Car :(

Oil change–$27

Replacing the cracked whatchacallit–$248

New front brakes–$262

Gas–$45

Me with no car until late tomorrow–Priceless

My Mechanic

I was thinking about the first time I met my mechanic. I was driving in from my place there off of Edmunson Pike and the car was having major issues. Major, like, not sure if the car would keep going there on the interstate issues. I finally got it into town and rolled down West End, where we settled, like water reaching its level, in front of the BP. My mechanic found me crying in the parking lot, listened to my tale of woe, proclaimed it the alternator and fixed it for me.

I showed up there today, flouncing about in despair because of everything wrong with my car, and as I told him my list–the brake light comes on for no reason–he diagnosed the problem–probably a little low on brake fluid. I felt comforted. I apologized for cheating on him with the dealer. I checked out his heart surgery scar. And hugged him good-bye.

May 3

Yesterday

Yesterday was the kind of day where one of the sponsors of an event I’m working on cancelled the event, which is on the 15th, now that all of the press releases have gone out and the media, such as it is, has been lined up.

The kind of day where it took me 50 minutes to drive from work to Kroger–normally about a fifteen minute drive, if that.

The kind of day where I opened up my trunk to find that a glass jar I had in there had broken all over.

And when I shut my passenger door, the inside panel popped off.

Not to mention that, when I got home, there was smoke rolling from under my hood.

But y’all, this is why I love the Butcher. This is his day off and he just came downstairs, grabbed his wallet, and said, “I’m going to go take care of your car.”

America, that’s all I want from life. Somebody to ease my rough days. My brother spoils me.

Edited to add: Well, fuck. My dad thinks it’s a bigger problem than just mysterious disappearing coolant and insists I take it to the mechanic. Happily, he’s also offering to pay for the repair, if one is needed.

So, it sucks, but it’s okay.