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Car Report
Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons. |
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Monday, July 19, 1999
One year ago: Night Life
Two years ago: Heaven is a Playground
I took the bus to work today, leaving my car to be serviced at the local Texaco station. I really do like those guys! Replenishing the coolant last Monday had fixed the immediate overheating problem, but they checked the car over, found one heater hose that hadn't been replaced over the years and replaced it, and did the oil change and stuff that was needed. Charge: one hundred fourteen bucks, which isn't bad at all.
But the repair guy talked seriously to me about a bunch of other stuff that needs doing. Some I knew about already -- the tires need replacing. Other stuff I wasn't aware of. He's going to do a detailed written report and mail it to me! (I must get the mail out of my mailbox and deal with it.)
It's rather a dilemma; the car is old (ten years!) and dented. It's still low mileage, though, and I had a rebuilt transmission put in two years ago. Even if I have all the work done that's recommended to me, it's still less than I'd want to spend on a used car.
I think the Texaco guys believe that I couldn't afford the repairs. I'm reminded of the barber that my father used to go to, who wouldn't accept a tip for shaving him. My father's non-neat appearance and modest car made the barber think that he was on a very limited income, while in reality he was comfortably off in his retirement years.
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I'm not as well-informed about journal goings-on as I thought! When there was some discussion a short while ago about a journaler who had a tantrum on zir notify list, I didn't pick up on who it was. Now I know, because I read a bit of that journal for another reason. Tantrum-journaler is involved with another journal buddy, and I didn't know it until I read the second journal's latest update. Wow!
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I'm rather fatigued tonight, so I'm going to soak myself in a hot bath, then read a bit of Vikram Seth's A Suitable Boy. I really enjoy his work. I read The Golden Gate several years ago for a book club; it's a short novel, set in San Francisco, and all-sonnets, all the time! A Suitable Boy is much longer, but it's easy reading and he handles the large cast of characters very well.
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