I got my car fixed today. Dann drove me to work this morning. I called an auto repair place nearby, and they directed me to a recommended towing company, which I called and gave directions to for my car. They called me back several hours later, having diagnosed the problem: two of my spark plugs were bad. One was completely burned out, and another was only hanging on by the wires. My valves were sucking in air, and they said if I’d driven it any longer, it’d have sucked the valves right out of the engine, which would have required a complete engine overhaul, crossing the “it’d cost more to fix it than it would to get a new car” line. Fortunately, they were able to fix it for less than $300 (including towing, tax, labor, parts, etc.). They had it ready for me by the time I got off work, so I drove it home.

I’m tremendously relieved. My car simply purred all the way home. It sounds better now than I ever remember it sounding. I hope this is the last I have to deal with it for a while. I’ve just paid off my student loan, and I have a job now, so I’m trying to put some money aside for emergencies. I was hoping the emergencies would come after I had set the money aside, though, not before.

The mechanic who worked on it said it was good to go, and should last for a long time yet. Of course, that’s what the mechanic said who worked on it last month, and look how true it turned out to be. But Mazdas are known for having long life spans, so I’m hoping this time, he’ll be right. I’m just glad they were able to get it fixed so quickly; I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make it to church Sunday. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to if I had to scrap it and buy a new car. (That would have been a headache!)

Dann’s really helped me out a lot during this. He took a good bit of time out of his day off to drive me around taking care of my business. Good friends are not only nice things to have, they are positively irreplaceable.

I wish I knew more about cars and engines and things. It would make everything related to my car so much easier (and cheaper). One can only do so much, though, and I’m focused on learning computer stuff now. It’s great whenever my computer goes on the blink – I can fix it and get on without much trouble. It just doesn’t do much for my car. I guess it’s the same way with knowing medicine – you can diagnose an ailment in the family without having to go to the hospital every time you get scared about something “not feeling right” inside. Since I got to college, I’ve begun to appreciate just how nice it’s been having a nurse for a mom.