So I woke up on Tuesday, bummed out that I couldn't sleep in on my pre-arranged half-day, but so anxious to get this car stuff taken care of I probably wouldn't have slept much more anyway.
I got in my car, said a small silent prayer to allow me to get to the inspection station without being stopped, and went on my way. The inspection station is less than 4 miles away, about a 6 minute drive, yet they were some of the tensest I've ever experienced. As I was driving I passed two cop cars, and I could feel myself beginning to panic all over again. I kept muttering to myself, "They're gonna come get me...they're gonna come get me...". As if it couldn't get worse my gas light went off. Fearing that they would need to run my car to do the inspection I knew I had to stop and get gas.
At the station, I slid my credit card into the machine only to be told to "see attendant". I run inside and find myself BEHIND a state trooper in the line. I pay for my fuel, dash back to my car, fill up, and head towards the station. I made a stupid wrong turn, which caused me to turn around and face ANOTHER cop car that passed by. Finally, I make it to the station.
I hand over my keys to the mechanic. Now, I've been coming to this same mechanic for almost a year, and usually he's pretty good about cutting me a deal or telling me the truth about my car. But lately, it seems I've annoyed him OR he's just been in a bad mood. As I flip through a Better Homes & Garden, my stomach lurches every time I hear him come in from the body shop. Because he usually checks things in my car whenever I get an oil change, I'm not suspecting he's going to come back and tell me there's a major problem, but you never know.
I was actually pretty engrossed in some article about ways to make guests feel welcome, when I hear, "Kris, your car needs work. Alot of it." My heart sinks down to my feet and I stand and mosey over. He begins checking off a laundry list of problems, from the most worrisome (gash in the tire, brakes and alignment) to the least important (my back seat belt doesn't clasp, my driver-side window has a hard time going back up). With every item I see dollar signs. I finally ask what the cost would run to fix everything, and with a final long glance at my report he says, "Probably $1500-1600."
An atom bomb goes off in my brain. Where the hell am I going to get that kind of money? Is it even worth it when my car is over a decade old? I'm banned from my car and now have no chance in hell to get back to using it. I make two calls I dreaded: 1.) the school I'm supposed to be attending and explain (through a cracking voice and wet eyes) that I may need to pull my tuition money to pay for the repairs and 2.) my parents. After discussing things, I go back inside and ask the guy if he could at least replace my brake light, just so I'm not a total target for police.
"Can't do that till we know if its the bulb or something more serious," he says coolly.
"Well, how do I find that out?" I ask.
"By going inside."
"Huuum...," I say, dissatisfied at his response. I then decide to simply try my last shred of luck and get the car home. I hand him my $100 to pay for the inspection, only to hear him say,"Sorry, dear, can't break this."
"Oh man, are you serious?" I ask truly incredulous. How does a business that handles jobs ranging in the hundreds of dollars range NOT have change for a $100? I hand over my credit card, which is then declined (though I wasn't surprised since I've been leaning on it alot these past few weeks). He then tells me that I need to run across the road to the bank and get change.
So in my heels I wait for traffic to slow down and make a mad dash across a two-lane highway. I get the change and run back. I get my keys and drive home in tears, hopeless as to what to do, and still petrified I'm about to be stopped.
I walk through the door of the house to wait for my coworker/fremp who has kindly accepted to pick me up to take me to work, and see the dog has gotten into the garbage and taken a dump by the door. I clean everything up, go to work, get a plan in order for today and hope for a better outcome. Happily, I can say today, with a (temporary) registration in my hands and fresh new Maryland plates, I am able to breathe a little easier. And with that, I'll leave you till tomorrow....
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