Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[fbhjr]

So far this summer: my laptop hard drive died, my DVD player died, my cellphone started draining a full battery charge in 4 hours, and my camera went missing.

Today I brought my car in for its annual safety inspection. An inspection station is across the street from me, so I dropped it off and came home for lunch. When I went back they had found some issues.
It needs:
At least two new tires
A new muffler and lead in pipe
A break job
A new side mirror
And, new license plates because mine isn’t “shiny enough”.

$1550.
Once the “failed” sticker is on it any police officer can pull you over, give you a ticket and assign you two driving demerits.

I argued with the guy about the side mirror. He wanted to replace the entire housing because I cracked the glass scraping ice off of it last winter. I already had the replacement glass, and had just not gotten around to putting it in.
I put the glass down on his desk.
“Are you really going to charge me more than $150 to peel the paper off the back of this and stick it to my housing?” I asked.
He looked at it. He looked at me.
“I think we can take that line item off of the bill,” he said.
$1395.

That is still more than I’ve got. 5 months out of work has not helped me build up my savings. And, I just paid rent and my American Express bill that had the new computer parts on it.
But, I really want to be able to drive places when I need to.
I often walk. I try and walk. I go out of my way to walk.
But, it has been a choice.
Not to have that choice is hard to face. (I know some of you have recently faced this yourself...)
I can say things like “the sword troupe needs me to have a station wagon”, and things like that. But, those are just excuses.
Not being able to afford car repairs makes me feel like a failure as a member of society.
I have designed products that have made hundreds of millions of dollars for the companies that hired me to design them.
Why can’t I afford to keep a car on the road?

“You can open a credit line with us and get your car repaired,” the mechanic said.
“I’ve been out of work for 5 months,” I said. “I’m not sure I’d loan me the money at this point, never mind a bank.”
“Fill out the form and give it a try,” he said.
I spent 18 months getting out of debt. I took joy in shredding those cards and offers of more.
I was so proud when we made that last payment and the debt was gone. I had already lost my job, but we were still able to pay off the end of it. I really felt like we had achieved something.
The financing is through Citibank, the folks who send me the “wrong amount” check that would have reopened my account. The people who once a month send me blank checks saying “any time you want to reopen the account, just fill out a check and it’s good.”

I filled out the form.
They approved me for $1400.
The car is being repaired as I type this.
I keep expecting to see a guy with horns and a pitchfork say “gotcha!”

Comments

[pallid-regina.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Yeah.

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

I think you made the right choice to make sure you have a legal car to drive when needed. And now that you have 'experience' in handling the creditors, once you are back on your feet you can slowly tear them apart again.

...every superhero needs an arch villan...??

I heard today that Marvel got bought by Disney for $4 Billion....So I doubt my little quote will help.

The deal with the shiny lic plates smells like BS to me. I have seen much much much worse from several cars/drivers in MA than "not shiny enough"

[64tbird.livejournal.com]

The license plate thing stinks to me too -
I have had the same license plates for 20 years, and 5 cars. Last time I paid registration I asked if I was supposed to get new ones (especially as I have changed counties) and they told me that the state is encouraging us to keep our plates.

20 years. Same plates.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

I've had these for 18 years and 3 cars.
When I got them, you only needed one single plate in back. Now you need front and back. I guess the new rule is that if there is any damage to them they have to be replaced. As they were on the bumper of the car that got rear ended back in 1998, they were damaged then. But now, 11 years later, I'm told they need to be replaced.

[morgan-lafaye.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry this happen. I know too well the feeling of " gee, I can't even afford to do,pay for blah". It sucks. As for your plates, if they are readalbe they are legal. So tell him to stuff the plates, I've seen worse.

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

They changed the law on the plates. The new law is if there is any damage to them and they are the old single plate type, which they were, then they have to be replaced with new dual plate ones.
There isn't a charge for it, but you've got to replace them.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

yeah, we got nailed by that, too.

[saeble.livejournal.com]

damn... I could so easily fix most exhaust issues and brakes aren't too hard either provided the discs aren't traintracked... I really am in the wrong country. $1600 would be enough to get me a ticket North !

+sigh+

[fbhjr.livejournal.com]

They charge $95 an hour for labor.
That is well more than double the best I ever made as an engineer.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Ye gods. My sympathies.