First the good news. My car is totally safe for children and other living things now. So, umm, YAY!

Now, the horrible, craptastic news. It cost me like $3 million to get it that way. Credit where credit’s due, the mechanic I went to is a blessed man. He did a lot for me so he didn’t have to send me on my way in a car that would probably disconnect from itself mid-highway and kill me and anything else in a 10-foot radius.

But ya, like I said, $3 million. Pretty much name a thing on a car, and then put the word “broken” in front of it, and that’s MY car.

It all started on a sunny October day when I decided the fact that my breaks were grinding probably meant I should finally take my car to a real mechanic as opposed to the guys at Farm and Fleet. And well, it was all downhill from there. Pun intended.

Turned out I needed a new set of breaks, two new tires (my old ones were literally splitting apart), new ball bearings, and like 4 other things. Also, all my break lights were out.

So, I got the work done and turned over all of my life savings to the man. And then, on a handshake and a prayer, the mechanic decided to let me pay for the rest of the work in monthly payments, which would be a silver lining if I didn’t have to pay the man so much stupid money.

Ug. I HATE car repairs.

I hate them, I hate them, I hate them.

I HATE THEM!!!

I cried about the whole thing a little yesterday, but then I pulled myself together, got a good night’s sleep, and put everything in perspective – for a relatively small price my car now won’t kill anyone.

And, I’m sure like 70 percent of you are out there screaming, “Crystal, GET A NEW CAR!” And I have just 3.5 words for you: want to co-sign?

I have to admit, it is nice that my car doesn’t shake all time anymore, and that I’m not as worried about it stalling at stop lights, and that it doesn’t make a horrible grinding sound every time I stop. It’s nice. Sure, I still need a new starter, my check engine light is still on, and the side mirror is still connected with black duct tape. But like I said, it’s totally safe now!

Yay.