Hee. Let's see you try you mean.

Hey, I took gold in the state championships.

DEENA!!!! I feel like I haven't talked to you in ages. I may need to do something to fix that. Sorry about the gronk. You've been gronk-filled lately, and I'm thinking that if it doesn't stop, I'm gonna have to come kick some gronkness ass.

P-C, what Nora said. Everyone, well not those freaks who seem to have had their whole lives planned from the time they were 5, has had this freak out. Some of us even have it when we get the job. We're all, "Oh my God! I'm doing what I want to do! I'm a grown up! I am soooooo going to screw this up!"

You can do this. One step at a time. Get your materials together, ask for help, and ignore the panicked voices.

EEK! I'm so scared of my car needing about that amount of work. So, I've been avoiding taking it in. I really should get that oil changed, though, at least.

Breakdown:

checking all the systems in the first place: $70
oil change: $32

Stuff they discovered-
broken tail light: $20
replace the valve cover gasket (???) according to my notes, I could have miswritten: $180
replace serpentine belt: $145
replace air filter, fuel filter, spark plug wires (wires because the gasket was leaking on them): $195

I guess I feel better doing it in advance, because it is of the suck when that stuff sneaks up on you, and usually more expensive, because it can then fuck up other parts. Also, this way, one can control the timing and budgeting. Also, we know that the other parts are probably OK and there's that peace of mind. I feel a lot better spending this amount of money in this situation than when it's combined with the panic of the car not working, and OMG, we have to have the car by tomorrow/this weekend/etc. We really don't want to buy another car until after we get a house (at least) so it's time to sink some $$$. Sigh.

Babble babble babble!

Oh, yeah, I totally agree, Nora. I'll probably take my car in for a good checkup when I get my school loan money. But, yeah, it always tends to surprise me how much these things end up costing!

(((Gud)))

((P-C))) Freaking out right now is totally normal, Heather, Nora, etc hav great advice.

Nora - Glad you got your serpetine belt changed before it went bad, I had one break on me while I was driving and it's not anything you want to deal with in the middle of traffic.

It's a nice feeling for me, stuff like preventative maintenence and savings accounts and stuff. It's like, finally, I feel like I'm slightly ahead of things going wrong, instead of constantly trying to catch up.

Boy howdy, did I just jinx myself or what?

Good for you doing the preventive thing, Nora. IT really is better than waiting until it's an emergency. Which you seem, to have figure out, so, gold star for you.

Nora - Glad you got your serpetine belt changed before it went bad, I had one break on me while I was driving and it's not anything you want to deal with in the middle of traffic.

Yeah, I've had some belt issues that, unchecked, have actually ruined my alternator.

We're all, "Oh my God! I'm doing what I want to do! I'm a grown up! I am soooooo going to screw this up!"

Hoo boy, don't I know it. It doesn't help that I wrote the first draft of my very first science article yesterday, and it was kind of crappy and not the superultrabrilliant thing it was supposed to be. Like, maybe I should have picked something I was actually good at.

It's so great having you all here. The Buffistas are like this huge resource for that thing that is life.

For example: I am so going to screw everything up when I finally get a car. I don't know what a serpentine belt is. But it sounds cool.