Friday, July 07, 2006

More Car Crap

Wanna know how my week has been? This may be easier on your poor eyes if I make it a list.

Monday:

  • Took car for emissions test.
  • Failed one section out of three.
  • Took it to my mechanic who knew the problem right away and unplugged the EGR (whatever that is).
  • Ran back to test but they were closed.
Wednesday:
  • Went back for emissions retest.
  • Passed the section that failed and failed the TWO sections that had previously passed. (Uh huh. Something IS trying to get under my skin.)
  • Ran back to mechanic who was clueless about why.
  • Decided to challenge test.

Friday:
  • Challenged and test came out the same except, says DMV man, it's worse than before. We're all dumbfounded.
  • Good news: I can register my car anyway but I only have thirty days to get the car emissions compliant.
  • Go to DMV to register. "Did you get the tax clearance from your town?" new DMV man asks. Husband and I look at each other dumbfounded again. We do a lot of that this week. Apparently back taxes have come from only God knows where. New tax bill just received 6 days ago don't reflect it, so who knew.
  • Husband goes to take care of tax so he can go back to register car. Apparently because I paid the tax late, there was a charge and the balance was unpaid. That balance, dear readers? .89 cents. You read it right.
  • Bad news: If I had gone in by June 30th to pay the balance I did not know I had which would allow me to register the car that failed the emissions test I did not know I needed to take, it would have all been hunky-dorey. Penalty? Gotta pay the new tax bills we just got - $90 for my car. AND Husband's must be paid too - approximately $300 for his cars and motorcycle. All for .89 cents.

Husband not happy about his having to fork over $300 bucks. Me? You're fishing the wrong river, my friend. I've put out about that much this week for this issue alone, let alone the $1,600 I've had to pay for other car issues this year alone. Funny how when I was fuming about the money coming out of MY pocket, it was, "That's the way it is." "Well, gotta do what you gotta do." Insert your own pointless cliche here. With shrugged shoulders and a slight look of not-a-big-deal, he carried on. Hmm, but now he has to pay too. Oh no! All hell is breaking loose now!

Well, maybe this was all just another lesson, not so much for me after all but for the man I married as well (if not mostly for him) that you and I are P-A-R-T-N-E-R-S. You need to start acting like it.

Oh well, at least I'm down 4 pounds and not feeling so icky about my weight.

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