Goddamn it, I hate having no car!

The BBQ Pit
1

I can’t register my car until I get (and it passes) a smog test. But I can’t get a reading on a smog test until I get the timing adjusted.

After work this evening, I met Mr. Rilch at Goodyear. We explained the problem, and they checked the engine. One mechanic revved the engine with the hood up, and we watched it (the engine) make an unpleasant lurching motion. Gulp. Anyway, I signed an agreement for an estimate, and I have to get back there at 10am tomorrow to sign off on the work they’ll do.

Mr. Rilch is visiting someone now, and will be there until late tomorrow evening*. He wanted Friend to ride me to Goodyear in the morning, and also drop me off to get my hair trimmed**, and then to Dave’s Laser, where he’s also going, so I can get a DVD I ordered. But there’s been no answer, from his landline or his cell, since 6pm.

So I guess I’ll be walking to Goodyear tomorrow. At least it frees me up to stay at the salon as long as necessary, without someone having to wait for me. Don’t know when Dave’s Laser will happen. But the DVD I ordered is the new Red Green special, and I hardly think it will disappear before I get there.

Goddamn it, I hate having no car, even for 24 hours.

*I like this guy all right, but I just don’t want to go to his house. His wife is the most unsociable person I’ve ever met. The tradition is, when the guys go into their guy mode, the girls are supposed to sigh, roll their eyes at each other, then scamper off to do the girl thing. Only when I sigh, I’m rolling my eyes at someone who’s glowering at the fireplace with her arms folded. So being there is essentially being alone.

And yes, I have tried to break through her shell. But the egg analogy is, it takes a tremendous amount of force to break the shell from outside. If the ‘bird’ inside gives it a peck with her beak, it will crack and fall away, but if she prefers to huddle up inside, that’s how it will be.

**My bangs are at least two weeks too long. I’m not a ‘hair chick’, but when it gets to the point where I can’t see…Plus, I’m going to a gathering tomorrow night, and I want to make a good first impression.

2

My POS failed inspection big-time. We’re talking 3 or 4 hundred dollars in repairs. I haven’t been able to use it for almost a month! Thankfully, I got a temp job where my mother works, so I’ve been able to car-pool, and now, after working there 3 weeks, I finally got a pay check that will cover the expenses. Maybe I’ll have my car on the road by this time next week, after I get to the DMV to get a pass to drive an uninspected car(the only thing the DMV will give you for free), get an appointment with the mechanic, and find out when it’s convinient for someone to go with me to the mechanic to drop off and pick up the car. I feel 15…maybe someone will bring me to the store today so I can buy socks and an answering machine…

Not driving sucks a lot when there’s no public transportation and nothing in walking distance. By not being in walking distance, I mean the nearest stores are 10 miles away.

3

It must suck to live in a state that has vehicle inspections. What a pain in the ass that must be.

4

I don’t mind it on principle; the smog is bad enough. It’s just my Fix Or Repair Daily that wears me down.

5

I hate not having a car too. Mine caught fire about two weeks ago, and haven’t seen it since. Doing some engine work. It sucks to have it for three weeks, then have it taken away from you.

6

Oh, sk8, that’s awful.

I have mine back, but I still have to get the smog test. Hope to heck it passes.

7

My car hasn’t been inspected for a couple of years, the expiration on the last sticker is something in 2000. Everything works fine on it, it’s just that the passenger seat is broken (it’s stuck reclined all the way back and a big hunk of metal sticks out of one side of it). I can’t find a seat for that model in any junkyard, and a new one would cost me over $700, so I just say ‘screw it’, and plan on paying a ticket if I get pulled over before I get a new one.

8

I don’t even have my own piece of shit. I have to admire everyone elses’ (Yeah, cheap Ferris Bueller rip-off…sue me).