A little back story: during the early parts of July I was more or less happily doing my ride share driving. As I was returning from Hollywood/LA, traveling south on the 57 Freeway I encountered road construction that moved me toward the center lane. Once in a while, depending on how long the construction zone is CalTrans might leave an opening to exit between zones. I mistook two downed construction cones for just such a possible exit at Imperial Highway. The resulting damage to my car from hitting the aforementioned cones at 70mph effectively totaled it. It’s here where I’ll insert almost two months of trying to get the car repaired
Fast forward almost two moths and I’m in the process of getting a new car. As much as I loved my old car, it had to go. And here comes the metaphor. I can picture my car, if it had consciousness, essentially saying to me. “Oh, so you think it’s that easy? Ride me hard for 5 years, use me and then just discard me? I’ll show you!” The day I got my pink slip, the day before I would’ve sold my old car I severely break my new one. And my old car soldiers on. Oh, it blows out a front tire and loses a headlight to spite me but keeps on going as if to say, “I will no longer go on pretending everything is okay. If shit breaks down, too bad!” I’ve had people and jobs do that to me. Just like my car. Because like it or not, not matter how long it takes, that new car is *still* going to take the place of the old one not matter what kind of loyalty the old one showed. The cost of it all went well beyond the price of fixing the new car however. I was unable to drive during some of the best paying days of the year. No driving during the OC Fair or the LA County Fair. No driving during Halloween. I literally lost thousands of dollars and only now, late into November, might I start to make a comeback.