"Driver, Surprise Me"

So last week was sorta the week from hell.

First, had a meeting at school where I was essentially told I was a crappy teacher, but was not told exactly why (still not really sure on that count). Then, was told at the tutoring job that part of my job was now housekeeping: we have to clean the tutoring center at the end of the day each day, which kinda lame.

The worst bit, though, was on the way home from tutoring. I accidentally rear-ended an SUV. Did zero damage to them, folded the hood of my car like a tin foil tent.

It got worse from there. We had to rent a car on Saturday because there wasn't a car available to borrow from a relative. That night, I forgot to put a parking pass in the rental, and it got towed.

Needless to say, I spent a good chunk of Sunday having something like a nervous breakdown. I'm pretty fed up with work stuff, and decidedly not interested in returning to the school again next year. I'm also pretty damn frustrated with myself over the car stuff, which is expensive (though not as bad as it could be, since we only have to pay our deductible on the car), and apparently we won't have our car back until sometime next week according to the autobody shop...which, of course, means we have to keep the rental car for another week.

On the positive side, I spoke with my dad yesterday and discovered that we are, unlike last year, receiving a nice tax refund this year. So hurray for that.

Going on the school ski trip on Thursday. Thank goodness the school's payin', 'cause hey, I get to go skiing.

Anyway, I really just want to get through the rest of this month. Really.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Kings of Leon, "Sex On Fire"

Misadventures Abound

So much happens in 24 hours.

The barbecue at the in-laws' place was good. Friends, family, and food are always a great combination as far as I'm concerned. We had Michelle and her sisters, Emily, Lauren, and myself all crammed around the dining room table with Michelle's parents. Good times.

Chad was supposed to have joined us, but someone decided to steal his car, so that became problematic. We're still trying to figure out why someone decided to steal his car out of the parking lot, since Dodge Neons are not really high up on the list of cars likely to get jacked (especially when there are some really nice cars and such in the parking lot of his complex. Strange but true). We spent a good part of last night cheering Chad up and getting him really, really drunk (3/4 of a bottle of decent white wine did the trick).

Didn't get much sleep last night. Maybe two and a half hours. I'd blame Michelle, but it's probably my fault for responding when she asks a question instead of pretending I've already fallen asleep. We talked until about 3:00 or so about all sorts of stuff, and then I nodded off for a couple of hours before dragging myself out of bed to face the 14 hour day I now get to go through (I hate the Tuesday night classes, I really do). Michelle apparently didn't get any sleep at all, which is just peachy.

Anyway, off to class. If I don't post again for awhile, it's because I got tired of the asshole who's teaching the course and killed him. Let me know if you're privy to any good places to bury a body.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Neko Case, "Star Witness"

Looking For A Black Cat...

Happy Friday the 13th, folks. It's pretty quiet here at school, despite the impending Soap Box Night tonight (our annual talent show). I'm participating in a couple of acts, mostly playing my guitar (once for myself, once for a fellow teacher). The students are excited, but it's still pretty low-key.

Weekend's gonna be full of stuff and goings-on. We're helping Michelle's father set up an awning thing on his deck tomorrow during the day, and we're doing the Great Music Exchange of '07 tomorrow night with Emily (the idea being that we've all got really great stuff that the others want to hear, so we're gonna do a little trading. Good times). Sunday is possibly given over to visiting with one of Michelle's friends who is in town this weekend from Boston.

Had a busy but rewarding Spring Break. Car ended up costing about $2100 overall for all the various repairs effected to it. Dad's visit went well, but it was exhausting. I saw a great concert--Sean Lennon--last Saturday and another great show--Jesse Malin--on Monday. Rock.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Camera Obscura, "If Looks Could Kill"

"Hello Cowgirl In The Sand"

Dad and Vivian left this morning to head back home. Their visit went well, despite a few setbacks:

(1) No parking available at the Springfield Metro Monday, so we couldn't go to DC then. We decided to head to Shenandoah National Park instead. Which led us to

(2) My car decided leaking all of the coolant out all over the pavement again would be a good idea. Turns out my car needs new radiator.

So we went to DC yesterday instead (Dad drove), my car is in the shop again getting repaired, and I'm going to be out another $500. Good thing Michelle's paycheck cleared overnight.

Dad's visit was good beyond that, though. We had dinner with Michelle's family last night, and her father and mine seemed to get along pretty well.

The presents Michelle bought for my birthday finally arrived in the mail yesterday. She got me some cool stuff: the first two volumes of Warren Eliis's Transmetropolitan, the two new Neil Young live archival releases (from Massey Hall and Fillmore East), and the bluegrass tribute to Radiohead (much cooler than you'd think). Dad got me a toolbox chock-full o' useful tools, such as wrenches and pliers and a hammer and screwdrivers and a cordless power drill (which is gonna be lots of fun). So that was pretty groovy.

Anyway, the day so far has been spent doing a whole lot of nothing. I think I'm going to work on organizing the bedroom this afternoon. We'll just have to see.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Neil Young, "Old Man (Live)"

"Beep Beep, Beep Beep, Yeah!"

So a conversation with the service department at the local GM dealership indicates that the problem with my car is probably not the head gasket. The guy says the intake gasket right above the head gasket seems to be our likely culprit: a repair that isn't quite as expensive as the head gasket, at least, but is still more than I'm really wanting to shell out for my car.

But it's good to know that whatever's wrong with this can be fixed. The guy is supposed to call me back and let me know exactly where we stand and give me an estimate this afternoon. We'll see how it goes from there.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Leonard Cohen, "Hallelujah"

"The Continuing Story Of Chuck's Damn Car"

So the drama becomes grander and the plot thicker: to fix the car is going to cost about $1800. Eighteen-hundred dollars we really don't have, I should add.

To say that this frightens and sickens me is to grossly understate the case.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "I'm So Tired"

"Baby You Can't Drive My Car"

The never-ending saga of car troubles has a new chapter today. Last night, we discovered that my car was once again leaking coolant. In fact, we discovered that the car was completely empty of coolant last night, possibly because it'd all ended up in a puddle on my father-in-law's driveway earlier that afternoon. So we dumped some more coolant into the car and drove it to the service station, where I left it to be worked on today. My father-in-law loaned me his van, which I proceeded to drive without any sort of iPod or CD accompaniment. This, I thought to myself, is what primitive man must have felt like, driving back and forth between his home and work with nothing but the strains of Bad Company drifting across the AM/FM waves to comfort him. It was a sobering thought.

Today we discovered that the likely culprit in the coolant leak is probably the head gasket. In theory, this is a relatively straightforward part to replace. In theory. Unfortunately, due to some bizarre way the engine is designed and set up in a GMC Jimmy, the head gasket replacement is an involved, difficult procedure that takes about 18 hours of labor to accomplish (or so claims the dealership service department guy. I still have my doubts that it could take longer than a few hours to do). At about $100 per hour of labor, this is not a cheap part to replace.

So I face a dilemma: do I pay the large short-term cost and get my car repaired, that it might continue to serve me for another year or so? Or do I say "to hell with this," trade in the car for what little I can get, and purchase a new vehicle? Admittedly, I won't be able to get much for my car if it is a head gasket. The overall cost of the new car will be a strain. But the one-time cost of the head gasket replacement is rather steep. It'll put a much more immediate strain on finances.

I honestly don't know what the right answer here is (aside from, possibly, "learn how to replace a head gasket yourself"). This whole affair is frustrating as all hell, I can tell you that much.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Beatles, "Drive My Car"