No one rides for free

I just went to get my oil changed because I had a coupon for a $17.99 oil change with complimentary fluid check, tire rotation, and the like.  Do you know how much I paid?

$282.67

It turns out that the rubber protecting my right front drive axle was gone, vanished, simply not there and eventually it would mean that I would go to make a turn and the car would go no further.  At least this is what I was told.  Sadly, cars and car parts are relegated to the realms of unreal for me; I would just as soon believe I had gnomes living in the engine emitting a magical juice that makes the car run.  Actually, I 'd prefer that - then I could attempt to bribe the gnomes with food.

Because I have no way to confirm or refute what I'm told about my car, and because I desperately need it to get around, I panicked and agreed to replace it immediately.  I, of course, was in no way prepared to shell out nearly $300 today.

Cars break down, I know. And I should be better financially prepared to deal with emergencies.

What I would rather do is just say "to hell with it" and drive the car into the ground and on that fateful day when it does make the terrible crunching noise and stops - I wish I could be the kind of person who would just leave it there, title and keys on the drivers seat and hitchhike out of town.  I wish I was the type of person who could let every material possession I have slide through my fingers like sand, never holding tight, always running free.  I wish I wasn't nostalgic, I wish I didn't look back, I wish I didn't let myself become stuck between this endless adolescence and the trappings of adulthood without the paycheck.  I wish, I wish, I wish.

But here I am.  It hardly fixes what's wrong with the car either.  Twelve years and almost 110,000 miles means things wear out and need to be replaced.  Like the breaks ($250) which are getting thin.  And the tires (no quote given) which don't have much tread left.  And the pinion is leaking oil ($400+).

All of this leaves me with a longing for public transportation that borders on religious ferventness.