Cars--freedom v. financial burden
21 June, 2002 :: 7:11 p.m.
Since my car is payed off now and I'm looking to replace it, it seems to have decided to nickel and dime me so that I can't get rid of it. The same day as my inspection the driver's side door stopped opening, but then the next day was fine...then Em was driving it one afternoon and the rearview mirror fell off...this was easy enough to fix--$2 for the adhesive...then my driver's side seat just came undone somehow...apparently it just worked itself loose, but I drove to work one night and the seat was fine, I went out at lunch to go home and the back was laying in my backseat area so I had to hold myself upright...my step-dad fixed this the other day so that cost me nothing, but it leads me to wonder what will be next and if it will just hold on until I can get my tax amendment money so that I can get rid of it...or whether that money will go into making it driveable and preventing me from getting something else.
My Lebaron did this same thing to me when I decided to get rid of it and that's how I ended up with the Acclaim which I didn't really want. Everytime I got the Lebaron fixed, something else would go wrong...sometimes it was small stuff, sometimes it was $500 type stuff...in the end I was just desperate to get rid of it while it was still running and ended up taking the first thing I could find and qualify for a loan to purchase. I hate cars, but I love the freedom they give you when they are actually running well...I love being able to be spontaneous and just take off for Corning or Williamsport or wherever the hell I feel like on a night off...unfortunately the Acclaim has needed work for some time and I haven't had the money and time to get it done...at least never at the same time...so I've been missing this freedom that a car should give you...I can't wait to have something reliable again that I can drive to visit Chuck should I feel like it or that Em and I could take up to wine country in New York for a tour or to York for the weekend without worrying about being stranded along the highway...
I think that when I'm done with school and done with wal-mart I'm going to take my stakeholder money that is building up in an account and just drive around for the summer...I've always wanted to be able to do that and never had the time/money/car to do it...I think that after 8 or 9 years at wal-mart and 6 or so years of school, I deserve at least that opportunity.