Sorry I Conform to Gender Roles

I know absolutely zilch about cars. Yes, I have fixed my own taillight on occasion, and totally took off my old and put on my new license plate, but if you talk to me about what is going on under the hood? nuh-uh. The most I do under there is top off my washer fluid.

Thursday night I went to get my oil changed before my trip down south for Thanksgiving. I knew there were things messed up with my car, so I asked the guy at the place to check out my water levels (per daddy's direction). After a while, he comes back in and starts asking me more specifics about how my car has been running, and comes to the following conclusion: I need a new water pump and thermostat. Cost? Oh, between $500 and $700.

This, on top of the fact that I need 4 new tires (home dude didn't even rotate them because it wouldn't make a difference) and brake pads.

um. Hi. Hello. My life is over.

I called dad Friday morning to discuss, and he suggested I start calling around and getting quotes. So I called three other auto shops, one in the area here and two down at home. Out of the three, two got back to me. Their quotes? $390 and $315.

There is a big difference between those numbers. Thanks for not screwing me over too much...not.

All of that said and done, a friend's husband took care of things for me.

for under $200.

I'm in.