Yesterday’s entry was titled “You Are Not Gonna Believe This”. I wish I had saved that title for today. I mean, yesterday was just a continuation of the accident. Sure, I had car trouble, but, you know, there was an explanation. I hit a curb. Did some damage to the front end. It didn’t look bad, but apparently was. It took a month to fix. That, by itself, was stretching the limits of credulity. After all, it was only a low concrete curb.

So when I picked it up and it didn’t run right, after all that time, I was pissed. When they said they might not even get to it until Friday, I was livid. But what choice did I have?

I called them today at 3pm to ask if, by some miracle, they had gotten to it. And lo, they were working on it at that moment.

“The technician is diagnosing it right now. He has been for some time. I’ll call you back when we have any news,” said Steve the Service Guy.

Some time now? That can’t be good, can it? It’s been in the shop for the last month. It drove yesterday. It can’t be that bad, can it?

Oh, yes, it can. And here is where it goes from incredible to surreal.

Steve calls back at 4:30.

“We’ve diagnosed the problem. We don’t think it’s accident related, but it will be covered under warranty. It has a blown head gasket.”

A blown head gasket. Just about the worst thing that can happen to a car. A car I bought less than 2 years ago.

“Head gasket?” I chuckled, my mind blown as well.

“Yeah. I don’t see how it could be accident related. It is quite a coincidence.”

You have a gift for understatement, Steve.

“I don’t think it will be ready until Tuesday. It could be Monday, but I don’t want to promise that. Better count on Tuesday.”

Another weekend without it. I’m clinging to that word, “warranty”. As long as I don’t have to pay for this, I guess I’m happy. Better than it blowing up on the highway somewhere.

Steve went on to point out that the warranty didn’t cover a rental car, but he could let me have one for a day, that was the best he could do. I thanked him, but declined. A car for one day out of five isn’t going to help that much. But it was the most anyone has offered me over the last month, so I appreciated the effort.

Tuesday will be five weeks since the accident. Almost a tenth of a year. I am having a hard time keeping this in perspective.

In other news, I received the check from the dental insurance today. $67. I think I’ll use it to get drunk.