Holiday Wishes
Nov. 24th, 2004 09:18 am
I was perusing through ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kate_nepveu's and annewashere's Holiday Wishes Memes yesterday and I would have liked to do one of my own, but with it being inventory I was completely swamped. Couldn't do more than glance through LJ now and again. However, due to events of yesterday not at all connected to the inventory, I now find myself wishing for one big holiday present. Namely, some $2500.
I took my Explorer into the dealer yesterday. It was coming up on its next 5000 mile maintenance and the transmission had been giving me some very worrisome signs the day or two before. As in, not shifting gears smoothly, and grinding/revving noises when it tried to. Even someone who is not a car guru like myself knows that that is BAD.
So, I get to do the 5k maintenance, which will cost me some $50 and change. Check, I can do that. I also need to replace a blown valve that was leaking oil out of my engine. That will cost some $150. Check, I can do that. And my poor old transmission, which according to the dealer is slipping, has internal damage, and has no 2nd gear to speak of, needs to be replaced. To the tune of some $2250 and change. And that is where my financial wheels just stopped, so to speak.
Of course I'm getting it replaced. I can't NOT replace that. The transmission is so shot that the guy wouldn't even guarantee that it could take me home to HS and back without crunching completely (that's ~120 mile roundtrip, if you're interested). So I have a loaner car (actually a pickup, and boy is *that* a new experience) and the transmission will be in on Monday and hopefull by Tuesday I get my poor old car back.
And it will take me my next paychecks for the next full YEAR to afford that replacement. I make a comfortable salary, not great, but not horrible. It pays my expenses on a daily basis and it leaves me a little left over that I've been trying to save. The overtime checks I got last week and that I expect this week are a very nice bonus. But I can't earn any more overtime after this week is over--the big boss has put his foot down and said that I must stay within 40.5 hrs/wk. And on my meager savings every month, as I said, it will take me a full year to earn enough money to afford a new transmission.
And that's only if nothing else goes wrong in the meantime. No more financial crisises. And that's also denying myself every single extra little goodie from now until then. No new books, no new music, no new clothes, no little wedge of Brie cheese from the store, no trips to get the hell away from here when I get depressed (except for the two I've already paid for, one next month and one in May), nothing. Nothing but the basics.
God, I wish I had a million dollars right now. Failing that, I would really, really, *really* like $2500.
Edit: I should have said before, but this is already a rebuilt transmission. A new one would have cost me $4000+.
kate_nepveu's and annewashere's Holiday Wishes Memes yesterday and I would have liked to do one of my own, but with it being inventory I was completely swamped. Couldn't do more than glance through LJ now and again. However, due to events of yesterday not at all connected to the inventory, I now find myself wishing for one big holiday present. Namely, some $2500.I took my Explorer into the dealer yesterday. It was coming up on its next 5000 mile maintenance and the transmission had been giving me some very worrisome signs the day or two before. As in, not shifting gears smoothly, and grinding/revving noises when it tried to. Even someone who is not a car guru like myself knows that that is BAD.
So, I get to do the 5k maintenance, which will cost me some $50 and change. Check, I can do that. I also need to replace a blown valve that was leaking oil out of my engine. That will cost some $150. Check, I can do that. And my poor old transmission, which according to the dealer is slipping, has internal damage, and has no 2nd gear to speak of, needs to be replaced. To the tune of some $2250 and change. And that is where my financial wheels just stopped, so to speak.
Of course I'm getting it replaced. I can't NOT replace that. The transmission is so shot that the guy wouldn't even guarantee that it could take me home to HS and back without crunching completely (that's ~120 mile roundtrip, if you're interested). So I have a loaner car (actually a pickup, and boy is *that* a new experience) and the transmission will be in on Monday and hopefull by Tuesday I get my poor old car back.
And it will take me my next paychecks for the next full YEAR to afford that replacement. I make a comfortable salary, not great, but not horrible. It pays my expenses on a daily basis and it leaves me a little left over that I've been trying to save. The overtime checks I got last week and that I expect this week are a very nice bonus. But I can't earn any more overtime after this week is over--the big boss has put his foot down and said that I must stay within 40.5 hrs/wk. And on my meager savings every month, as I said, it will take me a full year to earn enough money to afford a new transmission.
And that's only if nothing else goes wrong in the meantime. No more financial crisises. And that's also denying myself every single extra little goodie from now until then. No new books, no new music, no new clothes, no little wedge of Brie cheese from the store, no trips to get the hell away from here when I get depressed (except for the two I've already paid for, one next month and one in May), nothing. Nothing but the basics.
God, I wish I had a million dollars right now. Failing that, I would really, really, *really* like $2500.
Edit: I should have said before, but this is already a rebuilt transmission. A new one would have cost me $4000+.
