Yet more car troubles.

So, I took Rebecca's car in for the 60,000 mile tune up and I decided to go to the dealer because I simply didn't trust the other guys. Well, as they were draining the fluid from the transmission a few pieces of a washer came out. This is a washer that puts pressure on a plate so that it changes gear smoothly and is apparently rather important. He gave me a quote, and by California state law, he also had to include a new torque converter which came to a total of, are you ready for this, $3,034! He said that I probably wouldn't need a new torque converter so the price would probably be around $1,800. I asked him what would happen if I just didn't do anything, what's so bad about having a hard shift. I mean sure there would be more wear and tear, but we weren't planning on keeping the car that much longer anyway. He told me that not all of the washer had come out, so there's still a piece in there and if it got into the pump it would destroy the whole transmission, which costs $4,500 on it's own without labor. In addition to that, they recommended that I get a new timing belt; price for that: $830. But wait! There's more! The heat plate on the O2 sensor has gone bad so I need a new one of those too; $275. This brings the grand total that I'm going to need to have to get the car fixed up to $4,139.00 or somewhere thereabouts. That's HALF the price of what I could SELL it for. I don't know what I'm going to do. I think I'm just going to do the jackass thing and get the O2 sensor fixed so the "Service Engine Soon" light turns off, then unload the car on some hapless sap. This is precisely why I am always going to buy my cars from a dealer; because of people like me.

I am going to get my Focus in to the shop come Monday. I have about $600 to spend right now and I *hope* that will be enough to get it fixed (please oh please just be the linkage). If it doesn't, I'm pretty sure that Tom & Joel will just let me put it on the Accurate Fire account we have with this guy and I'll just pay them back when I can... probably by having them take it directly out of my pay check. So, with any luck, I'll be back in my Focus by the end of next week.

Other news on the Rob Front... Well, not much to report really. Because of these car troubles I haven't had any spare money for anything fun. However; there is a bit of a silver lining about it. Rebecca and I are actually growing up. We made ourselves a Menu for the next two weeks for both lunch and dinner. We went down to the super market and bought everything we needed and now I'm brown baggin' it every day. It's going to be a super money saver. We spent 'round about $200 on groceries for the next two weeks, which is just about the same amount I spent for eating out just for myself. Yay for not spending money on food so I can spend it on cars.

I'm also getting a new video game today. Before y'all go "The hell?! This fool just spent the entire post bitching about money and he's buying a video game?", let me explain. I pre-bought the game like 7 months ago. The money is spent, and all I can get back is store credit so I might as well just get the game. It's called "Ninja Gaiden II" and it's going to be super awesome! I simply loved the first one, so I have high hopes for this one.

I hope everyone else is having a fantastic week.

"Plum Island Animal Disease Research Center. Sounds charming."

EDIT: Goodness you're too quick Dad...

Alright, here's another one, and I'm pretty sure this one is Dad proof:
"Sir, I don't understand. Who needs a knife in a nuke fight? All you gotta do is push a button... sir."