I Must Be Grown...

Monday my check engine light came on. After a morning of condo hunting and a trip for groceries I noticed the red glow beckoning my attention. Of course my first thought was "Holy shit I need to get home." Then I thought about the fact that I had a Toyota that has never had problems. Then I realized that after 5 years I was probably about due. So I made the appointment at the dealer for the next day (hey I'm under warranty), took their advice and checked the gas cap (of course screwed on extra tight) and even drove it over a friends house just in case it cleared itself up. Yeah, it didn't.

Up early on Tuesday and of course, the problem is not under warranty. Of course, I was there half the day. And of course, it was about $340 to fix. Merry Christmas. But I figure this must be what it is like being a grownup. Something wrong with your car you fix it. You don't wait for it to get worse. Back in my college days I might have driven until the car stopped running all together. The whole time sweating bullets, pissing my pants, and praying to God to please let me get to where ever I was going. But then I was poor. Like not always sure where the next meal was coming from poor. Deep in debt, bad credit poor. Now I'm good credit broke (still deep in debt I might add). And quite frankly, having already spent about 20 minutes on the 101 in the middle of the night changing a tire by the light of on coming traffic... well let's just say I have no desire to be stranded on the LA freeways. Ever. Day or night. So when presented with the prospect of decreased engine performance, failing a smog inspection, and further damage I sucked it up and paid the price. I suppose for piece of mind... it was a small price to pay.