So went my day yesterday. Granted, it was my fault. I waited until the last minute to renew the registration on my van. The reason? A few months ago, as I was dragging the trash to the road, the side of it bumped my rear light and knocked a perfect hole in the lens. I knew it wouldn't pass inspection that way, but I didn't want to to got the trouble of calling a bunch of junk yards to get a new one.
Turns out, that was the easy part. I only had to call about 5 junk yards before locating the part. Unfortunately, this light had a completely different assembly that required "us" (I use that term loosely since I mostly stood in the cold and gave moral support) to take off an interior panel to attach the new wiring. After that was done, miraculously the front light worked again also... unfortunately the only miracle of the day.
I knew that two of the tires were a little on the low side, so I took them to fill them with air. Only after getting there did I realize that I had left the tire gauge at home and also left my wallet at home. I filled it with LOTS of air to be on the safe side, but found that I could hear air immediately escaping from the rear tire. Since it was covered in snow, I could easily see the offending hole and discovered a nail or screw in it. I hurried home to get the gauge, release a bunch of air (I didn't want the tire people to think I was an idiot driving along with too much air in my tires... not realizing they had plenty of other reasons for that conclusion) and pick up my purse.
After removing the tires to fix the leaks, it was discovered that my van is terribly mis-aligned and both front tires needed replaced because of uneven wear. (Had I not noticed the distinct pull? Nope... I thought it always did that).
I rush over to the emissions/inspection place only to find that this year I didn't need to pass emissions or inspection. I could have (weeks ago) gone over to the DMV, paid my money, and received the sticker. It is, however, a comfort to know that I am now driving a bit more safely (Tyler even helped me replace those windshield wiper blades I never could figure out).
6 comments:
we had both of our cars in the shop last week, too. neal's is on it's last life . . . :(
If it makes you feel any better I didn't even manage to make the deadline. I am still working on it... Amy Jo
I've been lobbying for years to try and convince Tim that I am truly not capable of doing all those car things, and that he should just do it for me, but somehow it hasn't worked yet. Sometimes I wish to be the damsel in distress rather than the liberated, "do-it-all-yourself" woman. Cars do that to me.
I'm glad other people have days like this.
Just thinking about all that with cars makes my stomach twist into knots!
Aren't cars so much fun.
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