23 May 2006

R.I.P.

Our car, our beautiful car, is dead. She never even really had a name... too new to have character, too old to be cool...

It all started on Saturday as we were driving up to Orange County for the wedding of this guy from church. Ken was supposed to be an usher, and that morning we realized we had forgotten to get them a present, so we left with plenty of time to spare. However, while cruising up the 5 in San Clemente, the poor car just froze right up. Fortunately, we were going downhill and an exit was conveniently nearby. We coasted almost to a Mobil station. Ken got out and pushed the rest of the way.

You might be thinking - well since your car had almost 200K miles on it, you probably have AAA or a cell phone or both. Nope. Neither. We both felt really retarded (Ken felt especially bad) because we knew neither of our Dads would ever have let that happen.

[Can I just interject here, not to be bitter or anything - that I have not been in an accident since I was nearly killed that one time. Just for the record for all those lovely people who think I am a bad driver. I was. In the 90s. This is a whole new decade - a whole new century, in fact. So you don't have to let me drive your car, but please do not talk to me about it. Thanks.]

So anyway, we called Buzzy and she came down and got us, and Ken arranged to have the car towed to a local auto shop, which it was, and then they called us later to tell us the problem was the engine (great!). To fix would cost $2-3K. yikestabubba as moisie used to say. So now we are thinking new car (new to us, that is). We are getting lots of advice from people and our own strong opinions are coming out. MINE (since this is MY blog, YO) is that I don't believe in buying new cars, since like Mealtime says, they decrease by like $5K when you drive them off the lot, plus I don't believe in car payments. I also don't believe in American cars. So basically I vote for buying a Toyota or Honda that's a couple years old with 50-75K miles on it (ideally). However - great ideas like that cost like $10K. ANYWAY.

In case you were curious, we made it to the wedding when the flower girl was walking down the aisle. Pretty awesome. Unless you are supposed to be an usher. Don't worry though - someone else was wearing a black suit and fit right in. It was kind of a low key wedding. I thought I wouldn't care about my car so much but I felt kind of disturbed the whole day. And I have been feeling that way since. I really hate mooching rides off people. REALLY. It is one of the most annoying feelings ever. No one has acted like we were really putting them out, but I still feel bad. Everyone has been really nice.

Tonight was Bethy's thesis defense and she kicked butt. Larry and Nancy are here to see her graduate. We are having a huge party on Saturday. The Ericksons are coming on Friday. Tomorrow and the next day are the board meetings. I am looking forward to memorial day and then Eagle Crest so I can relax, and go on a bike ride so I don't get fat.

I've been thinking I need to take preventative measures against adult onset diabetes. I know I don't look fat (thank you) but I have a lot of body fat (muffin top, which is really bad for you), plus it's in my family. I need to try to eat more fruits, veggies and whole grains. But to really do that successfully, I need to quit my job. So I guess I'll keep eating Panda Express for now, and put Laurel's Kitchen back on the shelf. :( To legitimately stay home, I would have to have some kids anyway. Right? You can't just stay home and be a housekeeper. Unless you're Aunt Jamesina from Anne of... hmmm... Anne goes to College? What was that one called? Anne of Windy Poplars? Remember Aunt Jamesina who stayed with Anne and Philippa and kept house for them?

AHHHHHHHHHHHH. I haven't been by myself in like 3 months! It feels SOOO GOOOOOD!

4 comments:

Lydia said...

Emsie- You should look on Craig's List for a new car. There are so many on there. Is there anyone at your church who can help you guys decide if a car is worth buying? Keep us posted!

Marie said...

My dear Emilie you must go to the Ladies Against Feminism site. It will buttress the argument for you staying at home before kids, during kids, after kids. . .they are quite enthusiastic for it.

Anonymous said...

The book with aunt jamesina in it was Anne of the Island. Frankly I am shocked that you cant remember something from your childhood that I remember. Remember when we both burst out singing 'Roll on Columbia' while crossing it that memorable trip, that trip when we also broke down? Remember that scary tow truck driver? And Zach coming to the rescue? Anyways, Hope things are okay with you other than the car. Good decision not to fix the engine. We tried that with the Volvo and it ended up being a lot more than 3 K .

emilie said...

Dear peeps,

I am going to write a lot more stories on here if I get this great of comments every time. I love the ladies against feminism site. And I did look at Craigslist but then a guy at church warned me to be careful of that. Dang it!

Anne of the Island. Of course. Yes, I remember that other car breaking down. Do I have bad luck with cars? Or am I just poor and so I never have a fancy car?

I am going to write a little memoir about that.