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December 04, 2002
My Poor Car
This one is a personal matter; I feel the need to vent. If you're looking for political discussion, move on to the next item. I'd been having trouble with my driver's side car door for several days; the inside panel had come loose from the frame. On the way back from a family visit in Oklahoma, the problem became critical: preparing to leave from a stopover in Dallas, I found that the door would no longer latch. I needed to tie the door shut to make the car even marginally driveable. I had nothing with me which was suitable to do that. There was a convenience store nearby, and I went in looking for something useable. Twine? No. Duct tape? No. What did they have? Shoelaces. I bought two pairs of sneaker laces for $0.99 apiece, and used them to lash the door to the center post and the frame of the back door. I was able to close the windows, though they no longer made a tight seal. I then drove this mess back to Houston (250 miles!), with the car feebly beeping every couple of minutes to notify me that the driver's door was "ajar". After an early-morning dropoff and one day driving a rental (a Ford Escape, a "mini-SUV" -- making it only somewhat politically incorrect, I guess), I got my car back noon yesterday. Satisfaction: I'd also gotten them to do the 60,000 mile service and replace the brake pads, so that vehicle was more than restored to its previous dim lustre. So what happened on the way to work today? I got rear-ended. It never ends, does it? Posted by Kevin Shaum at December 04, 2002 09:48 AMComments
I sympathize. I used to drive a '79 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon, one of those two-door cars that was really too bug to be a two-door. So of course the hinge on the driver's side door was broken, and I had to lift and wiggle the thing into place to shut it. And it had the scary tendency to swing open as I was driving... Eventually I broke down and got it fixed. It cost me over $400. That's more than I paid for the thing... I kept telling myself: "At least I don't have car payments!" Finally I realized that one way or another, car owners will _always_ have car payments. Posted by: Andrea Harris on December 7, 2002 09:14 AMWow, put out the good china, we got famous company here at Lazy Manor. (Like I said elsewhere, blog fame is like real fame, just less so.) I know what you mean, Andrea. I try to keep track of overall expenditures, and when maintenance (beyond oil changes and such) gets to be comparable to a car payment, it's time to go shopping. I'm not to that point yet with the LazyMobile, but I can see it coming. Posted by: Kevin on December 10, 2002 05:11 PMPost a comment
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