Check the Simple Shit

Well, I felt like a fucking idiot today. Before I get into why I just wanted to say that I did end up going to a doctor about my not really getting my period in December. They checked and nothing seemed unusual and basically since I have been fixed for so long there is damn near no chance that I would get pregnant. They did a pap smear though because I hadn't had one in a while and I had pre-cancerous cells in the past that needed to be treated. They said they would have the results in about a week. They told me to contact them if I hadn't had my period by February 1st. Sure as hell, I got it today. Nothing overly heavy yet but it's there. They did tell me that my periods may get a bit more irregular now that I'm in my 30's. *shrugs* I guess I'll just have to not freak out if it happens again unless something seems really wrong.

Okay, now back to why I felt stupid...

Our car wouldn't start yesterday. I had actually hopped in the car to go to the doctor and tried starting her. She tried, but wouldn't crank over. Fucking hell. I ended up getting a ride there and back. I thought that maybe it was just too cold and that is why she didn't want to crank over. But after talking with some family members that deal with a lot of cars. They told me that it was most likely my starter because my battery was only a year old. I went out there again today and again she wouldn't turn over.

So we had the car towed to our new mechanic. I say new because we had moved back in September and we are about a hour away from our old mechanic. They told me that it most likely wouldn't be fixed until Monday because they would have to order the part. (It did end up being the starter.) I said that would be no problem. But lo and behold about five hours later they call me and they said that they were able to find the part locally and had it fixed. They also did an oil change on her. Awesome sauce.

So I get a ride there to pick her up and by that time it's just starting to get dark out. I didn't really have to turn the headlights on until about half way home. When I did I noticed that the headlights turned on but the dashboard didn't light up. What the fuck?

I get home and park the car and I start messing with it to see if I could figure out why. Nope. Fuck. I called the mechanic and they told me to drive her right back and they'll look at it.

When I show up they have Master and I pull the car into the service bay and they couldn't figure it out either. So they brought over someone else over. Apparently, it was because one of the rear doors were open. Never mind no lights came on to say that one of the doors were ajar. Hell, the interior lights even turned off. What the hell.

Basically it was one of those check the simple shit first stupid situations. Neither Master or myself could figure it out and neither could two other people at the mechanics. Why? Because we were all focused on just the dashboard. Well, that and you wouldn't think that a door would cause that especially when there are absolutely no other signs that a damn door is open. *sigh*

Oh well, at least she's fixed now.

When It Rains It Pours

Well... I thought that there was nothing else that could add to the huge pile of stress that we already have. I was wrong. Apparently our car wanted to get in on the action as well.

Thursday all of a sudden she started running really rough. (I refer to my car as a female. Hush.)  What the fuck? The check engine light wasn't on or anything so I figured I had just gotten some bad gas from the gas station. After all, it hadn't started until after I put gas in the car that day so to me that was a logical conclusion. Well, yesterday I was driving down to my mother's to help her out with some things and as I'm driving down there all of a sudden the check engine light comes on. Mother. Fucker. Thankfully I was only about 10 minutes away from my mother's so I got her there and put her in park. When I got out of the car my mom asked me why I looked pissed off. I told her and she told me to take the car up the street to the mechanic both her and my brother use and trust. Normally I only go to our mechanic up by us because I trust them. But hey, if both my mother and brother trust these people I'll go there.

Yeah. Well... It's a damn good thing I did. Holy shit. First, I would just like to say that whenever I go to "our" mechanic up here and they do an oil change they are suppose to do a 20 point inspection of the car. The place I went to yesterday also does that. I needed to get her an oil change anyway so I asked them to do that and read the code that the car was throwing that was causing the check engine light go on.

Apparently "our" mechanic wasn't doing the 20 point inspection they told me they were doing. When the mechanic I went to yesterday came out to tell me what was up he simply asked me to come back with them to where my car was. That is not a good thing. The minute a mechanic asks me to come look at our car so they can show me what is wrong I feel a knot form in my stomach.

Let's see here...

The list of all of what needed to be done and was done were the following:

• Spark plugs and wires
• PCV valve and tube
• Valve cover gasket and plenum
• Lower engine mount
• Rear watts link
• New wiper blades

Okay, so the new wiper blades were no big deal although I was annoyed because we had literally bought new ones earlier this year. Apparently they weren't very good ones since the rubber was already coming off of the damn things. 

But that's not the point. The mechanic we have always gone to, that I had trusted because they never seemed to lie to me or steer me wrong, had missed a few things. And it's not like they were small things! Some of those items, namely the rear watts link and the lower engine mount had obviously needed to be done for quite some time. And if it's obvious to me, who is not a mechanic, you would think an actual mechanic would have mentioned it before now. I'm not talking a couple of months either. I'm talking a good long while. Also, the spark plugs were so bad that you couldn't even see one of them anymore because they were flooded with oil.

WHAT THE FUCK?!

How in the hell can our mechanic miss all of that?!

The one I went to yesterday was very nice and I really appreciated the fact that he took me back to our car to show me everything because otherwise I don't think I would have believed him. I don't automatically think that mechanics are lying to me but I was just amazed that our mechanic had never mentioned any of this. And no they didn't find all of this because of car code. They did that last. This was all from the 20 point inspection that our normal mechanic is supposed to be doing every oil change but obviously hasn't been.

The mechanic I went to yesterday said flat out he was surprised that we hadn't been in an accident yet due to some of these things.

Oh, and the oil change? He threw that in for free.

Normally I would piece meal fixes because of finances but these were so dangerous that I couldn't afford not to have them done right then and there. They told me that they could get them all done that day so I got a ride back to my mother's house and left our car there to get fixed.

I called Master once I got back to my mother's house. He was pissed. Not at me or anything but at our mechanic. Not only should they have informed us of all of this but we could have been in a serious accident due to some of these and severely injured.

Needless to say we will no longer be going to what was "our" mechanic. Fuck that. It makes me wonder if they were waiting for this shit to break fully and then just replacing it then so we'd basically be in a bind and they could charge us more since it was fully broken rather than just needing to be replaced so it doesn't fully break.

We do need to get our rear brakes done soon but it wasn't an immediate need and the bill was already high (although lower than what we would have paid up here) so I put that off which the mechanic said would be fine. He said it's not an immediate concern but would need to be done sooner rather than later.

Guess what? When those get done I'm going to the mechanic I went to yesterday not the one up here. Hell I won't even take our car for an oil change there anymore. Obviously they aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing. Assholes.

Hurry Up & Wait

Well, I didn't get to update my post from yesterday. There was just way too much shit going on. It was a lot of trying to figure out how to get shit done. It was a long damn day. It will sound stupid as hell but I actually kind of wished I had been at work yesterday. Not because I like being at work. But because then none of the stress of yesterday would have happened and I wouldn't have to make up the time at work.

I know it was another day off of work, but it didn't feel like it. Not at all. It's not like I got to relax. It was a lot of hurry up and wait. That whole getting the battery from the store and having them install it for free idea went out the window. It just didn't make much sense to begin with. I was kind of freaking out at the moment. The reason I called them in the first place is because I thought I still had a warranty, so while that would have made the most sense it turned out not to be true anyway.

Once that was determined I gave up on the idea rather quickly. So, when the mechanic shop I go to opened I called them. They told me how much it would be and honestly it wasn't going to be that much more, including labor.

While I was on the phone with them I asked if they could maybe come down and jump start my car and I would follow them back. They apologized but they were booked fucking solid and couldn't afford to send any of their employees. I didn't get mad or anything. I understood. They have always been straight up with me and treated me well as a customer.

I then called around and got a hold of a place that does nothing but jump starts, unlocking car doors, and things like that. They told me it would be a 3 hour wait for someone to get to my place because of how back logged they were due to the cold. Made sense. So I said that was fine and asked them to just call me when they got here.

Right before the 3 hour mark was going to click by I got a phone call that they were outside by my car. So I went out there and they tried to jump start my car. They tried three different things. They tried doing it off their car. That didn't work. So they tried it off a jump start battery pack. No dice. Then they tried a different jump start battery that was stronger. Nope. Fuck me running.

They only charged me $10 for coming out here and trying. I thought that was more than fair.

Now I just had to try and find a different way to get my car down there. I called around to different tow truck companies but either they were too far out, they were way too expensive, or they would only tow me to their own shop rather than the shop I wanted to go to.

I called the mechanic again and they gave me the number to a tow truck company they recommend. I called them and they were the cheapest. They also didn't make it seem like I was bothering them, unlike most of the places I had called before.

They told me they were swamped due to all the breakdowns and told me they should be there in 2 hours. Okay.

While I was waiting I called my brother and asked him to come up. I did that just in case for some reason the car didn't get a new battery that day because ya know, shit fucking happens. I apologized over and over again because it's a long drive for him to get up here. He said it was fine.

He got here before the tow truck did. We hung out for a little while and when the 2 1/2 hour mark ticked by I called the tow truck company. They told me it was going to be another 1 1/2 hours. I got a little cranky because while I understand that they are swamped I would expect a better time quote or at least a courtesy call letting me know they were running behind

So another 2 hours go by and they finally get here. I was worried though because they got here at 5pm and the shop I go to closes at 6pm. At that time I was glad I had called my brother because it seemed like the car was going to have to wait until tomorrow. My brother drove me to the shop so I wouldn't have to ride with the tow truck driver and I wouldn't have to sit down there by myself.

When we got there the shop was jam packed. There were only three parking spots left. My brother pulled into one of them. The tow truck wasn't that far behind us thankfully.

The shop actually put me ahead as a priority because most people weren't picking up their cars until the next day. So they took a car out of the bay and put mine in. We sat there for about 45 minutes. It was actually past their close time by the time everything was said and done.

They had checked my alternator and my starter just to be on the safe side and thankfully they were both fine. I don't want to even guess what that repair bill would have been. The car needed a new battery obviously. But she also needed a battery cable extended, so they had to wait on that. She also needed a new battery housing because I guess the one that was in there was in pretty rough shape.

What was awesome was that they only charged me for the battery and labor. Sweet! I drove my car back and my brother followed me. He stayed the night just to be on the safe side. I ended up going to bed rather early. It had felt like an incredibly long day.

When I got up this morning to go to work my brother got up too. He wanted to make sure my car started. And she did! She started just fine and right away. I was a bit surprised when I was sitting in the car waiting for her to warm up and I saw my brother walking to his car. I opened my window and asked what was up. He said he was just going to head on home because he knew I was all good to go and his knee was really bothering him.

I can't blame him. He dropped everything at the drop of a dime to come help me out and even stayed the night to make sure I could get to work in the morning. He pisses me off sometimes and I don't like who he is dating but he is a good brother and I love him.

Although I won't be going into work on Saturday. I've decided to just work 10 hour work days the rest of the work week so I can have my entire weekend. It's rough but I'd rather do that than only have one full day off of work.

Battery Issues

Well it's currently -45° out. I took the dog out and he did his business so fast I think he broke some kind of record. After I got him back inside I went out to try and start my car and she didn't want to do it. She tried and then made this "da da da da" noise. I tried again about 20 minutes later and same result. I tried one last time right before 8am and same mother fucking result. I don't know why I thought it would be any different. Fuck!! The cold had sucked out all the power in the battery. So I call my job and told them. I had to call HR of all people because apparently I had the wrong number for my supervisor. She doesn't like me, at all. She actually sounded somewhat understanding. Does that mean I won't get in trouble for not coming into work and being out of time? No. She's a cunt. It's also company policy not to go over your time without disciplinary action. Now, keeping that in mind, it is up to HR as to whether or not it's warranted. Such as if there is an emergency they won't go through with the disciplinary action. Does a dead battery count? No idea. And like I said, she's a cunt. Hopefully she is wasn't being a two faced bitch on the phone and it's actually true that she understands. I did tell her that I literally have no other way to work. I really don't. I'm not making that shit up. Either way I'll now have to work Saturday to make up the time.

After I got off the phone with her I called the place I got my battery from last time. I honestly thought I had bought it last year. They looked up my receipt in their system and nope. I bought it two years ago and therefore the warranty has expired.

So I asked them how much their batteries are. They told me. Batteries are never cheap. I then asked if they could install it. They said that yes they do free installation but they don't think they can do it today due to the cold. It will take at least 35 minutes to put it in and they don't want to give their employees frostbite since no one is supposed to be outside for more than 5 minutes. I completely understand that. After all they don't have a garage. They are an auto parts store that does free installation. But the guy said when the manager gets in he'll ask. The manager doesn't get there until 1pm. So I told them I would call back at that time.

This fucking blows! I'll have to figure something out so I can at least get to work tomorrow. And it's supposed to be just as cold tomorrow until around noon or so. Even if I do some how, some way, get the battery replaced today it's not going to make a fuck ton of sense to go in today. It's supposed to be even colder by the time I would normally get out of work. I don't need to be stranded out there thank you very much.

My brother just sent me a text saying his girlfriend had tried to go to work and the car started up fine but she is now stranded because her car sputtered out about a half hour away from her job due to the cold. I don't like the girl but I felt bad for my brother. I told him not to risk himself and have her just call an emergency number or for him to give her a non-emergency number, such as the local police station, and go from there.

I'll probably edit this post through out the day and do updates once I find out more, just so I can vent a bit.

Scramble

Things seem to be going so well, and then something has to come along and *bam* Something has to ruin it.

The car had literally just started making loud noises while braking about four days ago. At first I just figured ice and crud had gotten under there. But when it didn't go away... yeah. Master told me to take the car in as soon as possible. Well they close at 6pm and I don't even get down to our place until 5:30pm when I'm coming home from work. So I figured I would just take the car in Saturday and see what the hell was up. Yeah.. well yesterday on the way to work the noise was significantly worse. So I called the mechanic to see if they could just take a peek at it for me. They closed at 6pm so I got there in time for them to take a look at her. Well, she needed front brake pads and rotors. If it had just been the pads it wouldn't have been that big of a deal but rotors too? Fuck.

That means juggling some shit. And they told me that she would not be safe to drive to my job tomorrow (meaning today) because there was a very good chance that the brakes would seize up. That's not good. We only have the one car and none of our friends or family live around here. So how the hell was I going to pull this off?

I couldn't take off work. I'm out of time. I mean if I had to I had to. I'd rather be breathing and not total the car thank you very much. But Master and I were worried about it. My job has a huge thing about going over your allotted time for the year. I had called my mom to tell her what was going on because I was kind of freaking out and needed to vent a bit aside from venting completely on Master. About 10 minutes after I got off the phone with her my brother called me. (He lives upstairs from our mother.)

He immediately said that I could use his car to get to and from work. I was wondering how the fuck that was going to work given the fact that he lives 45 minutes away and there was no way for us to drive our car down there and then follow each other up. The brakes weren't good enough to drive to and from my job they definitely weren't up to driving down to my brother's and back.

He told me that if he could crash at our place he would bring up the car that night and then I would just take his car to work and back and then he would take his car home. Fuck yeah! So he crashed here last night. And while I was at work Master oh so very carefully drove the car down to the mechanic's shop. They gave Him and my brother a ride back to our place and they picked them up when the car was done so He could pay the bill and all that.

Driving my brother's car was fucking weird. It's very touchy which I had to get use to. Our car responds really well but my brother's was touchy. When I got home from work I parked his car and we ate dinner together before he headed home.

And now that car's brakes are done. There are a couple of rather expensive things that they pointed out we'll want to get taken care of in the near future. That's is going to be one of those things where we have to save up for first. But at least the immediate concern is taken care of and she is once again safe to drive.

One Thing After Another

Today was one of those days where if it wasn't one thing it was another. Work started off shitty. Supervisor breathing down my neck about shit at fucking 8am this morning. Never mind it was already on my to-do list for the day (which he can see by the way) and isn't even behind! So it was a really shitty way to start the day. Walk in and first thing I see is an e-mail from him about that shit.

Then there were other random things at work through out the day that just made my head spin. It wasn't a full on Linda Blair moment but still.

Then on the way out to the car to go home I notice that the rear driver's side tire is low. What the fuck? I just put air in it two weeks ago. So I stop and put air in the damn thing again. I drop off the passenger in my carpool and then call my mechanic. I tell him what is going on with it and it's only a half hour until their closing time but I still asked if I could stop in. They said sure thing.

So I called Master and told Him what was going on. I get to the mechanic's shop and I am literally just getting out of my car and walking inside to give them my keys when I notice one of the mechanics walking out and heading straight to my car. So I double back and hand him the keys and he already knew what needed to be checked.

Well, it had a leaking valve stem. Fun. They replaced it for my and double checked the other three tires, which thankfully are fine.

So I got home about a half hour late. And guess what came in the mail today? Our lease renewal agreement. And guess what? The rent went up. Fucking hell. As if we weren't already overpaying for where we are, now we get to pay more! Hooray! So we'll be signing that and dropping it off on Friday.

Joy.

I watched a little TV with Master before hopping online and doing some job hunting. While I'm doing that my brother calls to bitch about our dad. Okay.. I listened to him for a good 15 minutes and then he had to go. As soon as I put the phone down my mother calls. Grand Central, how may I direct your call?

She was calling with some tips about job hunts that her and my aunt had discussed. It was nice of her and I appreciate it. I really do. But after how today went and the fact that I was literally in the middle of job hunting and had just hung up with my brother.. it was just bad timing. I wasn't a bitch or anything but I'm sure I sounded short with her.

Oh well. She knows how stressed out I am and understands. She didn't sound mad or upset. She let me go after about 10 minutes on the phone. So now I'm knocking this post out before taking my shower. I was able to toss out four job applications before all the phone calls hit though. So at least that much.

Decision Made

Well, the decision of whether or not to go into work today once our car was done was made for me. They had originally told me the car would be ready by noon. So, last night I had made the decision that if I got the car before noon I would go into work. After that, it would be up in the air depending on the time.

Noon came and went, so I called the shop. Apparently they were waiting to get the car back from the realignment place they had sent her to. Oh. Okay.  At least it was an answer. But then 2pm started to creep around so I called again. They told me that they had just sent someone to go pick her up because they had just gotten the call that she was ready. They then told me to stand in front of our place in about 15 minutes so someone could pick me up and bring me to the shop.

Well, it took longer than 15 minutes for them to get here. Not because of anything they did but because there was an accident on a major street between the shop and our place. The lady who had given me a ride yesterday is the one who picked me up today.

I got there and they apologized a few times about it being so much later than they had quoted but apparently the place they had sent her to for the realignment had been backed up quite a bit, which meant they had to wait on them which meant I was waiting as well.

I wasn't mad or anything. You can't rush car repairs. Well, you can but it's never a good idea to do so. Since I didn't actually get the car back until about 2:30pm I had decided to just not go to work today. It didn't make much sense to really.

On the way home I stopped at the gas station and put gas in her. I also got Master a cup of coffee. We were out and needed to go grocery shopping but since He hadn't had any coffee yet today He was dragging ass. So I figured getting Him a cup of coffee from the gas station would be a good idea.

She drove wonderfully. Although now that her steering is fixed and her alignment has been done her steering is a lot more sensitive, so I'll have to get use to that. I stopped and gave Master His coffee. We had a couple of errands to run so He had some of His coffee in order to get Himself online and then brought it with Him as we headed out the door about 20 minutes later.

We went to the pet store and grocery shopping and came right back home. Master drove that time and He agreed that she handles a lot better. When we got home we ate dinner and watched a movie. For whatever reason I passed out on the couch, which means sleeping tonight will be fun seeing as I only got up about a half hour ago and that was only because Master decided my nap had been long enough.

I'm not looking forward to working this Saturday, but I don't really have a choice in the matter. I'm just glad the car is home and is fixed.

Can't Decide

Today was... difficult. I had talked to Master last night about how if the car was still making the loud power steering noises and was still hard to turn sometimes by the time I got to work I would be leaving work early to go back to the mechanic. They had wanted me to stop by after work today anyway in order to take a look at her anyway to make sure everything was okay. But I got anxious as I was getting worried. What if that quick fix on Friday didn't work?

So I called the mechanic and asked when I could come in. I wanted to get there as early as possible as I was starting to worry more and more. They told me I could stop by anytime I wanted. So I made a quick decision to leave at noon. It was a lot earlier than I had anticipated but my worry got the best of me. I had already talked to my supervisor and he said I could make up the time and then some.

Okay cool. So, off to the mechanic's I go. And it's not good news. Her rack and pinion needed to be fully replaced. Fuck me. Add to the fact that I already knew that the outer tie rods on both sides needed to be replaced. The dollar signs kept passing through my head.

So I made a few calls. I couldn't keep driving her like that without putting myself in more and more danger. Let alone her being on the interstate five days a week with a forty-five minute trip one way. I was able to scrape the funds together and told them to do it all. Go big or go home I guess. I think our account cried a little once that charge came through. Although honestly, they gave me one hell of a deal. We've been going to them for quite some time now and being loyal apparently pays off. They cut the bill damn near in half of what it normally would have been. And even the original price would have been less than what other places had quoted me. That doesn't mean it was cheap, but it was less painful than it could have been.

She should be done by noon tomorrow morning. So I obviously won't be at work tomorrow morning. The only thing I'm trying to figure out is whether I should still go to work tomorrow after I get the car back. If it's at noon, I'll be going out to work for 4 hours basically. I would still need to leave on time as things need to be done. Plus, I would have to go to work Saturday. Or, just take the whole day off tomorrow, unpaid, and still go into work on Saturday. Either way I lose my Saturday and go into work at the ass crack of dawn Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.

One way I save more personal time but spend more in gas. The other way I use more personal time but save gas money. It fucking sucks either way. I've asked Master's opinion, as well as my mother's and my father's. Master says whatever makes more sense to me. My mom and dad seem to agree that I should just take the whole day off. (The first time they have agreed on anything in more than a decade, even if they don't know it since they are no longer married so I obviously asked them separately.)

I still can't seem to make up my mind. I have a feeling I won't be making the decision until the car is back in my possession.

This is the second time this year the car has kept me out of work though. The transmission issue was only a few months ago and I was out of work for three days for that. This time it's half of this day and at least half of tomorrow. I really hope she behaves herself now.

Ups & Downs

I have been trying to stay away from stress and work posts. I really, really have. But right now, I just need to get this one out of my head and onto a screen. 

This weekend has had it's ups and downs. Friday was all over the fucking place. Yesterday was relaxing. Today? Again, all over the place. Nothing really happened today honestly, to make it go up and down. It's simply the fact that we allowed ourselves to realize how much some of the car repairs are going to cost us. She needs a couple more things done right now. However, they have to be put off until we have the funds up.

Which means, not right now. Which also means we'll be taking it as easy on the car as we can. However, I still have to take her to and from work. Work is a forty-five minute drive one way. Nothing like putting a shit ton more wear and tear on your car when you know shit needs to be done on it.

I've already had a talk with the passenger in my carpool about chipping more in for gas before, right after a different repair was done. I wasn't trying to charge him for the fix on my car, honestly. But when we were all carpooling with a different person the amount she was charging included gas and extra wear and tear on the vehicle. She then told us what she thought was fair. So we paid it.

Well, what dude is paying me right now isn't even covering half the gas most of the time. If gas prices dip for a little while, then yes. It's about half. But since gas prices have been where they are for a while now, it's not even half. So I had asked for an extra $5 a week. He said he couldn't swing it. Trust me, I understand tight finances. I truly do. But then don't come back around and tell me you and your wife are going on a two week vacation in Florida.

I'm stuck though. I could cut him from the carpool entirely, and have it just be me, but then I don't have any help what so ever with gas. I'd rather have something than nothing I guess is the way to put it. And if I pressure him again I have a feeling he'll just find a different way to and from work even though I never can.

I've been applying to different jobs, looking for ones closer to home or at least on a bus route so I don't have to keep taking the car every single day but no call backs yet. Well, I take that back. I've had responses from fly by night companies and commission only jobs. There were one or two legit hourly pay jobs contact me but they are further out than what my current job is, so what sense does that make? None.

So right now, we save up and get it done as soon as we can and cross our fingers until then.

Back At Home

Well today went a lot better than yesterday, although not entirely smoothly. I, of course, couldn't go to work today due to the car still being in the shop.

I called as soon as they opened and confirmed what the guesstimate was. They wanted the down payment before they could start on it. I took a stab in the dark and asked if I could make that payment over the phone so that I wouldn't have to scramble to find a ride that early in the morning and so I wouldn't have to sit down there until it was done. Much to my surprise she said that would be fine. Rock on. So she told me that she would call me later on in the morning to give me an update. And right around 10am she called to tell me that it was in fact what they thought it was so the price she had quoted me yesterday would in fact be the cost. It is still a pretty penny but it could have been so much worse.

I gave my verbal authorization over the phone for them to move forward with the repair. It was done around 2pm and she called me again to tell me that the work was all finished. I had her run the complete payment over the phone as well just so I knew it was taken care of while I tried to find a ride out there.

As soon as I got off the phone with the shop I called my neighbor who had picked me up yesterday. Surprisingly enough she was home and able to take me there. I was so happy! And the drive home in my car was so much smoother and went very well.

When I got home I got a text message from a family member who is a mechanic. He asked me how long it had been since I had a full transmission flush. I told him I honestly had no idea. So he told me to get one done as soon as possible.

Since I had that padding left over I called my normal shop and quoted me a price I could afford. So I asked when I could come in and they said if I left immediately they could sneak me in. So off I went again. I stayed down there while they worked on it. It took about an hour and a half. Then I was finally able to go home and stay there for the night.

I have to say that I am sore as hell from sitting in mechanic shops the past two days. The chairs, regardless of which shop, are not comfortable at all. Master worked on my back last night which made it feel a lot better but now that I spent another hour and a half in an uncomfortable chair, it's not feeling too hot. Plus stress makes me muscles tense up and when you have fibromyalgia, it really fucking sucks.

But the important thing is that it's all done and taken care of. Hopefully the car will behave herself for a nice long time.

Mother. Fucker.

Today started as any other work day would. I got up when the alarm went off. I got ready for the day and then got dressed. I left Master His usual morning note of how my mood is and then I took the dog out. Once I got the dog back inside I sent a text message to the passenger in my carpool to let him know that I was leaving so that he would be ready by the time I pulled up to his house.

After that? Things went south fast. And I mean fast. I got the in the car and started her up. No problem. I'm driving over to his place, which is literally five minutes away, and the car seems to be riding rough. Not just a little rough, but rough. And then out of no where the check engine light comes on with a loud beep and I'm staring down at it like what the fuck?!

Thankfully I wasn't far from his house so I pulled up, parked, and turned the car off. He gets in the car and says something I can't believe... "Wow. Your car is quiet."

I think I stared at him blankly for a good five seconds before I told him that the car was off. He of course asked me why and I told him what had happened. He asked me if he thought we could still make it to work. I said most likely not, no. It wasn't just the check engine light had come on. It's how the car was acting right before it went off.

So, he asked me if we could at least try. I said I would go a very short distance to see whether or not I felt comfortable. It took me less than four blocks to say no. I'm not going in today. I apologized to him and he said he understood, it's car troubles, etc. and so on. What floored me though was that while I was very carefully driving him back to his house he is on the phone with someone else to find a ride and in less than five minutes had found one.

Back when a different person was doing all the driving for the carpool there were of course times when she would at the last minute say no, she isn't going in. Well, it would almost always happen to be when I could either not take the car or did not have access to the car. So I would call him and ask him to let me know if he finds a way to work because I had no way of getting out there. He would say sure and then the next day I would find out that he just so happened to get a ride out there and back and just didn't tell me about it. That would piss me off. I took him on in my tiny carpool just because of the price of gas and it helps me with the gas costs. Other wise I would just go out there and back by myself. Aside from money, there is no joy in me taking him to and from work. He's not an asshole but shit like that just floors me and pisses me off.

Anyway, I again very carefully drive the car home and park her. I get back into the apartment and look up what time my mechanic opens. He didn't open until 8am, so I had to wait with knots in my stomach. I call as soon as the clock turns to 8am and the soonest they could get me in was noon. Fuck. But, I was lucky they could squeeze me in at all, so I was disappointed, anxious, and thankful all at the same time.

Master woke up about an hour after I got off the phone. He is on an almost entirely different schedule as me, so He wakes up later obviously. I didn't see the sense in waking Him up right away because there was nothing to do right then and there.

I tell Him everything and He gets knots in His stomach as well. Nothing but this sense of anxiety and dread all rolled into one. Finally it came time for me to leave and take the car to the mechanic. Master stayed home as we didn't both have to be there and I know more about cars than He does. So He prefers that I handle it. Makes sense and I agree with it.

I get down there and my car is throwing three codes. All of them involving my transmission. Oh joy. They referred me to a transmission specialist that they highly recommended. I was nervous enough driving the car from home to the mechanic's shop and now I have to drive her further? *sigh* So I do. I didn't speed up at all. I was slow as fuck actually.

Finally I get there and she couldn't fit me in until 2pm. Again, thankful that she could fit me in at all but I got there at 1pm so I still wouldn't know what was what for a while yet. I call Master to update Him and then I played the waiting game.

The verdict comes back. There was rather high minimum amount for what needs to be done. And to find out if one of the problems is what they think it is they have to take apart the transmission to get to it. So they needed a down payment on it right then and there. I did not have the money that kind of money right then and there. I asked if it would be safe for me to drive the car home and come back once I had scraped the money together. She said that unfortunately that would be very risky. I could blow the whole damn transmission. Fuck! I am so glad I didn't push to go to work. I would have been stranded on the interstate or stuck in the parking lot at work. I don't even want to think about how much that tow truck ride would have cost.

I asked if I could keep the car there overnight. She said yes and that there would be no charge for it. Well thank fuck for that. Now my only problem was finding a way home. We only have that one car so Master couldn't come get me. I called our friend at least three times. He didn't answer. So I called his wife about three times as well. No answer. I call one of our neighbors that is a friend three times and no answer. Finally our friend's wife called me back and asked what was up. I told her and unfortunately because her job is so new she couldn't leave early and her husband was at work and couldn't be reached. I had no cash for a bus and no ATM near by. I called a taxi service and the prices they wanted were astronomical. I have never used a taxi in my life and now I see why. Based on that cost alone I figured that would be my last ditch effort. I was sitting there, slightly frantic, trying to think of who else I could call. And then, suddenly, my phone rang and it was our neighbor. She had turned off her cell phone and had forgotten to turn it back on.

She was more than happy to come pick me up. Master met her in the parking lot for the apartment complex and they picked me up. Yay! Master had already explained what was going on so I didn't have to go through all that. She did tell me that if I needed a ride at all for the next couple of days to just let her know because she had nothing going on. She is so sweet.

I got home around 5pm. It has been a long and hellish day.

After a lot of talking and brain storming we have the amount of money it should cost to fix the car. So tomorrow I'm going to call the shop and ask if they can take the down payment over the phone with the card. Hopefully they say yes because then I don't have to sit there the whole time and they can start on it as soon as possible. If not, well then I guess I'm just going to have to ask my neighbor to get me out there as soon as she could and then sit there until it's all done. Either way I'm nervous about it and hoping that the amount they quoted me for what they think is wrong is correct. I have some cushion but still... Fingers crossed.

Expensive Sticker

I took the whole day off of work today. The tags on our car were really close to expiring. And because the damn DMV is only open until 4:30pm and I had to get the emissions done on the car I wanted to get it knocked out all at one time and I really didn't know how long either would take.

They had recently changed the way they do emissions testing here. Instead of having a government building set up for testing, like that used to, they have decided that you now need to go to a local mechanic that is authorized to do the testing, get your results, and then go to the DMV to get your tags.

The closest one to us only did emissions testing during certain fucked up hours. They started at 10:30am so I got there a little after that. I was sitting there waiting for them to finish and they came back telling me the car had failed emissions. Excuse me?

They haven't done the testing like they did when I was younger in a long time. They used to hook up a machine to your gas cap, put something by your muffler, run your car a bit and then determine whether or not you had passed. Now? Well now they hook up a machine to the computer of your car and base it on that.

They told me I failed because my check engine light was on. Okay, and? Apparently that is now an automatic failing of the emissions test. Fuck. Me. Running.

So I ask them, since they are a mechanic, if they can took a look and see exactly what I need fixed. You know, run the entire diagnostic to find out specifically was wrong with the car. They already had a code but the code could be a few things. They told me that just to run the diagnostic it would be $75. They also would not waive that fee if I decided to go ahead and get the repairs done with them. That's almost how much the damn tags cost. So fuck that.

I called up the mechanic I go to all the time. I trust them. I didn't go there immediately after failing the car because I was already at a mechanic and I wanted to see if they could find out exactly what was wrong with the car and then I would call my mechanic and see how much the fix would be versus what it would be at the place that just ran the emissions test.

So anyway, I go to my mechanic. I gave him the code and he told me he would run the entire diagnostic and then come out and tell me what was wrong and what I would need to fix it. He also told me that if I decided to not get the repair done today then he would have to charge me a $30 diagnostic fee. The price difference is amazing isn't it?

So I tell him to go ahead. So he comes back out and tells me that it was my power steering pressure switch. Please keep in mind that this has absolutely nothing to do with actual emissions. Nothing what so fucking ever. But it was causing the check engine light to be on which is an auto fail. My mechanic tells me what the charges would be. It's not cheap but it could have been a hell of a lot more expensive so I ask him to please do the repair. It only took him 30 minutes and I was on my way. And part of that time was because he had to run and get the part I needed. I love that shop!

They had already driven my car a little bit to make sure the check engine light didn't come back on. As he is handing me my keys he tells me that they have a guarantee that if the fix doesn't get me to pass the emissions he'll fix it for free to make sure I do pass. Again, this diagnosis has nothing to do with emissions but since that is what caused me to fail, he said the guarantee would cover it.

I then drive back to the place that ran the emissions test. They asked me to show proof that a repair was done. So I show them the bill and the dumb ass behind the counter tells me, "Well that has nothing to do with emissions." No shit Sherlock. I then showed him the fail results I got last time and the code that came with it. Moron.

Of course the car passed!

So I drive off to the DMV and get my very, very expensive sticker. At least it's all done now, for another year. But at least next year I don't need to go through emissions again.

Problem Solving

Today was my half day at work and it was also payday. Apparently, both of these facts became very important.

About a half hour before I got out of work Master called me. He was out of breath and He sounded stressed. The first words out of His mouth? "We have a problem." Of course my first thought was that Master had gotten into a car accident. About an hour before this phone call Master had sent me a message saying that He was going to go put gas in the car and do some errands before I got home from work. Thankfully, I was wrong. It was something fixable. Master had gone down to the gas station, walked into the gas station to prepay and then put gas in the car. All of this went according to plan. Then He got into the car and went to start the car. Guess what? The car didn't start. It was the battery. Of course, no one at the gas station at jumper cables and of course neither did we. So Master talked to the manager of the gas station and told him what was going on with the car and asked if it would be okay to leave there until I got home from work.

I know our finances a lot better than Master does. It's part of my "job" if you will. I'm our accountant. And because of that when something goes wrong that is going to cost a bit more than usual He runs it by me first. It's not a lack of control on His part. It's not a play for control on my part. It's just easier for Him for me to keep track of our finances.

Thankfully the manager didn't have a problem with it, even though it was still parked at the gas pump. We go to that gas station all the time so they know us there. Master then had to walk home in the cold and snow (it got kind of nasty out there today). This is why He was out of breath when He called me. Poor Master.

I was able to get my carpool to drop me off at the gas station. I immediately went inside and told them that I was there. I was scared that they were going to tow it, even though they know us, simply because it was still at the pump. They said it was no problem. I had called around while I was at work to get prices on batteries for our car. The battery that was in the car is old, so I knew we needed a new one. I was planning on replacing it soon, just not this soon.

The cheapest (and closest) was Advanced Auto Parts. They were actually just a few blocks up the street from the gas station. Because of this they were willing to drive down to the gas station to jump start the car. Once that was done I followed the guy down to the store itself. I went in, paid for the battery and they installed it. The only thing they charged me for was the battery itself. Rock the fuck on. By the way, car batteries are not cheap... just in case you were wondering.

But we were able to pay for it comfortably enough, thankfully. So now we have a brand new battery in the car. We still got our errands done and now we're in for the night. Hell, Master didn't feel like cooking and I didn't really want a fend for ourselves type of night so we said fuck it and had pizza delivered. We're being lazy the rest of the night.

Running Around Like A Chicken With My Head Cut Off

Seriously. This is becoming a pattern here. I did it Tuesday night and I did it again tonight; and will again tomorrow.

Today I got up at 6:30am and headed out to work. I worked a little over eight hours. I had made arrangements so that I could get the tires done tonight rather than on Saturday. I didn't feel comfortable with doing that much running on a spare. Not at all. Well, the person who is actually loaning the money couldn't get it to me any sooner than Saturday. Today I was talking to a family member and they said they would transfer the funds tonight, as long as I give them the money I am getting on Saturday. No biggie there.

As a result, when I got home tonight I stopped in for about 15 minutes to talk to Master and then got into our car and very slowly drove her to the tire place. I was worried about how long it would take since they didn't have any appointments and I was considered a walk in. I got there a little before 6pm. Surprisingly enough all four tires were changed out in a little over an hour. I got in the car and noticed how much higher I seemed to be sitting due to the new tires. Apparently the old ones were worse off than I realized.

I got home about 7:30pm. So a good thirteen hours after I left this morning. *sigh*

I ate dinner, Master and I watched some Netflix and I just got out of my bath.

Tomorrow is going to be another long day. I'm going to be at work at 7am and will be staying between 5 to 6 hours depending on where my hours sit when I walk in. I didn't bother double checking before I left, figuring I would have to come in either way tomorrow and 7am is the earliest I can entire the building. Once I get the hours I need in, I'll be running down to the person's house who is lending me the money, visit for a little bit and then run to the person's house who lent me the money in advance to give them the cash. I'll visit a little while and then finally I'll be able to come home. I probably won't be home until 4:30pm or 5pm.

So that's 90% of my Saturday. But it all needed to be done, so I can't complain too much. I'm just exhausted and I'm really glad that I have a three day weekend next week. Sunday we don't have anything going on, so at least I'll be able to be lazy on Sunday before starting the next work week.

Also, in blog related news, the comments are back on my pages finally.

Good Samaritan Day

No, it's not a national holiday today or anything; at least not that I know of. All I know is that it seemed that way to me today.

Well my last post had to do with the stress of that one tire in the back but being able to make it home safely. Well, today the normal carpool driver drove so I didn't have to worry about it. But I checked the tire before I left for work anyway. It was fine.

I asked Master to check on it half way through the day. He said it looked a little low but other than that fine. Well, it could look a little low depending on how the tire is sitting, but I still got a bit nervous. When I got home, that tire was flat as flat can be. Son. Of. A. Bitch. I'm quietly telling myself that maybe I can just air it up long enough to make it to the tire repair shop. I limp her to the closest gas station and plunk my dollar in quarters into the stupid air machine. (Paying for air... ugh.) Sure as shit the tire won't inflate. So I go inside and ask for help. This one really nice employee offers to help me. He's older and a really sweet guy. He grabs a can of Fix A Flat and doesn't charge me for it. (Master and I go to this gas station constantly. It's extremely close to home and we like the people that work there. Added bonus.)

So he starts putting the fix a flat in and the tire pukes it all back out, over the rim. That's so not a good thing. Putting the spare on my car is a pain the the ass, seriously. The spare tire isn't exactly easy to get to. It's held in this undercarriage right below the would be trunk. (It's a hatch back.) We finally wrestle the spare out and thankfully my car has it's own jack and everything inside it. I offer to help but the employee, John, tells me that he can do it. He wasn't rude or anything. He told me that he didn't want me getting hurt or anything. So he changes the whole thing. I throw the flat tire into the back of the car (slamming my finger cause I'm a damn klutz) and thank him. He tells me it's no problem, that he doesn't mind helping nice customers. I gave him a hug and thanked him again. He told me that his doctor would have killed him if he saw him doing that. I asked why and he told me that he has a bad heart. *insert the time where my eyebrows meet my hair line* I said he should have told me I would have done more. He waves that away as if it was no big deal. I got his full name and will be calling corporate saying how he went above and beyond.

That's good samaritan number one.

I then drive the car to the tire repair shop. The manager comes out and takes a look at the one that had just been pulled off. He said that if fix a flat didn't work, it wasn't repairable. Fuck. Well, from the last time I had all the tires repaired I have had this one full size tire, no rim, just sitting in my trunk because the mechanics put it there. I showed him that and he said it wasn't brand spanking new but it only had about 5,000 miles on it. No big deal. Then he tells me that their corporate policy is that they cannot put used tires on. So I start getting nervous cause I can't afford a new tire. I tell him that I know I'm supposed to put two new ones on and I just can't afford that. He said that if I have that tire I had put on it wouldn't matter much, and that I could just save up for at least two new tires. I point out that he told me they can't.

He said, "I can't charge you for it. But I'll do it free of charge."

Holy shit! I must have seemed like a damsel in distress today. Two really nice things out of two really nice people. He put the tire I had on the rim and put it on for me. He filled up the rest of my tires as well.

I can't call corporate for this guy cause it was against store policy, so I must have said thank you like one hundred times. He just smiled and said it wasn't a problem.

So the car is just fine now. I have price quotes on two new tires and one for four tires just in case. Now I just have to get the money scraped together.

Tire Trouble, Kind Of

Certain things in my life are going swimmingly. Our marriage is great. Our dynamic is going well. Our animals are all healthy. Parts of my family and I are getting along great.

But.. then there is everything revolving around money. Yes, our finances are tight. I'm sure anyone reading this blog for more than a month knows that already; and is maybe even sick of hearing about it.

But today that damn subject came up again. We only have one car. Now where that saves a lot of money because there is only one car to put gas in, do oil changes on, etc. it also fucks you over if anything happens to said car.

As a result Master and I get nervous when we think something, anything, may be wrong with the car.

Well, today I drove our car to work as the driver in our car pool had taken the day off. No big deal. I check everything over just to be on the safe side. Everything was fine. I get myself and the other person in the carpool to work safely with nothing going wrong. Awesome.

I go on my lunch break and go outside to get some fresh air and I see that the back passenger wheel is flat. I'm like "What the fuck?"

I didn't want her sitting on her rim or anything, so I limped her to a local gas station and put air in it. It holds and everything is fine. I go back to work. The other person in the carpool asks if I want to leave early. Well, I already have eight hours to make-up between now and Sunday. So at first I was like nah. But then I started to worry about the tire and I said okay let's go. Fuck it. I'll just make that hour up as well.

I go outside and both of us check the tires. They all seemed fine. But just to play it safe I ask if he would mind playing navigator so we could take city streets home. I didn't want to run the risk of the tire blowing out or anything on the damn interstate. He agreed and off we went. Even though my job is one county over from us it was relatively easy to use the city streets. I didn't break 40mph. I was cautious as hell.

We get to his place, he hops out and says the tire still looks good before heading into his home. I drive to our place and get out of the car. I check all the tires and they seem fine.

But I know that sooner or later the car needs a new set of tires. It's just so damn expensive. That's why I freak out when a tire goes flat. I can't afford two tires right now damnit! (You put the two new ones on the front and take two of the best ones out of the original four and put those on the rear set.) Now, two tires don't sound like a lot but I don't want used tires, those always made me nervous when I got them before. They are used after all and they are a part of the whole safety while driving thing.

Master could tell I was stressing. He stood up and opened His arms, motioning for me to hug Him. I slide my hands under His outer shirt and hugged Him tight. He wrapped His arms around me and rubbed my back while He kissed the top of my head a few times.

I actually felt a lot better after that. I'm calmer now. However, both of us are going to keep a closer eye on the tires just to be on the safe side.

Price Check

Yesterday I left work early because ever since I had a tire rotation done on Friday one of the damn tires was shaking. Bad.

So I went back to the place that had done the oil change and tire rotation. They were telling me how I needed a new tire and a new rim. They then basically continued to list other things that I needed done to my car that had nothing to do with the problem what so fucking ever and somehow.. they had never mentioned before even though I've been going to them for 5 years. They recently came under new management and apparently that means that they are now money hungry assholes.

I came home very upset and I was stressed out, crying. All sorts of fun shit. Master gave me a big hug and held me for a while trying to calm me down. When I stopped sobbing and I was just crying Master lifted my head up so I was looking up at Him and told me it would be okay. That we would figure it out.

So.. I talked to my father, my mom and my aunt. See, my dad was a mechanic. My mother was with my father for so long that she knows some shit, and my aunt is married to a mechanic. My father no longer works on cars due to his bad back and feet. My mother has of course never been able to do it. My aunt and uncle live 6 hours away. Yeah. That's not happening.

They all agreed that it was an unbalanced tire. So I went to a different auto care shop. They did a free tire inspection. They told me that there is nothing wrong with my tire or rim. The tire is just unbalanced. So they fixed that. The one thing they did tell me was that my left outer tie rod end needs to be replaced sooner rather than later. This is the one thing that the previous mechanic (who is never getting my business again) never even mentioned to me in their long list of shit. I asked for a price quote on the parts, labor and tire alignment. You can't get a tie rod end replaced without doing an alignment immediately after. They gave me the price quote of $231.90.

So I left the shop because I couldn't afford that right now. On the way home I pushed the car a bit. I went about 10mph over the speed limit in order to test it. I got her just above 55mph and no shaking. None. Awesome.

I knew that I would have to get the tie rod end replaced asap though. I want to get it done on the next paycheck as I have to take the car out to work two out of the five days the week after. The price quote I got today wasn't bad in my opinion. But I still wanted to get a few quotes from other places to see if I could save a buck or two. The first place I called was about $15 cheaper. Then I called another place and it was damn near $90 cheaper. *gasp* I didn't bother trying to shop around any more than that. I made the appointment right then and there for the afternoon of my next payday. That way it's done and I don't have to worry about it not being in the budget due to over spending of any kind.

Anticipation

Master and I are in the market for a new (to us) car. Our car still is reliable for the most part, but we don't want to run it into the ground. We would prefer to trade up now rather than when she isn't worth much at all for a trade in. We looked yesterday but didn't find anything we wanted. And today we went to an actual dealership and submitted a credit application. We didn't pick a car. We just submitted the credit application to see what they can/will finance us for and go from there. It's a lot easier than picking out a car first only to find out you can't afford the payments on it. The guy said he would call us by the end of the day on Monday. See we know we don't have great credit, and we also don't want an extremely high monthly payment. So it's difficult. My income is good but my credit sucks. Master has better credit but no source of income. So we'll just wait and see.

I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't find out right then what was possible and what wasn't. But the guy said that he wants to take his time on this one and talk to his manager to see what they can work out for us. I don't know if that will actually work in our favor or not. But it's worth a shot. At least it wasn't a direct "No".

So to cheer ourselves up a bit we decided to hit a discount used book store. As we were looking around I got a call from HG. She just wanted to let us know that the company she works for had in fact found a company to do the freelance work Master was doing. She said she was sorry and then was like, "Okay I have to get off the phone now.. Bye!"

So yeah. I kinda hate her right now.

Master found two books He wanted and I found one for me as well. We stopped at a fast food joint for lunch and then went grocery shopping.

Since then we've been at home relaxing. I can't get this car idea out of my head but there isn't a lot I can do to speed things along, or make them go in our favor either. So I'm trying not to freak out about it and just enjoy the rest of our weekend. Thankfully it hasn't been going really fast. It's been nice and slow. I hope tomorrow is the same way.

I know I've been putting up short posts, and it's all day to day stuff, but there isn't a lot going on. Either one or both of us haven't been feeling well lately so there hasn't been a lot of sex, or out of the ordinary BDSM related activities.

A Great Friday

Today Master picked me up from work so we could meet up with His father for lunch. Lunch with my father-in-law is not just a quick sit down and chat. It's at least two hours long. But that's not a bad thing, cause we always have a great time. It's the first time in a while that I've been able to go with Master when He sees His father. My father-in-law and I get along really well. A lot better than my mother-in-law and I get along.

After we were done eating and talking we all said goodbye and headed our separate ways. Master and I ran some errands and got some things accomplished. When we got home I started looking at cars. We can't afford a big car payment, but we also don't want a car with a lot of miles on it. So we're looking for deals right now. We called the last place we bought a car because we liked them, but they don't really have what we're looking for right now. So yeah.. back to searching. I like window shopping for cars though, as odd as that may sound. Master pretty much leaves that in my hands.

He forbids any red cars and other than that doesn't really care. His basic questions are: "Does it run?", "Does it have a lot of miles?", "Can we afford it?".

He leaves the "negotiating" part to me as well. Well, until the salesman tries to walk all over me because I'm a woman. Then He gets pissed off and steps in.. *giggles* It's like He's my bodyguard. Which is pretty awesome.

So I think tonight Master and I are just going to relax and I'll window shop for cars again.

Oh! By the way, I'm on my 3rd day of no cigarettes and Master had His last one yesterday. :-D Yay us!