Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Please don't break

Egads, no new posts in almost a month! Granted nothing super exciting has happened in the meantime (nothing ever does), but I feel somewhat obligated to write out some words.

I feel like everything I own is breaking down. Last month, my less-than-6 months-old iron broke. This was the replacement for an iron that was working perfectly well until the cord decided to fray inside and break. Now, this one turns on but doesn't heat up. Stupid piece of Black & Decker junk. Unfortunately I couldn't return it to Target since it was past the 90-day policy, so I had to buy a new one (hopefully a temporary one I can return) and contact B&D for repair/replacement. They haven't stated whether I have to pay for return shipping, but I sure hope not, because I'm relatively sure to ship a 34-pound iron is going to cost more than I bought it for.

Not long after my iron broke, I got a parking ticket for having an expired state inspection. Where I live, parking enforcement is allowed to ticket for expired plates/registrations/etc., so I was kicking myself for not paying attention to the fact my sticker expired on March 31st. I took the car in to be inspected only to be told it needed a new serpentine belt in order to pass. Rather than pay $$$ for the chain auto repair store to replace the belt, I told them to put the Fail sticker on so I could take it to another shop. (The Fail sticker means you get an additional 15 days to get the car fixed.) I bring the car home, park it in the street, and lo and behold, get ANOTHER "No/Expired State Inspection" ticket from the same person two days later. Better yet, they stuck a sticker on my window stating the car appears to have been "abandoned" because it hadn't been moved in the past four days and they would tow it.

I was livid. Given that the Fail sticker was in plain view and the original [expired] sticker was gone, it was obvious the parking enforcement officer didn't understand that the only way I could have gotten a Fail sticker was to have it inspected. Durh. Additionally, the car parked in front of mine had been parked there for at least a month without having been moved, yet there I've yet to see an abandoned vehicle sticker on that one. What the hell.

I guess I'm in a crappy mood because I'm turning 30 in less than a week and it's still stupidly chilly here. I swear the weatherman sounds gleeful when he exclaims, "Beautiful day, but temperatures are still ten degrees below average!" Thank you, Mr. Slick Hair, for informing us of the obvious. I want to wear shorts. I want to wear a sundress. I don't, however, want to wear sweaters anymore!

On the bright side, I think all this coldass, crappy weather will make me appreciate it more when (if?) it finally warms up.  :)





Post title song reference: "Real World" - Matchbox Twenty