warning: despairing rant lol

[Guest guest]

My car is wrecking my diet. I have this '89 Toyota Camry my dad

just kind of sprung on me around Thanksgiving time, after I'd

poured $700.00 over the course of the summer into the old '76

Chevy Nova I'd been driving for about eight years. My dad

didn'tconsult me about this car purchase. He didn't ask me if I

wanteda new car. Didn't even tell me he was even considering

getting me a new car. It's something he just suddenly seemed to

decide to do after I told him I wasn't coming home for Thanksgiving

because I had to put over $200.00 into the Nova that month for tie

rod ends and a front end alignment, and I still didn't feel safe

driving the old Nova the 200 mile trip home. Somehow my feeling I

couldn't come home spurred him to buy me a new car.

The Nova needed to go, I realize. It had about 200,000 miles on it,

the floor boards were rotting out, and the air conditioner hadn't

worked in three summers. Still, I knew this car. It was simple and

easy to operate. Not so the Toyota.

The Toyota is electrical, electric door locks, electric windows.

And, as I learned a few days ago, you can't lock the freakin'

car doors in the winter time. The doors freeze shut. Someone got

into the front passenger side door the other day. Once they were

in, it wouldn't close. This was Thursday. The maintenance guy

at work was able to keep it closed by pulling the seat belt through

the arm of the car door and tying rope through both the front and

back passenger side widows of the car and securing it around the

upper portion of the seat belt mechanism. He then ducked taped

around the outside of the car door. Duck tape fixes everything.

This seems to be the universal understanding of the male species.

This is how I have been driving the car for the past two days and

how I will continue to drive it until I get paid next Friday and

have the money to get it fixed, providing I can find someone who can

understand what part I am telling them I need replaced.

Fortunately I have an honest mechanic that I trust. But I didn't

like what he told me when he took a look at the door for me. He

mentioned a part called the `keeper', said something about

the plastic latch on the inside of the door being broken and needing

to be replaced. Do you think the Nova had plastic parts? Just take

a wild guess.

Today I made my grocery list, double-checked my budget and went out

the door to get the few things I thought I could get by on until I

get paid again. Not one to be twice bitten, I left the front car

door a bit ajar last night because we were getting a little snow and

freezing rain here last night.

The car door opened just fine. I put the key in the ignition and

turned it. Nothing. Nada. Not a sound. Okay, I need to shop for

food so I can stay on my diet, my passenger door won't close, my

car won't start, I have less than $15.00 until next Friday, and my

bank account is overdrawn by $21.00. I suppose the overdrawn bank

account was my own fault. I'd forgotten about a check I'd

written to a charity right before Christmas time. It finally

cleared.

I'm without food (okay, not completely), without money, without a

car, I'm overdrawn, and I'm alone. So, I call the father who

gave me this wonderful car and said, " Really, I hate this

car " . He laughed unsypmathetically. " You hate it now because you're

having problems with it. " No dad, I really hate this car. I'd ask

for the old one back but in reality I know that would be a

mistake. I would like an older car though, no power windows, no

power locks, no electrical crap, just a good old fashioned, simple

to run, simple to work on car.

My brother happened to be at my dads house and both of them tried to

suggest different things I might try to get it started, which may

have worked, had I been able to pop the hood. But no, even the hood

wouldn't pop in this cold weather. My voice kept cracking while

I was talking to them. I couldn't help it. I was on the verge

of tears. I feel absolutely overwhelmed, alone, isolated and

helpless when things like this happen. I feel scared. It's

supposed tobe 60 here tomorrow. It was suggested I wait until then

and see if the warmer weather makes a difference. What else can I

do?

I have enough to stay on my diet for today, I really do. I suppose

I can get by just fine on chicken salad, garbanzo bean round up

salad, deviled eggs and cottage cheese, and cheese sticks. And I

still have enough to make that wonderful ricotta cheese dessert. I

won't starve. I just wanted some chicken too for a bit of

variety. I'm sure my brother and my father are sitting at home

looking at each other shaking their heads over how upset I am that

my car won't start right now. I'm sure they think I'm

being mellow-dramatic and way overeating to the whole situation.

But then, neither one of them has ever been a woman alone with car

problems, with no money, and no one nearby to help. It's a

frightening place to be.

Debbie