bloodsong1 | Entries tagged with car

The furnace is installed and it works! Huzzah! I'm getting $100 from Lennox and $200 from NYSEG to start, I shall talk to Looooooo about Fed and State tax refunds as well.

In my car, it was a different story. I didn't leave for work until Mama A came out about 11:30 am, got into the car, turned it on and drove...one block. It died twice while trying to turn a right hand corner. So I put it in neutral, hit the hazards and tried to push it back. A nice man stopped to help me when my boot heel skidded out and I had to lean against the car to stop falling. I managed to crank the wheel enough to get the car pointing straight, but I was taking up a lot of road. I called the dealership, who recommended roadside assistance as they didn't have a tow truck on staff. So I did that and assured the nice older man I would be fine. The tow truck arrived in good time and I sent him on his way and walked back to the house to borrow Mama A's car. I made it to the dealership seconds after he arrived and waited. I explained the situation, the dealership didn't have a loaner car or a rental, but it would be a covered rental if the issue was warranty.

I went to work, made it before the Big Meeting I had today. After the Meeting, an email to the boss with the crib notes and prepping for my Investigation, I got a call from the dealership.

"When did you last fill up your car?"

"Last night," I said, my head falling. Bad gas.

"Yeah, looks like bad gas. You might want to call them."

"Yes, I will do that. So you have to drain the system?"

"Drain it, blow it out, put fresh clean gas in and see if that works. This isn't covered under warranty."

"Of course it's not," I said, plotting where to bang my head. "ETA?"

"Tomorrow afternoon."

"Right. Thanks. Do what you have to."

Then I called Mama A and we made arrangements to get me to work tomorrow. Then I banged my head against a friend's cube wall. I stayed until 5 to try and make up a little time and asked the boss to use my PTO for the rest.

I really, really hope I get my car back tomorrow. Otherwise Saturday is going to get...interesting.

I got a check from State Farm today! For four figures! Squee!

I have yet to name this new car. She's a lovely dark, almost smoky blue and faintly sparkly up close. She not only has all the bells and whistles Sexy had, she also has navigation, a touch screen, voice activation and back up camera. We're getting another 3 months of free Sirius, which is always nice. I've set up all 3 blocks of 6 channels. There are a few repeats. (^_^)

I'm thinking she needs a Hindi name...

I have a name!

This car is now Asa (pronounced "Asha"), which in Hindi means "Hope".

I am courting and cultivating Hope.

My Sexy has been totaled.

Sad Panda.

(No, I'm not getting a Panda, they don't export them to the US and they're much too small for my brood and not equipped enough for me, I am now addicted to keyless go and MUST HAVE IT AGAIN!)

Ahem.

Market value topped out near 16k after taxes. I have no idea how much I'm actually getting back for the car, as it was a lease and all that. I also have no idea what to do next. SLB and Mama A are going to the dealership to salvage the plates and whatever else is in the car we need tomorrow, hopefully they'll beat the insurance tow truck.

Can anybody tell me what to expect?

My Sexy car might not be coming back to me. SLB and I were in an accident yesterday after work. EVERYONE IS FINE!!! But Sexy, my beautiful Sexy, had her side airbags deploy (damn those are loud), her left rear wheel bent 20 degrees inward, the left rear door and quarter panel smashed up pretty good and bits of the left rear bumper, I think. The other car took it in the left front quarter panel, left front bumper and left front lights.

I don't know how State Farm determines total loss on vehicles, but as Sexy is a lease, I suspect it will be between them and the dealership. She's at the shop, waiting for the claim adjuster. I filed the claim today online, we'll see how fast that is compared to calling it in. I expect to be chasing it tomorrow, as well as chasing a rental. The dealership has one coming back any day now, Enterprise doesn't have anything until tomorrow.

Be careful what you wish for. I had been wanting my car back, but not like this.

The new car's name is Sexy.

She has sparkly eyeliner!

Picked up my new car today. She looks a nice, respectable dark grey in indirect light. In direct sunlight, she sparkles a rich purple.

SQUEE!!

She has driving modes! She has a digital radio display! She can port my Ipod settings directly without me having to push buttons! She comes with 3 months free XM! She has all weather rubber mats! She's STYLIN'!

As I was driving home, I said I needed to give her a name. What came to mind was "Serenity". I'm pretty sure it's the Firefly Serenity and not Neo-Queen Serenity from Sailor Moon.

We'll see if it sticks.

Pictures when I have better light and a camera person.

In which Cuteness finally catches what's been going around.

So the fever hadn't broken by this morning and she was still being lethargic. I made sure she had her breathing treatments and another dose of Tylenol. By 1 pm she was complaining of a sore throat.

"Did your throat hurt yesterday?" Me
"Yes," A Sad Cuteness

Right! I took SNB to work and then headed to the walk in clinic.

Roughly one hour later, she has strep throat. Now I'm glad I took her in. We got her script, picked up the ice cream she wanted for her birthday, picked up a carton for me, and milk.

IDK is currently with his counselor. Cuteness and I will pick him up in about 30 minutes, then it's home, bully him into finishing his chores before he finishes his boss battle in Okami, an egg salad dinner as I am very tired, and an early bedtime.

Now for something completely different!

Tomorrow I pick up my New Car. I'm told it's GORGEOUS. I'm rather excited.

So today was errand day, as SNB was off. We went to breakfast at the Park Diner, which we had never been to before.

Plaza is better.

Then we went to the bank and then to Serafini Nissan, as the sales rep who sold me Ripley had a proposition for me. Turn in Ripley now, get a check for the payoff and drive away in a 2013 Sentra with three driving modes, new styling and almost 35mpg.

They only had a silver, which will NOT work for me, I will lose it EVERY DAY I'M IN A PARKING LOT, but the test drive was smooth, the seats were more comfortable, the windshield is higher, the visors have extensions and the trunk is a scoush bit smaller.

I was willing to make the switch, as long as they got a better color. They had a dark purple/gray and two shades of blue. $500 down, title and reg fees to be paid on delivery. Sure, I said. Why not? It'll make a nice birthday present to myself.

Then we go over to Finance and I inform him about my job situation. He sits back, looking worried, and I assured him I wouldn't be upset if it didn't go through. He ran the numbers I had and said he'd do what he can.

SNB and I left to pick up the Tea Party Cake and do the grocery shopping. As we pull into Weis, Finance calls me back.

"You're pre-approved!"

"Um, what?"

"You've been pre-approved by Nissan Finance for up to $400+ payments. $319 is not a problem. You've been such a good customer, there's nothing to worry about!"

"Awesome!"

I'M GETTING A NEW CAR!!!

*happy dance*

It is not an issue.

I'll still have to look into financing. I'd like to keep my payments where they are or less. Preferably less. I'm going to wait until I get the end of lease statement from Nissan and decide from there. I still have a good 8-9 months.

So my lease is up this October and I'm debating what to do. Do I keep Ripley and find a way to pay the ginormous balloon payment car dealers stick leased cars with, or do I trade her in on another lease, or do I trade her in and buy something like a Maxima or an Altima?

I haven't decided yet. I would prefer to own a car outright, but it depends on the costs.

Today I took her in for service. As I noticed she was just over 30k, I asked for that service to be done, along with tire rotation.

"Sure, it'll be about 3 hours," says the very nice tech.

"Huh. Okay, don't do a half-assed job," says SNB.

"Right-o!" We walk out to Sam's, as I needed to pick up my script, and I apologized for not knowing the wait time. SNB shrugs, as there's nothing we can really do about it, but he's ADD, so we need to find something to keep him from being bored.

(I, on the other hand, can happily sit for 3 hours in a waiting room playing on my phone, watching television and/or reading magazines.)

We wander Barnes & Nobles for about an hour.half, then head over to Taco Bell for lunch, then head back to the dealer. He calls us as we're getting close and is ready with the bill when we arrive.

$255 for 2.3 hours of service, oil, air & cabin air filter, new battery for my key fob, all fluids changed and/or topped off, brakes checked and adjusted and oh, by the way, your rear wheels were bent, so we fixed those and made sure your alignment was correct and we didn't charge you for that.

"Cool!" says I and I pay the bill. We end up cooling our heels for another 15 minutes while they wash Ripley, part of the service. Very Nice Tech calls SNB my husband and I chuckle as I correct him.

"I'm sorry, you act like a married couple!" He says. We thank him, shake hands and part ways.

SNB asks to see the bill as we drive home.

He is not happy.

Turns out he knows how to change oil and such, so to spend that much money for labor time (the bulk of the cost) is obscene and ridiculous and how can you justify paying this when his family had 3 cars growing up and they NEVER serviced anything until something blew up or fell apart.

"I have no problem paying labor time to people who are qualified to do the job," I explain.

He is not happy with me.

I realize I draw a lot of experience about cars from my former job, which were Mercedes and Audis and BMWs, much more expensive cars then my little Sentra. I also know what can happen to a car engine that's not properly serviced. No, really. It WILL come back to bite you in the butt. I don't care WHAT car you drive, changing fluids is REQUIRED MAINTENANCE. If you want to do it yourself, fine. Save that hundred or so now, you're gonna need it later.

I also realize I'm not making $14/hour anymore, but that doesn't mean I'm going to skimp on my vehicle. I NEED my car.

I am waiting to see if this becomes an issue.

Why isn't it getting easier?

I am still very tired. I expect I will continue to be very tired for the rest of the month. Then, once I know what Social Security can give me for survivor benefits, and Wolf is planted under his tree and embraced by all, then maybe I can get past the very tired into just tired.

I couldn't finish karate class tonight. At first I thought it was dehydration, possibly not enough eating before class, and then realized it's my migraines kicking in. It was happening off and on all day, even when I was fully hydrated and full of lunch. I only missed one day of meds, so I know it's not that. Probably another side effect of grieving. I had been pulled in halfway through the 5pm class, so I didn't miss much, really. Still, it's embarrassing having to curl up on the floor of the dojo in a corner and have Sensei come check on you.

I've started reading Wolf's sci-fi books. Part of me wants to break out "Fire Sword", but I know I'll probably end up throwing it across the room, as the heroine in that story, whom I relate to on a very personal level despite the Grand Adventure she has compared to my "wife & two kids" life, got her husband back after he was killed because he was the Winter King for that year and that will make me angry. It's NOT FAIR!

Shut up, Goblin King.

In totally unrelated news, the shiny blue Nissan has been named. Her name is Ripley, as in Ripley from the Alien series. Because Ripley was one tough chicky and I need all the strength I can get right now.

Well, in a few days.

I qualify for a 2011 Nissan Sentra SR lease in bright blue w/Ipod/Iphone connectivity and Bluetooth and a sporty spoiler package that is totally wasted on me, but that's ok.

$2035 down, 15k/year mileage, and $312/month.

No, it's not a new car I can own for my very own. I am ok with this. The Honda dealership was less then impressive, I've done business with the Toyota dealership through work(OMFG NO!), and, well, Nissan has the Cube, which I will want eventually. Or the Leaf. Either way, Nissan has my brand loyalty for now. It gets me OUT of the Subaru issue, the down payment is right where I thought it would be given the Subaru issue, and I cut my monthly expenses by $186. This is on top of reducing my insurance rates (two cars off, one car on, woot) by an unknown amount.

I put a $500 deposit on the Sentra, and I go in tomorrow to sign paperwork. Then, once I have claim check, I go pay them what I owe them, plus what I owe the funeral home, and I will still have about $5000 left for living expenses.

I ran the numbers this weekend. Pending continuing child support, and not taking into account the above reductions, I am about $300 short every month. $300, not the $1000 I had been working on. Once I get the social security set up for Cuteness, I should be able to match that $300, if not have more income to work with. I'm not sure how my food budget is going to break down now, it might be a lot less then I set aside.

I should know more about where I stand budget wise by the end of this month. I'm continuing to receive cash gifts, which are surprising and wonderful and I'm very grateful ($100 today from a customer!) Those are also being shuttled into living expenses for now.

It helps, knowing I really don't have to worry about money. Doesn't make up for Wolf, not by a long shot, but it helps.

Went to the local Nissan dealership to see what I could see. Nissan is doing their yearly tent sale, so there are deals to be had. Somewhat.

I can't afford a Cube with my income limitations. Fair enough, I figured that would be the case. I don't NEED the Cube, I don't have the spatial requirements now that Wolf is gone. It's massively geek-chic, though. Oh well.

Nissan currently is trying to get me into a Sentra lease, which would need roughly $950 down and payments of $320/month, pending the actual Subaru trade in value (current number is $5500, but will probably go down). This is more then I wanted to pay per month, but the down payment was about $1k less then I expected. They won't have hard numbers for me until next week. The good news is there's about 8k less miles on the Subaru then I thought.

I still need to talk to Bronco & Co, see if they want to do the sublet thing. This would necessitate me keeping the Olds for several months while the Subaru is paid off, then if I really wanted to, I could start saving for a new car.

Oh, decisions, decisions. I need to do some research. *sigh*

Big celebratory dinner tonight at the Fireman's Hall in Vestal Center. 60 confirmed guests. 60!!! That place is going to be so damn noisy.

I've faxed the death cert to everyone who asked for it, called everyone else who had Wolf as primary. Still need to sell the Subaru, this will be difficult. I still owe almost $8800 on that bloody car. Trade in value, given the front bumper cover damage and the split in the driver's seat from Wolf, is only about $5200. Private seller? Yeah, I'll be lucky to get $4000. Right now I see two options; see if Bronco & family are willing to do a sub-let where they pay me what they can and I pay off the rest while letting Tall Person drive it, and then when it's free and clear sign over the title. The other option is going to a dealer and seeing what I can get trading in BOTH cars and coming out with no more then a $300/month payment. I wouldn't mind something newer then 2005, preferably a Honda or a Nissan or a Toyota. I'm totally in love with the Nissan Cube, but I don't think I'll be able to afford it.

My car requirements are pretty simple. It has to be a four door sedan, it needs to hold a car seat comfortably, it needs to have a decent trunk and I would really love to get 25mph or greater. I do prefer Asian over domestic.

Wolf was the one who loved to research cars. I have very little patience for it. Probably comes from working at Star.

Mama A should be here soon. IDK went to spend the night at a friend's house and Zahde is here as well. Guess I should go figure out something for breakfast while chewing on the car situation. Or, just talk to Bronco first about the sublet. If they say 'no', then I can start visiting dealers.

Call her to inform her Mookie is RIGHT HERE and then pass the phone.

Call her to inform her her son has taken a nose dive 10 feet onto concrete.

Come to an abrupt stop in front of her.

My poor Eleanor.

The good news! I am not hurt. Eleanor does not have a crushed nose. I managed to stop with about 8-10" of space between me and the Hyundai in front. Said Hyundai was not so lucky and crunched his front end into the car in front of HIM, who had stopped because the car in front of HER had slowed down for no bloody reason AFAIK. Seriously, we were in between stoplights. WTF.

Anyway.

I locked up Eleanor's brakes stopping and felt a very strange pop/thunk type feeling from the brake pedal. Once I had gotten out, confirmed everyone else was ok (they weren't listening, on their cell phones), I shrugged and decided it would be best to get back into traffic.

Until my foot sank to the floor courtesy of the brake pedal.

By now the cops have shown up and I inform said cop that got to me first that I'm ok, I'm not involved but I don't think my car is safe to drive.

I then spend about 10 minutes calling Wolf, Mama A and Lou trying to make arrangments for pickup and a place to stash Eleanor until this brake situation is fixed.

Cop comes back, asks me to test my brakes again. Nope, still to the floor. He tests it, agrees my car's undrivable and do I have a preferred towing company?

LJ-land, I sit in my car for a good half hour or more waiting. I finally get ahold of Wolf, he agrees to come get me and why haven't I called State Farm? Oh, right. I call State Farm, I only have tow compensation as Eleanor is liability only. yay. I also call Firestone and they say bring 'er in, we'll get to her first thing Friday morning. Yay!

My first tow suggestion doesn't answer their phone (must remember to razz them about that), so I suggest another company. No problem. Wolf shows up, we look under the car and yep, brake fluid puddle under the rear axle. A line went blooey somewhere. woot. We finally get my car out of traffic, the tow truck shows up. Lo and behold, the driver recognizes me from work. sweet.

We all pile into Zhade, the Subaru, and head over to Firestone. $91 & change for the tow, normally cash only, but as I'm known, they took my check anyway. sweet.

From there, we go out to dinner, a)because it's after 7 now and b) I did have a scare, I deserve a treat. Besides, I did good, not hitting the Hyundai. This will not go on my permanent record. Woot.

Am debating if I want to say anything to the staff. Probably not, they do not treat me nicely half the time as it is. If anyone asks, I'll tell them.

Now I'm waiting for the phone call saying "Ok, blank brake line is blank, it'll be around $100 to fix and we'll have it done by blank". I cross my fingers that I'll get Eleanor back Saturday.

The name of my BIG PURPLE CAR is...

wait for it....

Eleanor. She's older, she's sedate, and she gave me a wicked thrill when I mentioned it this morning driving into work with a half asleep Wolf and totally uncaring Cuteness. Something about being named after a stubborn, melodramatic British Queen appealed to my big purple car.

Road test in T minus 6 hours and 9 minutes.

I can has BIG PURPLE CAR!!!

YAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!

*poing poing poing poing poing*

I'm getting a CAR.

A full sized purple SEDAN.

And it's an OLDSMOBILE!

Does no one care?

*sobs*

Hmmm. I seem to be using a lot of song quotes lately. Oh well, it's amusing.

But speaking of this particular song quote, I must ask all of you to welcome the newest member of my family. She's cute, she's strong and her name is Scherazade, but we call her Sherzi.

Pictures will be forthcoming, as soon as we can borrow a camera.

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bloodsong1

February 2018

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Page Summary

I will never get the hang of Thursdays.
Well, isn't that nice?
Alas, she is lost to me.
Alas, poor Sexy, I knew thee well.
It's been decided!
I can has shiny!
The Cuteness Chronicles
Darkest hour is just before dawn.
Thank you all for your comments.
Let's talk about cars, shall we?
It's not getting easier.
I can haz car!
That was useful...
Now what?
Ways to freak out a Queenie
This is for Kyther & Cardxiv
I CAN HAS CAR!!!
YOU GUYS!
Isn't she lovely?

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Style: Neutral Good for Practicality by timeasmymeasure

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Page generated Jun. 13th, 2025 01:39 pm

She finally succumbed.

Now you're all in trouble

Entries tagged with car

I will never get the hang of Thursdays.

Well, isn't that nice?

Alas, she is lost to me.

Alas, poor Sexy, I knew thee well.

It's been decided!

I can has shiny!

The Cuteness Chronicles

Darkest hour is just before dawn.

Thank you all for your comments.

Let's talk about cars, shall we?

It's not getting easier.

I can haz car!

That was useful...

Now what?

Ways to freak out a Queenie

This is for Kyther & Cardxiv

I CAN HAS CAR!!!

YOU GUYS!

Isn't she lovely?