There's Joy In Repetition

It's been a suck week for my car situation. Last Sunday night after late night inventory was over my car would not steer out of the parking space, so I left it there and hitched a ride home with a girl from work who was just leaving. Luckily I had just signed up for AAA last month so the tow to the shop was free... but the cost of the new drive belt and a.c. compressor plus labor and the usual gouging fees came to $1,165, which is $1,165 more than what I have but it was either pay it or not drive for the rest of my life, which would suck since it looks promising that Joe might be getting a new job in the upcoming weeks (crossing fingers, toes, tits, etc). They did tell me, however, that my rear breaks had been "improperly installed" and one of them was broken in half and the other was pretty much dragging the ground. But what could I do? I was already taking it in the butt for the drive belt. First things first, I suppose, and if I wind up dying on the side of the road because I couldn't break in time to dodge that flippin' flyin' squirrel or so shit when then hey, it was a nice ride while it lasted. As long as Sade isn't playing on the radio this time (ugh, another story).

Then the day after I get it out of the shop I have to go pick up my new general manager, Nate, who just moved to town from Salt Lake City to be our new boss less than a month ago, and it turns out he lived in the apartment directly above the crazy man that shot up all those people two nights ago in the Thalia Gardens apartment complex. The place was a madhouse of local news reporters and crime units, and Nate (who had just left his apartment to go to the store minutes before the shooting took place, or else he would likely be a goner as well) was waiting for me at the corner of his parking lot because he didn't want me to come in and see the disaster inside, with all the bullet holes and bloody walls -- and the SWAT team had knocked down his door and tore his place apart, with clothes everywhere, and he was afraid that his cat ran off but it turns out it was just hiding really good in the apartment, no doubt traumatized by the invasive SWAT presence (I'd probably be clinging to the ceiling myself). But on the way to work with Nate in the car we felt a hard BANG! under my car and then suddenly I was like I was hearing "Hang On To Your Love" again and my life flashed before my eyes as I tried slamming on the breaks at the stoplight and ended up coming to a slightly coasting stop. So, I'm guessing one of the shoddy breaks snapped off, since I still managed to break to some degree. But this time AAA made me have to come with them since the shop was closed at that hour, and he had to drop me off there and leave me. So basically, if I didn't have a cell phone on me, I was to be abandoned at a closed auto repair shop at nine o'clock at night with no ride and no way to call someone. But thank goodness for these hated mechanisms, because I was able to ring Joseph who came and got me and took me back to work. Yes, I was still on the clock as this all happened. Sheesh.

So yeah, car be suckin', and I'm one broke bitch. And I hate bumming funds from my parents for these kind of things. Pretty much the story of my life the days.

Things are due for an upswing. They just gotta be.