Cars suck

Ok, so back when I had an overpaid dot.com job, I decided I wanted a new car. Normally, nobody buys a "new" car, you guy a 1 or 2 year old car for half the money. Silly me though, I figured I was making $52,000 a year and would likely get more at my next job, so I got a $30,000 eclipse.

That was four years ago. It's been, on the whole, a pretty reliable car. Very fast and responsive, looks nice (even though I never wash it), and even after four winters out in the snow, it's held up pretty well. Minor complaints, like the tires losing pressure every so often, or the sunroof not working as smoothly as it should.

Today, that changed. I drove off to lunch this morning, as I do almost every Saturday. My roommate has been using my car since it's reliable, and she drove to and from work this morning. After lunch, I headed to Best Buy and looked at stuff, then I drove down to the pet store to get cat food. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

15 minutes later, I put the cat food in the car, get in, and it won't start. The door light is flashing and beeping at me. My first though is, "Oh great. The stupid anti-theft thing in the store must have zapped my key somehow." After a little while, the dash lights come on dimly, but no engine turnover. Grrrrr...

I call my roommate and haver her (using her Mom's car) come rescue me. The car jump starts just fine, but all is not well. I notice the transmission slipping a bit when upshifting (it's an automatic), and as it's getting dark I flip the lights on. Bunches of dash lights come on, and the panel lighs dim and flicker. The brakes hiss (power breaks no longer power?), and I'm sure the car is about to die. I flick the lights back off and get the rest of the way home.

A friend suggested the battery might have a dead cell, which would account for it not turning over... but the other stuff is just too weird. I'm calling the dealer Monday (thankfully, I got the 5 year extended warrenty), but that is NOT how I wanted to spend the weekend before Christmas.

Oh yes, advent stuff.... todays' is yet to do, but

Yesterday: Coffee!
The 16th: Hot pink kiddie dough (smells a little more like play dough than the orange stuff)