the shape of things to come

If I had continued doing the Medical Transport job, my car’s warranty would have run out weeks ago, and that would have been a very bad thing, because my sunroof is leaking a bit, and I would have had to pay to have it looked at. My car is in the dealer’s shop today because when I got in it last Thursday or Friday, the A pillar on my side of the car was dripping on my leg. A year, or year and a half ago, the sunroof’ s drain lines were replaced under warranty because they had been "crushed or mis-installed" at the factory. To show leakage again, well, it’s a good thing I have a couple thousand miles left on the 36,000 mile warranty.

If no jobs open up soon, and I have been making applications, I will not be able to keep the car, because I can’t pay for it. Life will get even more restricted very soon. I may waste that two bucks and buy an Oregon Megabucks lottery ticket for tonight’s drawing, and I may not. Two dollars is two dollars, and might possibly be more wisely spent on something else, but desperate days inspire desperate measures. The dealer will need an indeterminate amount of time to see where my sunroof is leaking, so I may be without the car for more than today, and that looks like the shape of things to come.

Sigh. I lived for seven years, after the car wreck in the previous entry, without a car, so I know it can be done, but using the bus adds hours to the day and is money up front to ride the damn thing anyway – the Caliber gets even better mileage with the new spark plugs in it, so a tank can last for all week, if I don’t drive too much. The transport job was putting 800 miles a week on the car – over a hundred dollars of gas money, and not only was it looking to "use up" the warranty, it was using up the car and dirtying it up inside – not all the people I picked up were the cleanest of people. It wasn’t worth it, and paid less than minimum wage, after expenses and taxes, so I quit after five weeks of it.

The ad I answered on Craig’s list said that drivers could expect a minimum of 100 dollars a day, but when the third paycheck came, for $246, after 800 miles of driving, I said "I’m outa here" and put in my notice. It is an important job, but years ago, it was "privatized" which tends to mean the people who actually do the job get paid shit and the managers make out like bandits.

Fuck that noise.

I don’t know when or if the next job will come along, so being without the car is a foretaste of the life to come.

It’s hard to be excited about the prospect of losing the car.

*****