so THAT'S why they call it carma...

what did i do this weekend? (now that it’s wednesday…)

well. since you asked…

come on down bob barker…IT’S A NEW CAR!!

that’s right. I BOUGHT A CAR. *heart attack*

and bought as in BOUGHT, no payments, no mess, just all mine. *sigh* oh happy new car, how i love you.

let me introduce you: this is bonni-

and that’s bonni with an _I_ not an _IE_. these things are important. and bonni speaks with a british accent and say s things like cheerio and top notch. yes, my cars, talk, they have names, and they have personalities. my last little girl was annie- of course she was…what else do you name a red head?

so. NEW CAR.

and i have a feeling this may change SEVERAL THINGS.

let me explain: i don’t have very good luck. not luck as in “hey look, i found a $10 bill on the side of the road” but luck as in life in general going smoothly and drama free and low stress. my life is pretty much the exact opposite of all that.

i believe in karma. i believe in a balance in the world. i try to do good things. i try to keep my positive side above my negative side. i try to help others whenever i can (except panhandlers…you’re not getting any change from me!), i try to do the right thing, i try to always be honest and forthright and all that. but it seems that no matter what i do, my karma never really pulls through for me.

or so i thought.

i haven’t owned many cars. my first car was a p.o.s. 1988 GOLD (mr t would have stepped back and said WHOA) chevy beretta. it didn’t work more than it DID work- something about the starter chip and they didn’t know how to fix it and whatever. not a fan of that car. had to change out when the kiddo came along, bought a 1992 saturn sl2, drove that and LOVED it until the ex husband decided it was time to trade it in on the biggest piece of shit i’ve ever owned, some kind of isuzu rodeo that had stripped 4x hubs, a radio that had been stolen and patched back in, a starter that didn’t work, and a rear tire that had to be held shut with a bungee cord. oh my god. i HATED that car. thanks, hubby, for making sure i had a nice reliable car. fucking asshole. in the divorce, the judge gave me his truck that i had just paid to put a new engine into- a 1996 dodge ram extra cab long bed…HATED that truck too. it was a monster. impossible to get a 5 year old and a brand new baby in and out of the flip forward seats, impossible to drive, even more impossible to park. BUT, i’m realizing that’s where my good CARma started.

i took that truck after the divorce and needed to trade it in on something practical. so my dad had his buddy pick out a car for me from his lot, i drove my truck to grandview (yakima valley), and traded the beast in on my little annie. now. if you’ve ever driven to the yakima type area, you know that it’s long stretches of highway with NOTHING and the trip in total is about 3 hours depending on how you roll. i took the truck by myself, drove down, managed 80 most of the way, stopped for food/gas once, and pulled into the lot in grandview. the truck drove great, new engine was working smoothly, not a hitch along the way, never a whisper of trouble at all with that truck. it was reliable, i’ll give it that.

i pulled into the parking lot of the car dealership, parked the truck, and took my new (to me) little ford focus. easy peasy. all picked out and decided for me. well, bud (the dealer) walked over to have a look at my truck. here’s how it went:

bud: what’s that? (pointing to my tailgate)

me: um…road grime? i didn’t have a chance to wash it before getting here.

bud: that’s not road grime, that’s oil.

me: where would oil be coming from like that?

bud: your rear axle…did you have any problems?

me: not one. drove fine- did 80 down here and not even a hint of a problem.

bud: hmmm….

turns out, in the rear axle of those trucks there are 12 ball bearing in the whatever dealie thing that makes the read end work- differential maybe? not a car girl. anyway…out of those 12 ball bearings, 8 were ground to powder, 2 were shattered, and only 2 were left in good condition. they had to tow the truck across the street to the repair shop because they couldn’t even move it off the lot. umm…HOW DID I DRIVE IT THREE HOURS? how did i stop for gas and food and manage to keep going? how had i been driving it for weeks before that? WHAT THE HELL?

score one for good CARma.

so. i had my little 2002 ford focus to replace it. things were good for a while. that little car did a LOT for me. drove her for 6 years. the last 2 years she’s been getting tired. my dad was set that i needed a new one. every time i talked to him he told me i needed a new car. every trip to his house he would clean her, check her over, and remind me that i needed a new one. he and my brother were going to help me pick one out for my 30th…much like vegas with dad, that never did and never will happen. but i knew it was time for a new car, with or without dad. i’ve been shopping for a long time. i’ve been doing research, looking at what i like, tracking consumer reports, prices, used cars, everything. i knew eventually my little girl would need replaced. the last two years she’s been making some pretty strange noises- every time i would hit a bump or a pothole in the road she would chatter pretty good. i’ve had les schwab check her out the last three times they changed the tires- everything looked good to them. i had a mechanic friend drive her and check her out- i was just making up the noises and the problems. but i knew she was getting tired, i knew she was running rough. i knew the transmission fluid needed changed, the air filter sensor was throwing an engine error light, the rear struts needed changed, there’s a few dents and dings on her (not too bad), she was getting tired.

so. it was time. i shopped, test drove, haggled, had a nervous break down, and finally bought a new car. thank you dad- you helped me get a new car, just in a very different way. i was able to take part of his estate and just pay cash for a new car. no worries about payments. no worries about anything mechanical for 8 years (or 100,000 miles), brand new, all the bells and whistles maintenance/road side assistance/safety wise (EIGHT airbags up in there people. EIGHT!). a GOOD, reliable, safe new car that isn’t making any strange noises.

there was some talk for a short while about the then boyfriend taking my little red car to drive. but we all know how that worked out. so NOW what do i do with a second car? i asked a mechanic friend if he wanted her, free and clear, to fix up and sell. whatever he makes can go in his pocket. i know she needs work and he’ll have to pay out that way. i wouldn’t have gotten much trade in wise- so this just worked well.

so. he took annie on sunday. and drove her. and complained about how rough she was running and all the strange noises she was making. YOU THINK? shit…i’ve been saying that for years and he told me i was crazy!

come to find out, he took some time to look over her yesterday- there’s a ball joint type thing in the front of the car that’s (from my understanding) the car version of a truck’s u-joint (i know what THAT sounds like when it goes out). the ball joint is almost completely separated. NOT GOOD. so. basically, like with the truck, he has no idea how i’ve been driving her around this long. he said it was BAD up in there.

so. turns out my CARma was working. it was keeping my car running…as much as possible. TWICE my carma has pulled through that way.

so. here’s my theory: now that i have a good, reliable, brand new car, my karma can return to normal things and maybe life will level out in other areas for a while. it can change back from CARma to karma and maybe other good things will start to happen.

here’s hoping…