I Am Car Owner, Hear Me Whine

I have a love/hate relationship with automobiles.

Where am I coming from with this? I just got socked with an $800 car repair bill today. Wow, it hurt just to type that.

I love the way they get us to where we're going, and provide heat in the winter and cool in the summer. Otherwise I hate them. I hate how they won't run forever and forever and forever unless you take care of them. What kind of world is this? If I didn't have to own a car, I wouldn't.

I don't have that much-vaunted American "love affair" with automobiles. It's just not in my genetic makeup, I guess. I don't care about the makes, and styles, and models, and all that. I don't care about how much horsepower they have or what kind of engine's under the hood or if they have sun roofs or any of that jazz. I need a car to run, run well, and to have a way to lock them. That's about it.

Here's what I've learned today: never, ever take your car into the shop for anything. Because, you know what? They'll need something repaired. Something other than what you took them in for. I went in for an oil change and a tire rotation, and oh, did I get rotated. Still spinning, in fact.

So, there goes my monthly bonus from work, my freelance writing check, and a sizable chunk of my tax refund. Its as if somebody somewhere said "Hey, Jim's got some money! He doesn't need that! Somebody else needs it more!" Don't laugh; you know its true.

So, that's my whine. It only hurts when I sit.

I hope my car doesn't read this. I wouldn't want to hurt its feelings.