Car update

Got the phone call back from the service guys and the good news is that I can have the car back this afternoon. The bad news is that it's going to cost me $700+ - the cooling fan motor died which blew the seal on the water pump and the seal on the coolant cap so they have to do this and that and the other (I took notes; I don't want to bother typing it all in again). That total also includes an alignment, which I needed anyway, and fixing the ignition lock cylinder, which has, over the course of a few years, bent my ignition key to the point where I have to use the bent key for the ignition and a straight key for the doors, because if I mix them up, sometimes it takes a bit to get the key out. And that isn't a *necessary* fix, but I'm so fed up with it that I want the damn thing fixed (I've brought it to the attention of mechanic before, who couldn't figure out what the problem was).

Anyway, there's also something else that I can't type in here because I can't read my own handwriting (though the clutch is involved at some point, since I can read that word), and the upshot of it it, it isn't a problem at the moment, though it could be in the future, and it involves removing the transaxle assembly to get at to fix, so it's $1300. I told them not to do it, since I'm in currently in the Land of Non Permanent Employment, and when I discussed it with Mom, she brought up again the idea of getting a new car once I get settled. Arg. I'd really hoped to get another couple of years out of this one - that was why I bought new in the first place, so it would last longer. The original idea was to have the car outlast the student loan repayments. Mind you, that was back when I thought I'd be paying off all of my student loans on time isntead of going to income-dependent payments, and then back to grad school for two years. I suspect I'll be looking at used preowned cars by the end of the year, since I really don't want to handle new-car payments right now.

And my head is hurting; let's hope it's not a migraine from the stress. But at least I have drugs for it ... although I suspect the doctor would tell me it's a tension headache and not a migraine.