOM! Yippee!!!

Thanks, God!

To the tune of the Gilligan's Island Theme Song...

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a beastmobile
That started whilst driving to school,
I thought I'd lost a wheel
The hub cap popped and it rolled away,
Right into a very big ditch
The second one's gone and so's the third,
The fourth one I should pitch

I rev it once, I rev it twice,
And then I rev some more
When suddenly with a great big thunk,
It's on the road once more
Smoke from the hood as the oil leaks,
The engine light goes on
But it's ok, it always does,
Soon it will be gone

Electric windows they still work,
But not the passenger side
I control the windows though,
The other switches are fried
Cruise control, A/C long gone,
But the vent still does the trick
Don't keep it on for too long, though,
The fumes will make you sick

My dear old Cutlas beastmobile,
You still run, it's true
You've got character, they say,
I know we're not through
I'll drive you to the bitter end,
I'll be good to you
Please be good to me old girl,
I can't afford to fix you.
I can't afford to fix you!


Back to the contest

This is becoming comical...

I'm grateful to have a car that runs. I'm grateful to have a car that runs. I'm grateful....

I'll just keep telling myself that! God's trying to teach me something through this car, I'm sure of it. Just wish I knew what! :D

Do it RIGHT next time!

Someone just drove down my street and slammed into my car. My beastmoblile. The one someone broke into a while ago. The one someone stole at the beginning of June. And now the one someone hit and took off.

Just enough damage to make it a pain in the pocketbook (and a pain in the butt!), but not enought to finish 'er off. I had to pay $300 bucks to get my car back after it was stolen, and I'll have to pay $300 to get it fixed if they don't find the sleaze who took off after hitting my car. Tell me, WHY do I pay insurance every month?!?!

FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE PEOPLE... if you're gonna break into, steal, or hit my car, would you PLEEEASE do it right???? Drive it off a cliff, or smash it up real good, or SOMETHING! Just don't keep leaving me with a $300 bill for YOUR stupidity!

GGGRRRRRRR!!!!
(ok, I feel better now... kinda)

Clunkermobile Adventures

Just another chapter in the ongoing saga of the clunkermobile! But first, if you haven't seen it already, you need to read this post to get somewhat aquainted with my beastmobile (it's a love/hate realtionship! :P )

OK, read it? Good... now we can continue! ;)

The Monday just after the retreat I had "one of those days." Slept in, got caught in a traffic jam, had wingy kids that wouldn't listen to anything, forgot my lunch, knocked over a huge stack of Safeway shopping baskets (which didn't just fall over, but spread out all accros the floor, stopped only by the display stand 8 or 10 feet away), had more wingy kids, sat through a long boring staff meeting, then went off to battle the crowds at Metrotown to buy a wedding shower gift for a friend. Metrotown parking is crazy, so I parked in the surface parking (much easier than in the multi-level parking garage!) and made careful note where my car was (I've lost it before!). I went in, bought my gift, and did a little bit of shopping for me (nothing fit - *sigh*).

Around 8:00, I was tired and hungry, and just wanted to go HOME! I followed my steps back to my car only to see another car pulling in to where my car had been. Ummm.... Oooookaaay. I wandered the lot, second guessing my sanity over and over again, but nope, I had definitely parked my car where I thought I did. And it was definitely not there.

Somebody had stolen my car!!! MY car. MY hunk-o-junk! :O

I called my parents to let them know, and told a mall security guard, who had someone come take all my info and then do a circle of the lot (I guess they have to make sure I just didn't forget where I parked it. Bah!). She circled around, and of course, no car. It IS fairly obvious with that piece of trim hanging off the back bumper! :P

Anyway, my dad was on his way (hip hip hooray for daddies! He came from Deep Cove to Metrowtown to drive me back to my house near Oakridge... for those of you who don't know Vancouver, none of those places are close to eachother), so I went over to the Red Robin to wait for him.

When he got there, we called the police to report is stolen, and then ICBC (insurance) and all that jazz. I hada full tank of gas in it, which got my dad and I thinking... good, they can get as far away as possible then maybe they'll drive it off a cliff and I'll be rid of the thing!!!

Is it bad to honestly pray your car gets totalled? ;)

Well, no such luck. They found it the next day at an Ice Rink in Coquitlam, basically intact. Boo hoo! Of course, then began the rigamaroll with the insurance company. Suffice it to say it was somewhat of a headache (although not as bas as I thought it would be). Though tell me, why have insurance when your car gets stolen and you still have to pay the $300 deductable?!?! ARG!

My one perk for the two weeks before getting it back, though, was the rental car! I got to drive a brand new silver Sunfire, wahoo! It was sure hard to go back to the clunkermobile afterwards, though! It's got me seriously contemplating a new car.

But alas, the beast is back, rumbling and smoking and squeaking and slamming into gear. I don't even want to know what the guys at the dealership thought when my car, after sitting for a week, took half an hour to stop belching out smoke (it leaks oil, and if it sits for a two days or so, there's enough oil burning off that it smokes). Go green or go home, I tell ya. Eek.

Clunker-mobiles

I have to say, as annoying as my car is, I'm pretty convinced that it saved me from a fairly large pain in the butt yesterday morning.

Some background: my sweet ride is an 89 olds cutlas that has more issues than I can count - the biggest one being the quirky and tempermental transmission. You see, if the car has been parked for 2-3 hours or more, it doesn't like to go into drive right away. And I'm not talking a little 2-3 second delay. After it's been parked overnight is especially bad. The longest I've waited for it was 17 minutes. SEVENTEEN MINUTES!!! And could I just leave it in neutral to warm up for those 17 mins while I go do something else? Nooooo! The car has to be in drive, preferably with my foot on the brake, so it doesn't all of a sudden start moving.

But you see, I've found a way the get around this delay to some extent. With my foot on the brake, I give the engine 4 or 5 good revs, and then it usually goes into gear. By "goes" I mean slams in with a big, lurching ka-CHUNK It's like my very own playland ride every morning. I should feel so priveldged. (and remember, this is only ONE of it's issues!) When I took it to the mechanic to get soemthing minor looked at (he tells me it's not worth fixing the tranny, it'd be too expensive for what the car's worth. "It always goes into gear eventually?" - yes - "And it never falls out of gear?" - no - "Aw, then don't worry about it.") I of course had to tell him the newest way to get it in gear. He jsut laughed at me! And laughed. And laughed. And laughed. And... well, you get the idea.

SOOO.... as annoying as this is, I have decided that my car has "character" and have decided to embrace the quirkiness of it all. (It's either that or go stark raving mad! :p ) Those of you know know me - hush! ;)

So what does all this have to do with yesterday morning, you ask? Well, when I went out to my car to go to work, my door was ajar. Upon further inspection, I saw that it had been broken into - papers oin the floor, glove box open, ashtray pulled out. Thankfully the only thing I keep in my car is a quarter for a grocery cart! But then, I discovered that teh panel for the fuse box was on the floor of the passener side. Hmm.... I'm pretty convinced that they hotwired my car and tried to steal it.

*TRIED*

Picture it: The car's going, the thug pops it into drive... and waits... and waits... and waits... and waits...

I have to say, I've got myself a pretty good anti-theft device! hahahahahaha!

Hip hip hooray for clunker-mobiles!