Stupid car! (I hope it doesn't hear me)

[judy]

I came downstairs on Thursday of last week to find that my front license plate was missing. I had a lunch appointment with a friend, called her and cancelled, and then called the police.

They showed up and we found the plate, all muddy in a puddle nearby. Somebody must have hit it and it got pulled off. This is NY, and if you park in the street, and have common sense, you don't get upset by these things. I always buy used cars
so that these little things don't make me crazy. The license plate had already been split in two by previous "hits." I kept it together with a license plate holder. Going to get a new plate is completely out of the question - it's expensive, takes too long, and uses up a whole day.

I then got into the car to go to the mechanic to have the plate rigged up somehow, and the car wouldn't start. I also needed to have it inspected by 8/31 and have known for a few months that one of my brake lights was out.

Taking this all as a definite omen that today was the day to get everything done, I went directly to the mechanic. Somebody pushed it and, since it's a stick shift , it started in second gear. It needed an alternator and some other things that Ive never heard of.

The car cost me $770!!! I just put in a new clutch a few months ago too and will need am exhaust pipe soon. It is a 1997 Celica, so things need to be replaced, but that $770 I could have spent on paying off my credit card!

Annoying! And I know I'm not done yet. The car is really noisy and I'm going to need to do that exhaust soon.