About two weeks ago, I brought my automobile to the garage for a regular oil change and tune up. I also asked the mechanic to look into the source of an odd noise that had just started.
This was a little like going to the doctor for a checkup and saying "oh yeah, I have this little cough that just started" and finding out you have lung cancer. My car was dying, I was told. could go at any moment. Time for a new engine or a new car.
Well, I don't have the money for a new car, the one I have got a new transmission a few years back anyway and it's otherwise in pretty good shape. If I can squeeze a couple more years from it I can save for a new car (or potentially be living someplace that I don't need a car, but that's a different and much longer story... suffice it to say I was hoping this '99 would hang on till that resolved itself).
So I asked him about how long it would take, and he said about a week. And if you remember back to the beginning of the post...
So in the end I have been without a car for two weeks, scrambling to get to jobs and other obligations, and when I *do* finally hear back from the garage I will get to pay almost $2000 for the privilege.