eirian84's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F*cking New Car - & the Concerns So. I just wanted to write about what's been happening to me lately, and what's probably to come. Or whine about it, whatever. Saturday, we went down to a promotional thing at a car dealership. & ended up getting a different car. I hesitate to say "new", because technically it's pre-owned, and 2 model-years old (making it an '05). But it has like, 49,000 miles on it (I think; is that pretty good?), & it's a (wait, let me try & get this right) Ford FZ4... I think. Anyway, the thing is fucking AWESOME, with an MP3 CDplayer, & radio controls by the steering wheel. Our old car was a 1991 Pontiac Grand Prix. A list of problems with it: The tires kept going flat (but that's 'cause Mom always got used tires 'cause they're cheaper); The driver's side window was a bitch to roll back up (it was a manual crank; the Ford has automatic!), especially during winter. You almost had to break your arm turning it, which made drive-thru a pain in the ass; the radiator leaked (radiator? it leaked antifreeze, that's all I know); the power-steering leaked; & it probably needed new... I don't remember what they're called. But there's like 3 of them, we had 2 replaced, & apparently they usually go all at the same time. The radiator has leaked before, & we got it replaced once. But then we moved, & it started leaking again. I strongly suspect that it had to do with our driveway; it slants up kinda steeply, & the car had a very low carriage (? I am not a car person), & I think it scraped if you drove into the driveway too fast, or even at the wrong angle. Plus, our town is full of little dips (& not-so-little dips) @ certain intersections, so I was always going too fast over those. Fuck, this new car is nice. AND IT HAD BETTER BE! I now have, like, $75 a month to live off of. I don't remember if that means buying groceries with that money; I think it does. Which means I'll have like $20 a month that's just mine. & I just got Netflix, & Napster, & together that's... like, $30. Urgh. Anyway. I got a loan from the bank, & honestly, I think the hardest part is going to be buying the license for the car. It's almost $900. We have until the first of 2007, though, & if I don't pay my mom rent this month, I can get that much money. & if I have to, I can work some extra hours at work (though I'm loathe to. If I have to, I may just go in for a half-shift.) Then, after we get the license, I'll have like, $0. The first bank payment is the 16th, but he said the bank gives you a 10-day leeway on the first payment, in case it doesn't arrive on time. So if we wait until almost the 26th, I'll get paid again, & be able to pay it. Now, I don't like talking actual figures with other people. I don't want them thinking I'm bragging, or complaining, or whatever. I only do it with my mom (who gets some of my paycheck & is a whole lot better with money than I am), & Kim (who knows I'm not bragging, just venting.). But here's the deal. My mom just got a new job, making at least $2 less an hour than at her old job, & apparently, her boss has her working like, 38/39 hours a week, instead of 40. So, she needs the money I've been giving her, more than ever. I've been giving her $250 out of every paycheck (I get paid every 2 weeks.) My paycheck is about $460, give or take maybe $20 (I honestly don't know; it goes straight to my checking account, & I rarely look at the paystub). So, $460 minus $250 is... $210. The bank loan payments on the car are $272 a month. Oh. So, if I get paid... If I get paid twice a month, then I should have $420 a month, & then minus the $272 I'll have... (I have to get scratch paper; I suck at math)... $152. Which, I'll have to buy groceries, & pay Netflix & Napster, but still. Either I'm missing something that I should be paying, or Mom was overreacting about how tight everything is going to be. I'm probably missing something. I usually am (& it's usually my mind, but we won't go there right now.) But. Back to my whining. Until at least February, I'm gonna have no money. & I haven't bought Kim a Christmas present yet. I don't even know what to get her. I got a Christmas bonus of $100 from work, but it's in Chamber checks, so it can only be used at local businesses. I don't know. Other than the general "she likes turtles & monkeys", I don't know what she'd want for Christmas. I know what I want for Christmas. I was planning on getting a 3-in-one printer, scanner & copier. My old printer won't work with Windows XP (wanker), & I've wanted a scanner for ages, because I can't draw with a mouse for crap. Or, if not a scanner, maybe a Wacom tablet. Or one of those tablet notebooks. Plus, Mom just told me that, because Microsoft doesn't have anything new out in time for Christmas, all the stores are marking down their electronics (due to all the sales they usually get from the new Microsoft product), so laptops that are normally $1200 or so, are being marked down to about $600. G-O-D-!-! & I'm going, "Toshiba tablet notebook, seriously!" & now I'm going, "I'm poorer than Tiny Tim! And I'm not fuckin' happy when I'm poor!" Oh! I know what I'm missing! Insurance! But apparently, it only went up by like, $20/$25 (I don't remember which), but Mom's not sure if they added another driver to the insurance. On the old car (which belonged to her), she was the only listed driver. But this car is in MY name. And since I'M paying for it, and since she's walking to work now ('cause it's like 3 blocks away) & I'm the only one driving it, it's MY car. She said in a few months, when money isn't quite so tight, she'll check if we're both on the policy. But fuck if I'm gonna get in an accident, anyway, in my fucking nice car, so... Sorry I'm cursing so much. Been reading too much HP fanfiction (Draco's a potty-mouth, apparently.) So, I'm all worried about making enough money, & maybe working some extra hours, & WHAT HAPPENS? I GET SICK! Stomach flu. Fuck me running. Normally, when I get sick, I throw up about once an hour (I mean, you can set a clock by it most of the time), & after I throw up, I feel absolutely fine - until about 5-10 minutes before I throw up again. Not this time. This time, I figured I threw up 5 times in less than 3 hours. And it went on like that, from just before noon, to about 9 o'clock that night. We'd been planning to drive to Lincoln (in my fucking-new-car; ha, I should name it that), & meet Kim to eat @ Olive Garden; but finally I'm like, "I don't think I can go." 15 minutes later, I'm praying to the porcelain god. I do not like this god; he is not a benevolent god. I did get to see (most of) the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix behind-the-scenes stuff. Some of it I just heard from the bathroom, but that's okay. It was great. Anyway (HP sidetracks me a lot), so I missed work Monday night. I wasn't actually throwing up or having diarrhea anymore, but I couldn't really change position without getting a monstrous headache; one of those "the blood's rushing to my head" sort of ones, where it feels like you're brain is going to explode, & it's going to come leaking out of your eyes. (lovely image, I know). So, no work. &, I had Tuesday night off. I have to work tonight. I'm thinking I'll either work a whole shift on my Saturday off (we get paid a dollar extra an hour on the weekend), or I'll work a couple of half-shifts to make it up. If I worked 2 2-630 shifts, I'd get 9 hours. But if I work Saturday, I'll get a dollar more an hour, which is $8 more. Actually, 9 hours would be better. Back to my fucking-new-car. It's red. And shiny. I mean, it's sparkly, y'know? Not a bright, candy-apple-red, but very red, nonetheless. I named her Red. I keep thinking of Willow from BtVS, though. Spike always called her Red. Anyway. I like Red. Sounds like the name of a fast car. A nice, comfortable, fast car. 11:05 a.m. - 2006-12-06 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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