Because the guilty side of me insists that I update...

[hdsqrl]

*winks*

 

So, the PMS crab has hit me today and I'm just generally feeling kind of grouchy and antisocial, all of which will be gone tomorrow, so I'm looking at myself in a rather objective manner, outside myself, if you will.  I wasn't going to update today because, dammit, I just didn't want to, but now I'm faced with 45 minutes more of work-time, but my brain says it's time to go home.  To which I say, No, Because we must get our hours in early this week so we can take the necessary time off later in the week for kid-related errands.  All of which brings me to my point: I'm updating.

 

My car...is back. 

And she's happy to be home, I can tell.  Her door locks work again for the first time in a year, she's quiet when I drive and non-jerky, too, and her a/c is icy-cold, just the way I like it.  Hooray!  Of course, all of this work came to a lovely almost-$2800 bill, half of which went on credit, and the other half of which promptly drained my checkbook, heh.  Fortunately, Chris had a bit of extra that he's transferred into my account to help with bills and groceries until I get paid again.  W00t.  But, you know, really, what's the use of money anyway, if not to buy things you want, right?  So as we stood in the Honda dealership, I got to looking at the rear-wing-spoiler that hung on the wall, and as Cecile (theMightyGreenDragon) is rather plain-Jane at the moment, though we DO have plans to dress her up as soon as the weather stops being either (a) rainy or (b) hot, and as I've always-always wanted a spoiler for my car, I asked the parts guy how much it was.  $499 was the answer.  And the smoke-gray moonroof visor, that hung next to the spoiler on the wall?  $79.  Mr. Parts Guy went about the business of looking them up in his inventory, just for grins, but alas, because the car's a '98, and because Honda discontinues their parts after 5 years, none of the parts needed for my car were in stock.  Good thing, yes?  Because I don't have the money for them anyway, right?  Right.  And then he gave me the list. 

 

The list?  Yes.  The list.  The list of OTHER Honda dealerships around the freaking COUNTRY who just MIGHT have the parts I wanted.  Oh, how nice.  *looks sideways at the list*  Well, perhaps we'll just take the list with us.  You know, just in case.  Maybe we'll get rich overnight somehow.  And maybe these places wouldn't have the parts either anyway.  Right?

So what did I do today when I got to work?  I called them.  No, not all of them.   It only took about 6 calls before I located both parts.  The spoiler's up in Iowa, and since it's discontinued, the Iowa parts guy said he'd give it to me for $399 instead of the $499.  What? How does that work?  I thought if things were discontinued, they were more expensive.  Apparently not so with auto parts.  Oh, and you'll ship it?  To me?  And, what?  It'll get here maybe TOMORROW?  Okay, girls, what bargain shopper would say no?  Yeah, so I said yes, and please do, and here's a different credit card number, and thank you so very much.

 

The moonroof visor, I found locally, by which I mean, it was at a dealership up near the airport in KC.  About a 35 minute drive one-way for me to get there over lunch and pick it up.  Again, discontinued part, and the guy sold it to me for $40.  *hugs herself*  So, see?  I saved $139!  :D  What a good girl I am, yes??? 

 

Of course, all of this needs to be installed by people who know what they're doing, so I called Steve back at Lee's Summit Honda, where Cecile had spent the better part of last week getting her beauty treatments and such (and since this LJ is read by others in the area, let's hear it for Lee's Summit Honda, hey folks?  They ROCK!), and Steve set me up with an appointment for Cecile's plastic surgery (heh, get it?  Plastic?  because the parts are...plastic? Or, okay, well, one of them is fiberglass, but they don't do FIBERGLASS surgery, do they? Hah!) on a date much later this month, after I get another paycheck.

 

And yes, I realize that bills are coming in, and I have every confidence that they'll get paid, because, well, there's always savings, right?  And I saved $139, right?

 

Sometimes shopping just makes me really really happy.  :D