A Very Long Post in which I talk about Cars and Boyfriends

Friday, the Sentra died.

I was on my way to work Friday morning, desperately trying to reach work as early as possible because work has been quite the vortex of suck as of late. I was very proud of myself for getting up early and getting ready and out on the road so quickly. And then...the Sentra died. In the middle of the road. I wasn't sure what to do because I couldn't push her anywhere and I couldn't just leave her. I tried calling Alex (yes! a name!), my amazingly handsome and fantastic boyfriend, to come save me, but he wasn't answering his phone. (He and I need to talk about keeping the cell phone by you at all times.) Finally, a nice man saw the tears and frustration and stopped to help me. He pushed me into a parking lot and tried to give the Sentra a much-needed jump. Unfortunatley, the jump did not work. So he drove me to Alex(He has a name now!)'s house and I woke him up with more tears and frustration. He, of course, was calm and cool and rolled out of bed with a plan. He drove me back to my car and realized that my car was still sort of in the road. (The man who helped me? He was REALLY old.) So after pushing me up an incline, he jumped the car off AGAIN and got it to work. He sent me off to work with a promise to have his cell phone with him and a pat on the head.

Surprisingly, the Sentra started right up after work and I was on the phone with Alex, working out the detalis of our car shopping extravanganza that evening. And then, the Sentra died again. But this time, it was on a busy street on a Friday evening. And Alex wasn't close by to come save me in a timely manner. So I had to sit in my car. In the middle of the road. It was awesome. I've never gotten so many dirty looks in all my life. Which is ridiculous, because it's not like I was just taking a break from driving in the middle of the road. No. NO. I was stuck, people. STUCK. At one point, a truck passed me and the guy driving yelled out, "MOVE THE CAR, BITCH!" Have I mentioned that I love the midwest?

So after more tears and frustration and much waiting, a Mennonite family in their giant conversion van stopped behind. The dad and his two sons got out and offered to push me to the nearest parking lot. Which, at the point, we weren't sure where the nearest parking lot was. They started pushing, but the incline was a little much. They finally took a break and the dad ran up to the intersection to see where the closest parking lot was. After scouting the situation out, he asked me if his wife could just drive her van up to my bumper and push me down the road. (I'm so glad he was thinking, because I was crying and cursing pretty much the whole time.) Anyway, I let them do it because, of course, this is what the back of the car looks like.



So I put my car in neutral and steered her down the road while the incredibly kind Mennonite family helped me down the road. We somehow managed to cross the intersection, make a right turn, and then cross the road to get into a Quaker State Repair Shop Thingy place. They made sure I had someone coming to help me and were on their way. So then I stood and waited for Alex to come and save me. Again. He jumped her off again and we got into the cars to drive her to a safer parking lot. But before we could even get on the road, she died. So we had to stop. And jump her off. AGAIN. This time, we were better prepared and Alex jumped into the car and took off before she had time to die on him again. I followed in his truck and we safely made it to his work's parking lot. Where I considered leaving her forever.

Unfortuantely for us, car dealerships don't stay open late on Fridays. Why? I have no idea. I guess car salesmen are interested in having lives too. Who knew? So after I whined and complained and boo hooed about my stupid sucky car and stupid people who honk their horns and call me a bitch while I'm broken down, we made a plan of attack for Saturday, with a list of cars and dealerships to look at.

So to help ease the crappiness of the day (have I mentioned that work has been horrible lately?), we went to Outback, where I dined on a tasty steak and then hit the drive in theater for a little Pirates of the Carribean love. (I *heart* Johnny Depp.)

So Saturday came and we were running late. Shockingly. The first dealership we were going to had a 2000 Honda Civic that I was super interested in because it had low mileage and had all the features I was looking for. PLUS, a moon roof. And who doesn't love a good moon roof? We got to the dealership and asked for the dealer Alex had spoken to on the phone the day before. And where was she? Out on a test drive in that Civic. I immediately went into panic mode and started blaming Alex for everything that has ever gone wrong in my entire life, ever. He, of course, patted me on the head and told me everything was going to be okay, because I am 12 years old. The lady eventually came back and told us that the guy driving the car was looking to negotiate a deal. We went to check out the car, despite the fact that my heart had already fallen out of my chest and was beating on the floor. That's how attached to this car I had gotten. Fortunatley for us, the guy was not prepared to pay as much as they wanted for the car and we got to test drive her. Woo!

Things went pretty well to begin with and I liked her a lot, but I didn't LOVE her. I've heard a lot of good things about Civics and so I was pretty set on getting one. But after the window didn't roll up properly and Alex took a look and saw a little muffler issue, I wasn't completely sold on this car. I remembered seeing a Sentra on their website and asked if I could maybe look at that? I thought it was going to be an '02 or '03 Sentra. But it turns out it was an '05. I immediately assumed I couldn't afford her, but I decided to look anyway and test drive her. And, of course, I fell in love.

She had everything I wanted: cruise control, low miles, and was made this century. She and I bonded in our short test drive and when we go back to the dealership, Alex and I conferred. I liked the Sentra better, but the Civic was more my price. We decided to see what we could get if we negotiated and go from there.

I won't bore you with the details because even I got bored and I was there buying my own car. But it involved a lot of "I don't know" and "I'm not sure" and "What do you think?" and "Can you come down lower on the price?" and "I'm not paying that much!" and, of course, the classic "Can I go to the bathroom?"

Anyway, the result was that I go.......drumroll please!



Check it out! My brand, new, shiny, beautiful 2005 Nissan Sentra! Isn't she gorgeous? She's officially "pewter," but there's a raging debate in my head on whether or not she's gray.



But it doesn't matter. It really, really doesn't. Because she has a trunk! A trunk! A trunk that closes!!!!!



What do you think? You like, yes?