Last month I took my car in for an oil change and to have the mechanic look into why the car was shimmying and seizing when accelerating uphill. It needed new spark plugs and a transmission flush. Not cheap, but if it gets me through another summer, it would be worth it.

Bah. In the last two weeks the car has started to rattle loudly when idling and squeaking when the wheels turn. So back to the shop it went, but of course it wasn't due to shoddy work on the previous trip (which I didn't think it would, because Butch at Fred's Auto Body is a nice guy). No, it's a possible timing chain issue...'possible' because to make sure, they'd have to pull the engine or whatnot (I'm not a mechanic, I don't know the anatomy of a car) and that's $150 right there. Of course, paying that much to see what's wrong and then not fixing it is silly, so I would have had to pay a lot to fix it, which I elected not to. I think it's to the point where I can't put any more money into that car and feel good about it, because I'm reasonably sure I've put more into the car that it's worth in the four years I've been driving it.

The teal Saturn is 14 years old, so I guess it deserves a break. But I'm dreading buying a new car. My dad really wants me to get a new one, so I can get deals or whatever. We stopped by a Toyota dealership last night for a look at what's out there. There was a green '03 Prius hybrid (Green! Hybrid!) that I theoretically could afford, but it has pretty high mileage. No luck there. I don't have a lot of cash, and no more time this week to go looking, and I'll be busy this weekend so it will be next week before I can spend more money. Guess that's a good thing. I don't get paid until Friday

Wish me luck on the car issue. I don't like being without one, but thank God I live near the Metrolink and can take the train to work.