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AuburnChick Wants a New Car

My car has been paid off for almost two years.

Although my family often calls it the Crap Car (we traded in a Durango for this one…a major step down…to save money on gas), it has taken us on many, many trips.

I’ve been to soccer tournaments all over Florida and the Southeast.

I’ve moved children back and forth to college quite a few times.

So far, I’ve accumulated over 161,000 miles.

It’s been a good car, except for the crappy radio, until recently.

A few months ago, the engine had to be nearly rebuilt.  It was cheaper to put more money into this car than buy a new one.

Out of loyalty to this car, and because my finances aren’t exactly overflowing right now, I’ve tried hard not to start drooling over other cars.

That changed last week when I rented a vehicle to drive home from Chicky’s college.

I was fortunate to be teamed up with a Chevy Equinox…

From the moment I sat down in this vehicle, I was in major love.

For a tech-savvy gal like me, the dashboard captured my heart…

It took me fewer than five minutes to figure out how to sync my iPhone with the car.

Oh my!

I tested out the hands-free calling.

Oh my!

The people I called could hear me without any problems, and I could hear them as easily as if they were sitting beside me!

I had only driven a few miles on the interstate when I knew that this was a relationship I wanted to pursue further.

The ride was smooth as alpaca yarn.

Oh my.

The Equinox was so roomy without being too big.  It’s only got one row of back seats, but each seat had enough leg room to accommodate a person of any size.

There were many features I fell in love with.

One thing I love about this vehicle is the rear camera, which displays what’s behind the car as soon as it’s put into reverse…

I had a lot of fun playing with the buttons on the console.  One neat feature is the mph readout, which allows the driver to see what kind of gas mileage one is getting…

Another feature that I really liked when I drove this car was the small mirrors imbedded into the side mirrors.  They allowed me to see things that are typically in my blind spots.  This helped me tremendously as I made the seven-hour trek home.

It was with great reluctance that I returned this vehicle to Budget Car Rental.

Thanks to a much-needed but uber-expensive home repair, my dreams will have to remain just that.

One day, after all of the students loans and credit cards have been paid off, I will own my dream car.

Unless I win the lottery first.

I Brake for DIY Projects

On Sunday, I ran to Walmart.  As I got out of my car, an older gentleman, who I later found out was from New York, told me that one of my brake lights was out.

Hmmm…

The Mr. had noticed it flickering the other day when he was driving behind me.

The gentleman and I talked about it a few minutes.  Meanwhile, there was another guy walking by, and he told me that the part would cost a fraction of what someone would charge me to fix it.

Well, I’m all about doing things myself while saving money, so I decided to give it a go.

I ran to a local auto parts store and inquired about the part.

I bought two bulbs for $5.99…

As my order was being rung up, I couldn’t help but notice all of the FEMALES working in the store.  In fact, one of the gals walked outside and took a look at my car, making suggestions on how to get the cover off.

She even asked if I wanted her to do it for me.

Oh no, I assured her.  I’m a blogger, and I was going to take pictures while I worked.

I’m not sure what she thought about that, but we did share a few laughs as we discussed DIY projects we’ve undertaken.

You might remember that I’ve fixed my oven, doorbell, and lawn mower’s carburetor.

Home I went where I eagerly began the process.

Here’s what I started with…

After opening the hatch, I saw two screws holding the light’s casing…

After removing the screws, I began pulling off the cover…

The cover didn’t come right off.  I had to wiggle it a bit to dislodge the cover from the two pins that were connecting it to the car on the left side.

Here’s what I saw when I finally got it off…

There were three bulbs, so I had to decide which was which.  I figured that the middle one was my reverse light, and the bottom one probably was too, so I pulled out the top light.  Actually, I had to twist the cover, and then it came right out…

Next, I pulled out the old bulb and pushed the new one into the slot…

And just like that, the job was finished.  It took a whopping five minutes and cost a total of $6.

In the end, I had a brake light that lit up again, and I prevented myself from possibly getting a ticket…

A Silver Lining

Have you ever had an unpleasant experience that had a silver lining? I had one of these today.

After a long telephone conversation with my friend Rabbit, a buddy from KnittingHelp.com, I decided to go out and spend a gift card I had received. Did I really need to go shopping?

No.

Why not, you may wonder.

Well, because I am still studying for my certification exam. This test is going to be quite difficult, I fear. Social Sciences is a discipline that encompasses many areas of study…history, geography, and economics, to name a few. I am set to take this exam on Monday. I would appreciate your prayers. I’m gonna need them.

Anyhow, I need to study, but I really wanted to get out of the house for a bit. So, I trotted out to the car, eager to get back before the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.

I turned the key, not really expecting anything because I, like most people, tend to take for granted that my car will start when I want it to.

Not so this time. It made a small noise and then nothing happened.

Uh oh.

I tried again. Nothing. I pulled the key out and noticed that the odometer and rpm thingy were going crazy, like they were possessed.

I tried a couple more times, praying that the car wasn’t possessed. Nothing.

Normally, I would expect Mr. AuburnChick to fix this; however, I have been blessed with an entire weekend to myself. Soccer Chick is headed across the state to a weekend training session with her team, and Rockin Rooster will be visiting his cousin, whose house is on the way. I opted to stay home, study, and keep the dogs company.

With the family gone, I was forced to turn to a friend. Thank goodness for friends who live on the same street.

Ring, ring.

“Hello, Friend, it’s AuburnChick, your ever-needy friend. Can I borrow your husband and his handy man-brain for awhile?”

Like the true friends that they are, they were at my house in five minutes. Within a minute, Friend’s hubby had discovered the problem. Badly corroded contacts on my car’s battery. Thank goodness for baking soda and water. He used both to dissolve the corrosion just enough to hook up the cars and get mine going.

And then it died again.

Great. Was I going to have to get it towed?

“Not to worry, AuburnChick. All Knowing Man is here to rescue you.”

Starting over, we went through the entire process again, and he got my car started for the second time. Friend sat in one car, and I sat in the other, revving our engines like the start of a NASCAR race. When the car didn’t die after a few minutes, they left for home, assured that I would make it to the repair shop.

I crept my way the two miles (remember that I live in a small place), praying that the car wouldn’t stop along the way. CHECK GAUGES was ominously displayed the entire time.

Yeah, you’ll get checked, if you can hold on for two minutes.

I made it there and was assured that it was my battery and that it would cost me a small fortune to fix it. I didn’t care. Just fix it. I’m not interested in bargain shopping right now. Mr. AuburnChick should pay for leaving me with a car that didn’t run. Shame on him!

So, the silver lining? I sat down and studied for a solid hour with only one interruption. Had I been at home, I would have been tempted to go online, write a blog post (like I’m doing now), or knit a dishcloth for my Olympic Dishcloth KAL I started over on KH.