New car, new car

So the other day, I was driving my sister and baby to my house from the airport. On the way, my car decided to die. While driving. On the freeway. My engine just stopped. Luckily I was able to maneuver myself to the off ramp, and then spent some time waiting for a tow truck…Husband to get us…many much things. After getting it towed, and then waiting a day for the car place to call us back, we found out that the car was a goner. The price of fixing it was about as much as the car is worth, so we just went, well, it doesn’t make sense to fix it if it costs that much. So after much deliberation, we decided instead to just buy a used car. I sold my old car for basically nothing to a guy at the shop, which was about as much as I was going to get for it. Then we looked for the car. After a lot of looking, I found my car:

A Chevy Equinox. It’s much bigger than my car, so I’m still getting used to it, but I’m enjoying having a nice car. Not that my 2001 Toyota Echo wasn’t nice, but it wasn’t. It had nothing automatic, neither windows nor doors, so the automatic stuff here is nice. I can’t wait to drive this guy everywhere.

Miscellaneous Monday

On Saturday, I took my car to get inspected. It is again the magical time of year, February, where I need to make sure everything is ok with it, and then pay the state to let me keep driving. Sometimes I hate that we have to do this every year, but it’s probably a good idea. So, I took mine in, and told them that in addition to the inspection/emissions, I needed an oil change, a tire rotation, and an alignment – my car has been pulling to the right so hard, I feel like its trying to kill me. So I left my card, and home I came. I was home for just a bit, then I got the dreaded call from the car place, telling me what I failed on. I was hoping I’d get through it scot-free, but alas, that’s not my luck. I needed new brakes, 2 new tires and a…shoot I’ve forgotten the last. I think maybe some kind of filter? I’ve forgotten. But of course, I need my car, so I told them to make the necessary improvements, and work on it.I got the call about an hour later that it was done, and in I went. They told me everything looks good now, and I passed, and then I had them register it for me, I love that they can do that for you. He hands me the bill for all of it, and … 680 DOLLARS! My heart nearly stopped. Thankfully, I had been rejoicing this past month that my credit card was almost paid off and now…not so much. But the car drives much smoother, which is nice.

Also on Saturday, PJ and I were at the gym, when she happened to knock her phone off the treadmill. Instead of doing the normal thing, where it just shoots off the back of the treadmill, only causing mild embarrassment, this time, her phone got caught in the treadmill belt, where it looped around the treadmill about twice, and we could hear it cracking, and saw tiny pieces shooting out. Immediately, she stopped the treadmill, and we flagged over some employees, who proceeded to take the treadmill apart. First we located the case, which was flattened, and after about a half hour, we finally got the phone out.

Needless to say, the phone is toast. Now, I’m all nervous to put my phone on the treadmill, lest the same thing happen to me!

Today is President’s Day, so I luckily, have a day off. It’s not like I have anything really to do today, so I’ve just been doing errandy-type things. I’ve gone to the gym, I did some random cleaning, I made a treat, I did some laundry. Basically, it’s just been a free day off, which is kind of nice. And now, off I am, to do more things on my to-do list. Enjoy the day, everyone!

Warmth? Not quite.

I have blogged many many times of my car issues. The car is usually fine and I find no problems with it, except for this one thing that has been going on for years now. The heater/air conditioner in my car rarely works. It does for a while, then it doesn't for a long time. This winter, it's been working steadily..until last weekend. It just stopped. It hasn't worked a lick. And with how cold this winter is, it's been SUPER cold in my car. When I get to my destination, I'm freezing. My hands are like ice. And wearing gloves doesn't really help. My feet get cold, it's almost like my shoes and socks do nothing for me. But, I have persevered. I figure, it's gotta get going soon enough, so I've waited. Finally, yesterday, I took the advice that literally everyone has given me, and took the car into Big O to get looked at. The guys said it probably was just the motor blower, and it would be easy to fix, and for not too much money, either. He said it would be a short amount of time, maybe 20 minutes, so I said I'd run my errands and come back.
After finishing my errands, (about an hour) I returned. He said it was getting worked on now, so I just hung out. After 30 minutes or so, I wondered what the heck was going on. Husband, at this point, had left me there, awaiting my car to be finished. After another thirty minutes (its four at this point, the closing time of Big O) and the guy came over and said that none of the blower motors that they had had fit my car. They measured, and found one at another Big O, and they were waiting for the guy to drive it over, to see if it fit. After another 15 or 20 minutes, the guy called me over to the desk and told me the new arrival didn't fit either. After all this working and waiting, none of them fit. They told me they'd be calling the dealership on Monday, and hopefully they could get one in that day or the next day. I was so disappointed! My car was nowhere closer to being fixed! They also told me that they had taken apart the dashboard, and to make it easier when I came back, they left it apart, and told me not to lose any of the pieces there. I agreed, and went on my way.
On the drive home, it was COLD in the car. The dashboard being missing meant that there's no barrier between the outside and the inside, so the cold air is just blowing right into the car, so the 10 minute drive home left me with ice hands and just chilly. I took a pic, of course.

So now, I wait. I'm not driving the car this weekend if I can help it, and I'll make sure to bundle up when I drive to work on Monday. And I am hoping they'll get the right piece by then!