Tolkien, artist

Oh the Pain, But Forging Ahead

 I thought that my car was going to cost me close to $1000, bad enough when I don't have ready money available.  It ended up having more issues than I had originally thought, and ended up costing me $2100. 



My Discover card is groaning, and I'm trying to figure out how many months of my life it will take me to pay this one off.  I have a safe and drivable car with good brakes and a totally fixed suspension and alignment, but I'm absolutely sick at the bottom line and I know that I still have one more thing that needs to be looked at.  That won't be until 2012, though - closer to the 100,000 mile mark.  The car has almost 93,000 miles on it, so I shouldn't be surprised at the cost to maintain it.  And I fully admit that $2100 is much less than buying a new car would be.  It's just that funds are very tight this year and this was an expense that I really didn't want/need. 




But, sorry to unload on all of you, and I'll move forward.  I brought my glass and my BFAC beads together yesterday, trying to see how they will all work together.  It's starting to pull together, but I think I need to at least start my bezels around the stones and then I'll be able to tell much better.  I'm still unsure about whether I want to bezel or do bead embroidery for this, but I have to move forward and have to decide before too much more time has passed.  And the illustrations for Big Bang are becoming  more clear in my mind.  So I am forging ahead, even if I don't know where the path is leading me.  Live creatively today!  
 
  • Current Location: I want breakfast...
  • Current Mood: aggravated aggravated
  • Current Music: Ottorino Respighi - Church Windows
Tags: , , ,
  • 12 comments
  • —
    • :
    ellynn_ithilwen
    Ouch. :( Being an owner of a not-so-young-car too, I sympathize with you.
    *hugs*

    P.s. Cute little hamster. :)

    Edited at 2011-05-27 12:03 pm (UTC)
    engarian
    Yeah, as we get older (people and equipment) maintenance fees become more expensive. I dread to see what my personal body expenses will be in another 10 years *sigh*.

    I love my little hamster running like crazy but getting nowhere. He's very indicative of where I am at in my personal goals for 2011 right now :-(

    - Erulisse (one L)
    surgicalsteel
    I remember all too vividly being a surgical resident and having an older but paid for car - and sitting down one day and doing some hard math. I didn't have the option to take a day off to have my car fixed, so if it had a problem I had to either have it towed to the shop (happened more than once) or drive it to the shop and then get cabs to/from work - or rent a car for a couple of days. When I did the math, I realized that with all those combined costs, it worked out to more than a car payment would be and managed to get a lease on a new, very basic car.

    It's a tough place to be in. *hugs*
    engarian
    Right now, my car at 10 years old is the newest car we have. My DH has my Mom's old Saturn from 1992. It has less miles than my car does, but he doesn't maintain his car as well. And then there is "The Beast" an old 1991 SUV that is sitting in my driveway with four flat tires and an engine that doesn't work. That one we'll give away this year and we're looking for a new/used truck to take its place. I love my Cruiser and don't want to get rid of it until I absolutely have to. It fits my lifestyle, the look is perfect for me, I've never had a car I've loved as much as "Da Grape". So although I might regret the money, I'll spend it until it is no longer reasonable or until I see another car that literally takes my breath away the way that this one did.

    - Erulisse (one L)
    chaotic_binky
    Sometimes I am glad I do not own a car - lucky we have such good transport here or else I would have to.

    I hope your car behaves from now on.

    engarian
    Oh, I love my car. And where I live, public transportation isn't very good. It takes me 10 minutes to drive to work, it would take me more than two hours to take the bus there. Really quite silly. Thanks for the kind wishes :-)

    - Erulisse (one L)
    engarian
    Well, one cannot drive without the ability to stop oneself with the brakes, so unavoidable it was :-) Thanks for the hugs, Clodia :-)

    - Erulisse (one L)
    elfscribe5
    omg, I hate taking my car to the shop. Even if it's just for an oil change, they always find at least $500 worth of work that needs to be done and lately it's more. My kids both "own" cars too and have no money for upkeep, so between all our cars this past month we spent around $3,000 in repairs. *smacks forehead* And I'd just about paid off all my credit cards before that. Yeah, your hamster in the wheel is soooo appropriate.
    engarian
    Yeah, the next thing will be new transmission fluid for a bit under $200. But that will have to wait until later this summer. I'm delighted that you enjoy my hamster in the wheel pic. There are some times my life seems just like that, but the wheel is larger :-)

    Have a great weekend!

    - Erulisse (one L)
  • 12 comments
  • —
    • :