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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Ever feel like today is just NOT your day?

Evidently the powers that be don't feel that the threat of my cabin sliding off the mountain and having no air conditioning for some portion of a Florida summer is not enough of a test for me.

Nope...now my car is acting up and I have an iguana in a funk. 

My little girl hasn't been herself lately. Today she was very clingy. She's not eating much and I noticed that she has a bit of a bulge on one side of her gut and not the other.  Normally I would think she's got eggs...however it's not mating season and more importantly, she was spayed when they did the surgery to remove the paper clip that she ate. It will be at least $35 to take her to the vet. Standard office visit. I don't recall how much x-rays are...but that's probably going to bump it up somewhere around $80. 

$80...that's what's been spent on my car today trying to figure out what's wrong with it. For those of you that drive a stick - you know how it acts if you're in the wrong gear? Like you forgot to put it in 1st when you stopped and you try to take off in 2nd and it's jerky and sluggish and beh? Yep...that...only it doesn't matter what gear, what speed, what RPM. I checked the fluids. Oil was recently changed. Spark plugs are fairly new. Mr. Paisley generally doesn't believe me when I tell him something isn't right. Hello - I drive it every.single.day...if it hiccups, I know!  So he took it for a spin and at first it didn't do it, but then it did - HA! So there!

He replaced the fuel injectors (since we had a spare set with very few miles on them), the fuel filter and the spark plugs (again)...still does it. His next thought was the fuel pump...or some coil. Anything outside of fluids is foreign to me in the engine compartment of any vehicle with a computer. My '65 mustang? Let me at it...I used to scare the neighbors when I was a teenager...they were sure I had no clue what I was doing...not to worry...it's all good under the hood. Not so much anymore.  I don't want to know how much that costs...my guess is that he's going to replace it rather than take it to the mechanic to find out what's wrong with it...find out that it doesn't fix it and then still have to take it to the mechanic. 

The car is almost 8 years old (Dec 13) now. My how time flies...it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago that the dealership called to say it had been delivered - come and get it.  I guess that means its time for it to start falling apart - oh wait, it has. The driver side front seat needs new leather. The weather strip around the back window flaps in the breeze at the bottom when driving at high speeds. The power ports quit working (i'm sure it's just a fuse, but can't find any info about it and Mr. Paisley doesn't seem to think it's a big deal that I can't charge my cell phone or use my GPS because I HAVE NO POWER). Oh and Mr. Paisley drove it one day and when I got in it the next day the arm rest / door handle panel (it's kinda all one piece) was popped out of the door and won't go back in...and has since cracked. Speaking of cracked...the AC vent on the dash by the windshield pillar on the driver's side cracked in half. Add to that the fact that a few years ago Mr. P redid the brakes and didn't tighten the lug nuts on one wheel and the disappeared somewhere in the 11 miles of interstate I drive to work each day. So those are replaced with crappy (rusty) generic ones...and the front bumper needs to be replaced (again) and it and the hood need to be repainted (again) from when a parts driver from our local auto parts store ran him off the road and into a fence. 

If there's one thing I hate, it's crappy looking cars. I don't care if it's old. I like it clean and in good repair. I hated the faded paint on my first Jeep. Drove me crazy, but I was young and broke...so I kept it clean (not that you could tell). When my dad sold his truck and took the Jeep until he figured out what new truck he wanted, his first stop was Maaco for the $399 Presidential Paint job...yeah he didn't like it looking all oxidized either. 

So i'm out of money people...if you know the winning lotto numbers please leave me a comment with said numbers. 

I have changed my ways. I have had breakfast at home every day this week (I used to get a mushroom and cheese omelet with 2 slices of bacon at the cafe in our office for $3.99). I have had lunch out twice this week. Monday my friend Julia took me to lunch (so no money out of my pocket) and Wednesday I ended up going to Wendy's because the leftover spaghetti that Mr. P packed for me had like no sauce on it and it was horrible. I tried to eat it...it was just bad (it was good the night before...but not leftover...). That was $6.39 and I paid cash for it. Then I went to Big Lots and bought Mr. P a $4 pk of socks because it seems too many pairs got left in TN and now he doesn't have any here. I think it was $4.28 with tax.  So there you go...i've spent less than $12 this week (outside of picking up $38 worth of groceries).

Our plan of action is $50 per week for each of us to do whatever we want with...breakfast, lunch, shopping. $150 a week for groceries (really? how long has he been grocery shopping with me? $150 is enough for the month with the exception of weekly refill items like milk, bread and Nutella). Although I might revamp and see if I can pull off a week of meals at home and work for $150 AND follow my low carb diet...I dunno. I might have to take the George Foreman to work...

So if you run into me and i'm not really chatty and seem a little down. I AM. In fact i'm already at the "i've given up"  "what's next" stage...(hello depression). One of my in-law's has called twice today and I didn't answer the phone when I saw the caller ID. Mr. P was out the first time and in the shower the 2nd time...i'm just not in a talking kind of mood.

So if you care to spare a prayer for this insanity to stop before it pushes me over my limit - The Paisleys would be thankful. 

1 comments:

cynthia lee designs said...

Sending up prayers for you. Hope things get better soon.
hugs,
~Cindy~
cynthialeedesigns.wordpress.com