Apparently My June Hasn't Been Disrupted Enough Yet

[dr_pretentious]

The good news is that we had an excellent time at festival and came home unscathed but for minor sunburn. Maybe before I head for Seattle I'll have time to tell you about one of the most sublimely beautiful sights I've ever seen, which comes wrapped in an anecdote complete with fire, mortal peril, and a happy ending. We spent lots of time with good friends we rarely get to see, participated in many lovely rituals, and danced more than we have occasion to in the whole rest of the year put together. I was a good girl, and kept it down to four hours of dancing a night and a moderate dosage of painkillers this year, which is why I now feel spent, whereas last year I came home feeling wrecked.

The bad news is that my ancient car's alternator is very nearly dead, and my mechanic urges me not to throw any more money at repairs. I wonder if I'd have been able to wring a summer's worth of teaching commutes out of it if I hadn't taken it on this one last interstate pilgrimage.

This is not a good time for us to have to buy a car. Quite apart from the expense (which is not trivial), there's the difficulty of cramming one more massively time-consuming and attention-consuming project into a month in which we're spending every weekend out of state. And here, I thought it was going to be a stretch to fit all the laundry and dry cleaning and packing for Seattle in around the week's worth of student appointments that I've crammed into two days. Seeing all those students and doing all those tasks while driving Dan to and from work so I can have the use of the car is going to be really tricky. There's no way I can start car-hunting in earnest until next week.

Well, this year is still an improvement. Last year, the four days of festival took me from having a minor overuse injury that annoyed me once or twice a week, to having a foot injury that left me intermittently cane-bound for six months. Given a choice between having to replace my car or having to go back to the cane, I'd rather replace the car any day of the week.

This isn't actually what my life is like, you know. We're not usually big on drama around here. I have an uneventful life: I write, I teach, I love the people who are dear to me. That's it, and I like it that way. Everything else is just...everything else. I could do with a little less of everything else right now. When people ask me how things are going, I want to be able to say, "More of the same, thank goodness."

I can't believe I'm going to be on a plane in three days. Once I'm there, I'll be delighted. I always am. Feel free to remind me of that, if you catch me looking dazed.

Comments

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's better that the car went now than when you're on the highway between tutorial stints with D at work and the stress levels rising in the heat...

I'm glad that you had so much fun at FSG, though :)

[serbrew.livejournal.com]

I am very glad that you guys made it home. *I* was skeptical. Perhaps it made it home on magickal energy :)

If you are in Seattle, perhaps get in touch with seedmoon and give him a hug from all of us. Don't know what your plans are, but it is a thought.

*Hug*

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

We're hoping to meet for dinner at least once. Last year, I didn't get to see him at all while I was out there, but the first year I went, he spent a day and half showing me around the city. He's a most excellent host. Here's hoping I can bring him the big hug we all wish we could have given him at festival.

Funny how there were so many of us at the Blue Star cabin, and yet so many of the regulars couldn't go this year. It feels so weird, being one of the old guard now, when even after a decade in this community, I still think of myself as the new kid on the block.

[shades-of-nyx.livejournal.com]

I have officially taken over the role of new kid!

[red-haired-girl.livejournal.com]

I've replaced an alternator before...It's really not hard, and doesn't take long. It'll save you a bit of money, too!

[rianders.livejournal.com]

Sounds strange to base this decision just on the alternator. Does the mechanic have a recommended replacement in the wings? Alterior motive?

[garybart.livejournal.com]

Maybe the car is old enough that if you replace the alternator, he reckons you'll then just be spending more money on fixing/replacing other parts? (You don't often hear of mechanics saying you ought not to pay them to fix your car, so I'd be inclined to take him seriously. There's nothing in this for him -- unless he's sick of the sight of your car...)

On other matters, if you need more cat-sitting done, let us know. (Is Dan going to Seattle? Maybe not.) We're done with our apartment-finding.

To help you get thru the next few days, I have a banana-nut loaf with your (= Dr. Pretentious, not rianders, who got the last one) name on it. We'll try to drop it off to you today.

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

Hooray for banana loaf! And thanks for the catsitting. We came home to a happy, vigorous beastie. citabria's got us covered for this weekend (while I'm in Seattle, Dan will be in Massachusetts doing his 150 mile charity bike ride thing), and she lives in South River.

Congrats on the new apartment. You'll have to tell us all about it.

The alternator's not the only thing the Volvo needs. The car failed inspection because the driver's side front window doesn't seal properly and is held closed with duct tape and...drum roll please!...there's a major exhaust leak. I could describe poetically the configuration of the rust and the jerry-rigging adjacent to the catalytic converter, but the bottom line is, any time you touch the exhaust system, you're looking at something annoyingly expensive. Before the alternator went, we were right at the cusp of deciding to retire the Volvo. After some deliberation, we had the repairs scheduled for next week. Last night, Mel (http://www.melsauto.com/) listened to our description of the new problem and said, "Sarah, how attached are you to this car?" It's old enough that there's sure to be a next repair to do, and it probably wouldn't be six months before the next repair revealed itself.

[jaime-sama.livejournal.com]

The apartment is right by garybart's new employer, like a five minute walk. It's a one bedroom but with a considerably larger living room than our current one. Good for having company (hint hint).

(Can I nickname the employer, in the spirit of Fair to Middling State University? "Gary's Small Liberal Arts College." Go GSLAC!)

My sympathies on the car issue. Last week I was seriously facing the possibility of replacing ours, which would also have been at an awkward time. Besides I am pretty attached to that car. But repairs turned out to be only about $450 and the car has been unreasonably reliable for years in that way that Japanese cars can be.

I have decided that one downside of not being religious is that I have no one to offer gratitude to when I get undeserved good luck, like the car NOT being destroyed. Mental note to self: don't complain about next small incident of bad luck...

Separate heartfelt gratitude goes to rianders and mischievouspie who came to pick us up on a Sunday AGAIN.

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

Sounds like what happened to me. I spent 200 on the alternator and 500 on tires and dumped the dear old car (175K mi) as fast as I could. Lucky for me, Honda Civics are so popular with the kiddies.
I guess I learned that resale value is important so that you can get the next car. And for resale value, the thing still has to run.

If you love Volvos, there's a guy in Long Valley: "Long Valley Garage" 908-876-3730. Hours Mon--Fri 730a--6p. http://longvalleyvillageassoc.com/directory.php?cat_id=2&catname=Automotive

[reynaud.livejournal.com]

It kind of sounds to me like perhaps the price of an alternator would be worth more than the whole car. Or that if you fix the alternator, you'll find out that there are seven other things that need replacements.

Dr. P., how old is this car?

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

It's a 1991 vintage, with a floral bouquet, a rich body with pepper and cherry notes, and a smooth finish.

I think you might still have been at Vassar when this car was manufactured.

[reynaud.livejournal.com]

Nah, they finally booted me after Spring '90. But damn close.

You know, I just realized that I right now a coworker who IS as old as that car?

[tracyandrook.livejournal.com]

PS if you need rides give me a call and maybe I'm free. I'd like to see you.