I Hate Bad Days!

In a quick change of pace from my, "I Love Good Days!" post, I have not had the best day today. Before I get into that, though, I'll talk about yesterday, which was awesome! I woke up relatively early yesterday and was texting back and forth with L as he was getting ready to head back to Madison. On a whim, I just said how I would love to come visit him and hang out by the pool at his apartment. A little while later, we decided on that as a plan, so I headed to Madison! I met up with him and a friend at a local pub, and then when we got done there, L's sister T came over to hang out with us. The weather was quite overcast by the time we actually got out by the pool, but it was still very nice. We had a few brews and spent a few hours out there, and L made dinner on the grill while we relaxed. Was really great, and it went way too fast! Being able to see him was really great considering otherwise it'd be 3 weeks before we could see each other again. Have I mentioned how much I want to live in the same city?! ;)

Anyway, got up this morning to get ready and head back to Milwaukee for work. On my drive, I was going past a car and thought, "Hmmm. That car sounds kinda loud!" Only after passing them did I realize that it was MY car. Uh oh! I monitored it the whole drive and was nervous that it was getting worse. I should mention that my check engine light came on last week too, but I ignored it because it comes on relatively frequently, usually if I don't put my gas cap on tight enough. Then yesterday before I went to Madison, my electric thing where I charge my phone in the car stopped working. All of these things made me feel I should take it in, so I called a place I've been before to see if they could get me in. While she couldn't guarantee that they'd get to it, she told me if I could leave it there that they'd do their best to get it done today. I was originally going to get some cash and call a cab to take me back home, but it was acting funnier when I got into town, so I just wanted to get it there as soon as possible. Since I had no cash, I decided to walk home (a little over two miles). Thankfully it was overcast this morning, but it was still very hot. I got about a half mile into my walk and realized I didn't grab my phone charger, and I figured I'd need that in case they had to keep it overnight or something because obviously I'd need to be available when they called. Had to turn back around to get that, and then I restarted my journey. In the meantime, some dude in a moving van-type vehicle drove by twice and slowed down to try and get my name. I just gave him a dirty look and fortunately he kept on driving, but really? I finally got home and basically had to just sit around and wait. I would have taken a cab to work, but it costs $20 one way just to get downtown, and my work is about 8-10 further. No way am I gonna drop $50+ on a cab just to get to work, especially when I didn't know how much my repairs would cost. Anyway, got a call around noon saying what the issue was with the check engine light. I couldn't even tell you because it was like a foreign language, but then he proceeded to list several other things that 'should' be fixed. I was not prepared for all of that, so I asked about costs and stuff, and then I just told him to do the oil change and wiper replacement, but to hold on that other stuff as long as it wasn't life-threatening. After he called, I had to wait over 2 more hours for them to call back and say it was ready. At that point, I walked my ass back there (man, over 4 miles in today, whew!) and braced myself for a crazy bill. Fortunately, it was "only" $149, but that's still something most people aren't usually factoring into their budgets. Boo. When I paid, they gave me a list of the other things they mentioned could use work, and get this, those things would cost a total of $630. Um, what?! Thankfully I held off on that. Yikes.

Anyway, I got back home and debated about going into work, but I wouldn't have gotten there until about 3:30, and I only would have worked until 6:00. So yeah, didn't really make too much sense. Just sucks to have to waste a vacation day on this stuff. I called my dad to talk over the other repairs and see if any were necessary, so he went over and talked to the guys at Colby Chrysler who proceed to say, "I wish I worked in Milwaukee!" Meaning, the price (namely for labor) was quite high. They told my dad they could probably do it for about $200 less than what it would be here. Man... How is that even possible?! Problem is, I don't really have plans to go home until August, and dad doesn't think I should wait quite that long. I AM going to Wausau in mid-July to visit my best friend Erin and help her get some things together for her October wedding, so dad's thought is that I should come to Colby and then use my mom's vehicle until Sunday when I come back to get my car. The thing that sucks about that is that it involves going to Colby first, then driving back to Wausau, then driving back to Colby the next day, only to turn around and basically go through Wausau again on my way back to Milwaukee. That is a lot of extra driving in an already short weekend. But, I suppose it could be worth it to save me $200 on repairs. Even still, though, over $400 on car stuff is just such a bummer. I don't have oodles of money lying around, and my car insurance is also due in August, so all of this stuff is just adding up and it sucks! :( Not the way I wanted my week to start. Not to mention, I could see my boss being upset that I wasn't there today, so yeah... Hopefully the rest of the week is better! I was thinking about going back by L again this coming weekend and just coming back to Milwaukee on Sunday in time for the Pitbull concert at Summerfest (I have tickets), but now I'm not sure what I'll do given the fact that I'll have more expenses coming up, and also because I'll be there a few days later for a long 4th of July weekend. I wish I didn't have to make sacrifices like that, but I suppose that comes with being an adult. One day, I am hopeful that everything will just come together... Cross your fingers for me!