hamster wheel

Today I lost a great deal of time and money.

I worked three hours on Saturday. Those three hours were coming back to me today in the form of extra sleep plus time to go get the Buick insured and registered. It didn’t work out that way.

Hopped into the Volvo. Shortly after I got on the highway, headed for the insurance agent, my temp gauge flew into the red. I pulled over. My coolant was splattered all over the engine bay. The radiator neck had snapped off. This is interesting because exactly the same thing happened last time I had to get a brand new radiator, and that was about two years ago.

I walked to a house and got water from a nice old man. I refilled the radiator, shoved the hose back on as well as I could (not well). Limped the car to the nearest mechanic, who wound a wire tightly around the hose and the top of the radiator, added more water (it had already sprayed out), and wished me luck. He told me I would have to replace the radiator, but not immediately.

I got back on the highway. The car overheated in seconds. I pulled over. Water was gone. Walked to an office building, asked for a phone and a phone book. No phone book. Walked ten minutes down the road to the bank. Got some money, borrowed their phone book. Walked back to the office building, ate in their cafeteria while somebody called a tow for me. They said they’d be right over. I went back to the car.

Fifty minutes later, I return to the office building and call a second towing company. I return to the car. Fifteen minutes after that, the first tow company shows up.

“How much to Somerville?”
“$120.”
“How much to the nearest mechanic?”
“Less. There’s a radiator shop in town. He might be able to fix it for you today.”
“Take me to Somerville.”

(If I went to the radiator shop, maybe it would get fixed, and maybe not – and if not, I’d be stranded again. If I go to Somerville, I can walk home no matter what happens, and I need to take the T to work sometime today, or I’ll lose an important experiment.)

I get to Somerville, I give the tow guy his money, I leave the car with the mechanic, and I walk home. Here I am. It’s 4pm, and I need to go to work now. Oh, and I’ll have to go in tomorrow, too.

Let’s see: $300 and five days in the shop for a new muffler and three new switches. Now another $400, and who knows how long (There were three other cars in the lot waiting for radiators today, I swear to God.), for a tow, a new radiator, and a new thermostat. I was already in debt for moving-related expenses.

Off to work.