one hand giveth, and one hand...

oh, my Funkmobile,
lovely, perky Funkmobile,
i will miss you so.

so yesterday while i was out running errands with *cc*, the Funkmobile started acting funny. she'd been acting funny for a few months, and i knew it was approaching time to take her for yet another check-up. 1st gear was skipping on takeoff, and in the last week she stalled on me twice.

the first time it happened, i attributed it to the cold, frosty morning and the simple fact she hadn't been driven in a week since i was in florida. she was tired, cold, and cranky. i'd give out in a pout if i felt that way, too. so i let her rest, then started her up again (after a few tries). however, i'd done quite a bit of driving with *cc* and the Funkmobile was warm yesterday...yet she still gave out.

so i called the dealership while she and i waited in the parking lot to pick up *mj* after work. we dropped off the Funkmobile after dinner, and i waited all day today to find out what the damage was. i finally got a call around 16:30 from my friend at the service center.

$1500 and an aneurism later, *cc* and i drove to the dealership to look at just buying a new car.

oh, my poor Funkmobile.

oh, my poor nerves. i felt like throwing up all evening. this was not the way i'd wanted to finally upgrade my Funk Force Fleet, y'know?

ironically enough, as Asphalta, Goddess of Roads, Parking Lots, and Commuters would have it, as She was taking away my Funkmobile with one hand, she was benevolently heaping upon me opportunities with her other hand. *cc* put it beautifully:

"on the other hand, dear," she said to me, chilled hands wrapped around a steaming paper cup filled with creamy hot chocolate, "it's a whole new year, a whole new you, and a whole new car that will be much more reliable, for which i know i'll be much more comfortable with."

she has a point. it's part of why i love her so much: it's like being able to talk to a wiser version of myself with a much cooler head. and she has tons of insights i might never have, and a lovely point of view that's refreshingly different, but we're still on the same wavelength. sometimes we yell at each other to get out of each other's heads, we think so much alike sometimes.

have i not said that my 30th birthday was my turning point? a renewal of dee, a rebirth into wetter and wilder and far more interesting truths and dilemmas to challenge me. why not have a new car and put pedal to the metal headlong into my very own renaissance?

on top of that, with even more irony (i think the divine Asphalta is a bit of a trickster at heart) the guy who sold me the Funkmobile sent me a text message hours later asking me how the Funkmobile was. so i told him. he wants to buy it back from me and make the repairs himself. so the car that would have cost me $1500 is going to make me money instead.

my life. just. can't. suck.

to top it all off, i got a real navy peacoat today!!! i've been in breathless love with peacoats for years and years, and i finally bought one! oh my goddess, talk about totally effing WARM!! not to mention sharp, and beautiful, and just a feast for the eyes. oh my gods, i'm in love with my new peacoat! i think i'm gonna sleep with it. maybe i'll even marry it.

(ima love it, and hug it, and squeeze it, and name it "george.")