$mall Victorie$

Anyone who's perused my tags will see "money" far up toward the top, along with "worries," "religion," "Wally [my son]" and "Carl [my husband]".

Do quotes go on the inside or outside of brackets??

Anyway...

Got my stupid-ass car fixed today, again, and yes, it cost me a barrel of money. But I had enough at the ready not to have to worry about (or apply for) credit.

I need to give substantial credit where it is due -- to a very random act of great kindness from a stranger at the repair shop. As I stood at the counter, being told that if all the shop's wildest dreams came true and I said yeah, go ahead and fix everything, it would cost about $1600 ... to which I replied that I needed to focus on passing my emissions inspection so I wouldn't have to take time off from work to go to court and pay a fine ... to which they said that bit of work would cost me about $500, to which I said, silently to myself, "Shit," the woman at the next register nudged my elbow and handed me a coupon for 10% off any service. Just like that. I said thank you, still thinking all my thoughts of fiscal doom, but when he recalculated, it turned out that with the coupon I would have exactly enough (split between two bank accounts) to afford the job. Once I agreed to the work, I went back to the waiting room, but it occurred to me I ought to say thank you to the woman a second time, which I did. She saved me from having to cry in front of Manny, Moe and Jack.

And the "check engine" light is off, finally. Once back home, I had to go into Microsoft Money and rework all my bills, pushing back anything that allowed late payments for a surcharge, such as the mortgage. I still have to borrow ten bucks from Carl and get the car re-inspected during lunch on Monday, and once again I can forget about new clothes, jewelry or makeup probably until at least next September, but as it stands today, I will most likely not feel the urge to get roaring drunk. Which is good, because there's no alcohol in the budget.