I want a surrey with the fringe on top
On Saturday I noticed my check engine light come on while I was driving home from a party. I immediately got paranoid, but it was midnight, so nothing I could do about it and all major mechanics are closed on Sundays. I did take it for a routine oil change on Sunday though, and asked the genius teenagers at Jiffy Lube if they had any idea why it would have come on. They obviously told me no, but then as they were doing work they said my radiator cap didn't pass the inspection. I was like ok, replace it. It was $10.00. I know darn well I could have bought one for cheaper at the auto parts store, and my brother would probably kill me if he knew I had actually caved in at the Jiffy Lube and bought one from them. I personally believe they will tell you that every time, just so they can get a little more money out of you. I don't usually go to them, because I feel like they treat me differently just because I'm a girl. I could rant on this forever, so anyway, I got the cap and the next day my light shut off. So I thought, hmm maybe the Jiffy Lube teenager really did know what he was talking about. Wrong. Light came back on yesterday. Today I took it to my regular mechanic after work and had them run a diagnostic check for the wonderfully low price of $49.99 (note the sarcasm). That took about 30 minutes and then the results came back that my O2 sensor was not working. Wonderful! I was so so happy to find out that an O2 sensor only takes about 30 minutes to replace, so labor is only like $85. However, it will take another 30 minutes to have the $211 part delivered. $211?!?!?!. I'm like you've got to be kidding me! But what am I going to do? I don't want to drive around with the check engine light on and risk putting more emissions out in the already crapped up atmosphere and risk damaging my car, so I said ok, fix it.
I then walked to the little hamburger place next door and thought that if I took my time eating a chicken sandwich for dinner they'd be all done shortly after I finished then I could go home. WRONG!! 90 minutes after they told me the part would take 30 minutes to get there, the manager tells me that my part should be there in 3-5 minutes. gah! Apparently the warehouse they get the parts from couldn't find it even though their system said they had it so they had to drive across town and back in rush hour to get a different one. Luckily the awesome guy in the shop that was actually working on my car (and the one I always request) had already removed the bad part so when the new one got there all he had to do was put it in place and hook it up, which only took like 4 minutes. I think the manager knew I was pissed about having to wait so long, so he took 50% off the labor charge and gave me a little bit off the part too. But after all things considered, it still cost me $300 to get it all diagnosed and fixed. And to top it all off today, I had just filled up my gas tank, so I spent a whopping $360 on my car today. Counting the $35 oil change/radiator cap on Sunday, I think I've blown my entire summer's budget in one shot.
On the lighter side of things, I was just reading an article about Jamie Lynn Spears' new baby. In the article she is quoted: "Mama has been here a bunch," she said. "She wants to see the baby all the time. She told me the doctors are always going to be real strict and tell you, `Don't do this and don't do that.' Just follow your instincts. You're the mother and you know what your baby needs. That's what I've done and it seems to have worked."
mmmhmmm. You all can draw your own conclusions on that one. Out of the advice "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", I will keep my thoughts to myself. haha
I then walked to the little hamburger place next door and thought that if I took my time eating a chicken sandwich for dinner they'd be all done shortly after I finished then I could go home. WRONG!! 90 minutes after they told me the part would take 30 minutes to get there, the manager tells me that my part should be there in 3-5 minutes. gah! Apparently the warehouse they get the parts from couldn't find it even though their system said they had it so they had to drive across town and back in rush hour to get a different one. Luckily the awesome guy in the shop that was actually working on my car (and the one I always request) had already removed the bad part so when the new one got there all he had to do was put it in place and hook it up, which only took like 4 minutes. I think the manager knew I was pissed about having to wait so long, so he took 50% off the labor charge and gave me a little bit off the part too. But after all things considered, it still cost me $300 to get it all diagnosed and fixed. And to top it all off today, I had just filled up my gas tank, so I spent a whopping $360 on my car today. Counting the $35 oil change/radiator cap on Sunday, I think I've blown my entire summer's budget in one shot.
On the lighter side of things, I was just reading an article about Jamie Lynn Spears' new baby. In the article she is quoted: "Mama has been here a bunch," she said. "She wants to see the baby all the time. She told me the doctors are always going to be real strict and tell you, `Don't do this and don't do that.' Just follow your instincts. You're the mother and you know what your baby needs. That's what I've done and it seems to have worked."
mmmhmmm. You all can draw your own conclusions on that one. Out of the advice "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all", I will keep my thoughts to myself. haha