Another reason why...

I want to join the Foreign Service... cars will be the responsibility of the Automobile Pool and you wouldn't have to go through what I just went through in the past two days. About a week ago, my car started to rattle. I had some problems earlier with a hole in the muffler and went to company M looking for a fix. They fixed it for $100 and not much fuss. I took them back because I thought it was a problem that they may have not fixed too well. They said they didn't write up that there was any problem with the muffler and therefore there was no guarantee. Grrr. I had them look at it anyway because if I have any hope of passing emissions tests this year, I think I need a working muffler. They looked at it, had me look at it (like I had ANY idea what I was looking at.) Then they handed me a bill for $514 saying I needed an entire exhaust system. I was pretty upset because the car wasn't even making as much noise as the last time round. I called A and asked for his step-dad's number because he's a mechanic. The step-dad got on the phone and asked me what's wrong, talked with the mechanic and came back to me laughing. He basically said get out of there, they are trying to price gouge you. I did.

It was only this weekend that I got up to his house about an hour away. 2 days, a myriad of problems later, I have an inspected car and a spot in the poor-house. Hopefully not for long because my new job is starting on Monday!

More soon