So, have you ever had that sinking feeling...

[Natako]

/Begin life rant >.>

So, do you ever get that sinking feeling that **** is about to go off the deep end? That's pretty much the feeling that I have right now. I hopped into my car this morning to head to work, turned the key, and the engine started making a popping sound. I headed a few meters down the road to see how the car drove, and...well...let's just say that was a terrifying experience. I reversed back into my parking spot and proceeded to freak out.

Well, okay, I kept a pretty level head at first, actually. There's an auto repair place right down the street, so I figured I'd drop in and see when they could take a look at my car. The guy tells me that his earliest available time slot to even look at a car is next Friday (not this coming one, but the following), and if I need any replacement parts it could take me like a week on top of that. So I went home and started calling around to other businesses in the area that I refuse to drive my car to, as they are so far away that I don't want to risk breaking down on the highway. Eventually, I was redirected to a place that can take my car ASAP, but the issue is that I need to have my car towed there. I called the number for the local towing service, and no one has been answering the phone. I'm sure it's the right number because the answering machine says as such and that was the number the service person gave me, but they're just not picking up.

Anyway, my car is a piece of **** anyway. It's old, it's been repaired a few times before, and I've had people suggest to me to buy a used car rather than keep doing repairs on it. Towing + Service (excluding any parts that need to be ordered) is going to run me about $200...and I have a bad feeling that it's going to cost me even more than that to salvage my car at this point. One of the local used car places has a program for people with bad credit (what? I owe $20,000 to various loan companies for college and I have to somehow make my $600+ rent/utility bill every week), but the problem is that the down payment could cost me anywhere from $1000-1500 according to the salesperson. I only have $1,100 until my next paycheck on Friday. But it's not like I can just skip out on work...What makes it even worse is that none of the people who live around me are on the same schedule rotation, so I can't catch a ride with any of them. I'm pretty much up **** creek as far as transportation goes. This doesn't bode well. And stuff like this tends to snowball for me. =\

Well, I'm sure you guys didn't really want to read all that. I kind of just needed to vent about it. Damn, I have no idea what I'm going to do.

[Valiere]

It doesn't sound like things are about to go off the deep end...it sounds like they already have.

This is why I hate cars. They always break down at such critical moments.

[Rahl]

I would be in the same spot if I didn't have parents to help me out. My stepdad recently pulled about 500$ out of his *** to help me get a new fuel pump for a car I had only bought a week earlier. Its a good car, it just seems that random **** happens to cars, in the worst possible times. Hope everything turns out alright for you though.

[drenrin2120]

=(

I'm sorry, cars suck! I've had plenty of problems with my own car, and they always seem to crop up when you need it most. My cars **** the bed when  I was 50 miles from home, and almost melted down from overheating (because it's a PIECE) when I was nearly 200 miles away.

My suggestion, don't get involved with buying a new car unless you have the funds to be paying for the next few years. Used cars are GREAT, you just have to find the right models and cars that have been fixed up from previous wear and tear. Subarus older than... like '96 or '97 or Toyota camry's are pretty reliable cars. Of course, any used car can have a lot of problems, so have a friend who knows what problems to look for check out any car before you buy it. Also, those are just good cars I personally have never heard a lot of bad things about. Especially when it comes to used cars. Im sure there are other reliable brands and models, you'll just have to go looking for them if you don't like the idea of buying a toyota or subaru.

If the total bill for repairing your car exceeds like 1000 dollars or more, I would seriously start considering scrapping it and buying a used car. Craiglslist is great for this, but there are a lot of other places to look as well.

[Rahl]

I use to have a cavalier before I bought my malibu, cavaliers are damn good cars with just about the best gas mileage you can get outside of like hybrids. Their also usually really cheap. But the best place to get a car is at a car auction in my own opinion.

[drenrin2120]

I know a lot of people who go to car auctions, heard good things about 'em as well. If you know what you're doing. But I guess, everything could be chalked up to "if you know what you're doing."

I've heard swimming can be a lot of fun on a hot day... if you know what you're doing.

[Cerebus]

Ah... cars. Brings you where you want, when you want... but so expansive, especially when it begins to break down.
This one of the reasons I still either walk or use public transport. The other reason concern other people's security...
Well, sorry for you. Isn't there any public transport you can take for a while? Not as great, since you need to follow the bus/metro schedule and they often don't get you exactly where you want, but way less expansive.

[SaiKar]

Car trouble is absolutely terrifying business.

I had a car start acting funny on me on late at night on December 21st of this last winter. I had a flight on the 23rd at an airport about two hours away. I don't have any friends good enough to come bail me out if I broke down. I was pretty much a nervous wreck all day. Luckily a great woman at my work is friends with someone at a local auto shop. They got me in that morning on the 22nd and had the work done by the end of the day. Repairs were spot-on (no problems whatsoever since) as well as relatively cheap, and I made the flight and all was good.

Actually, hey Natako, there's some good advice. Ask someone at work if they know a guy with a body shop. With connections, you might be able to get your car looked at very quickly.

[Natako]

Today has been a fun day. Not.

I gave the towing company another call later, and this time they picked up the phone. It took them about a half hour to get out here, and they towed my car to a repair place. Of course, the traffic around where I live sucks, so that means that I had to sit for about a half hour more crammed into a two-seat truck with two fat old men who kept flirting with me. That's every bit as disturbing as it sounds, for any of you who have never had this experience.

Anyway, we eventually got to the repair place, and the guy tells me that he'll take a look at my car and call me when he finds out what's wrong with it. I started walking to work (it was raining and freezing cold at the time) but the manager that I called sent one of my co-workers to pick me up. Aw. So nice.

So all fine and good, right? Wrong. A friend of mine at work drove me home, and along the way I realized that I don't have a spare key. The only house key I have is on my key ring with my car key. Thankfully, I remembered that one of the windows in my house doesn't lock properly, and I started to think that I might be able to climb into that window. So that's what I did. Except the window is about chest height, is very small, and I'm not nearly athletic or flexible enough to pull off that kind of thing. After hitting my head a dozen times, I finally managed to get in. So yeah, I pretty much broke into my own apartment. It makes me feel really safe at night, but I guess it was a good thing in this circumstance.

So yeah, today was fun. Tons of fun. I guess tomorrow I'll find out how much money it might take to fix my car up.

And btw, public transportation isn't really an option for me. I mean, it would get me to work, but oftentimes I don't get out until 10PM, and the last buses go around at 7-7:30PM. Pennsylvania is awesome like that. Well, I'm staying optimistic for now. The repair person is going to tell me how much it would cost for repairs before he does them, so hopefully it won't wind up being more than a few hundred dollars. Cars suck for that reason - if one of the parts goes bad, you can almost be guaranteed to spend hundreds of dollars. My catalytic converter went a couple years ago, and it cost me $800 dollars to get a new part. Not fun at all.

[Valiere]

Yikes.   Sorry that happened, Natako.

[zuhane]

Eeeek. Sorry to hear about all of this. Life's a cold-hearted bitch when it wants to be... which is most of the time.
But yeah. I wish it could have happened to someone else, like lucas or something.

[drenrin2120]

Eeeek. Sorry to hear about all of this. Life's a cold-hearted bitch when it wants to be... which is most of the time.
But yeah. I wish it could have happened to someone else, like lucas or something.

xD

But yes... breaking into your own house is an awful experience. I'm well known by my friends for locking my keys or leaving them in terrible places requiring me to break into everything I own. So, I feel ya pain!

[Rahl]

I broke into my apartment once, and almost broke my door. I took 2 big flat head screwdrivers and pried the door away from the frame enough to nudge it through the rest of the way with my elbow (kind of flimsy wood), I was damn lucky not to have broken it that way but it was snowing outside and there wasn't much choice... Hope it doesn't cost to much to fix the car though.

[Grandy]

I always get the feeling things are going downhill when I start driving.

But that must be because I just got the drivers license and still freak out at each red light expecting years of karma to catch up in the form of a speeding truck driven by a man with wither too much or not enough caffeine in his blood.

[Prpl_Mage]

Gotta love central Sweden then. Busses and trains goes once every 15 minutes up till about 5 o clock when they start going each every 30 minutes and after 10 only once an hour.
It makes it easy for us slackers to take us where we want without the horrible traffic. I still have no driver's license, still waiting for a reason to get it.

Too bad about your car though, I wish we had a Chocobo farm sometimes, the only maintenance would be greens.