Taco Bell, Jim & A New Battery

Well, I know I ended the last entry on a rather peculiar note but I wanted to break up the stories over a couple of entries, as opposed to one long lengthy journal.
So when I last left off I was in Vermont. After watching the sunset in Vermont I decided to get out of Vermont. It was after nine when I got on the freeway and around eleven o' clock when I needed to alleviate at myself from all the water I had drunk in the last few hours (I guess that's the nice way of saying I had to pee). I was lucky enough to find a Taco Bell off the freeway that was open to 1AM (too bad it was a Taco Bell and not a Del Taco)..

When I got back to my car I was feeling good and pumped to drive (you can thank the large coke I bought for that one). Yeah, I am ready to go....Too bad my car wasn't. After putting my keys in the ignition my car did not start. Now I wasn't as concerned since the same thing happened to me while I was in St. Paul, so I just figured it was just another random freak occurrence. Unfortunately, I soon realized there would be one major difference between what happened in St. Paul and what was happening now- this time my car WOULDN'T START. Oh, need to fear I have a cell phone and can call my roadside assistance- I don't think so. I did not have cell phone service the entire time I was in Vermont. Apparently my Cingular Wireless
plan does not have signals in Vermont. Luckily, the Taco Bell had a pay phone outside so I just had to take my information and travel a few feet to the pay phone outside...

I called the road side assistance that came with my car (for what I thought I was 7 years) but guess what the lady on the other end of the line informed me that my coverage expired after 36,000 miles and I was currently at 52,000. Now as you can imagine I was rather infuriated especially considering the fact I was going to buy AAA before I left just as an added protection but my mother assured me that it would not be needed because I had the same policy with Ford. Ugh.... Oh, but the women on the line told me should could give me the number of tow services in my area- too bad I had no idea where the hell that area was.

I hightailed my way back into Taco Bell asked the young kid where the hell I was and if he had a phone book I could borrow (and I really mean the kid was young. Have the child labor laws really given way to rules that allow 12 year olds to work at midnight? Okay, so maybe he wasn't 12 but he looked it).

Well, I'll spare you the details of all that transpired on my fateful Vermont evening (as I am at Kinko's and as you know they charge astronomical fees to use their damn computers) but here is the condensed version. I had to be towed to a Mobil station but since it was after midnight no one could work on my car until morning so I had to stay at the station until the morning when they could look at my car. Come morning Jim (the mechanic- or so he claimed to be) informed me it was my battery.

Let's cut to 11AM if you will. Jim has just finished my car and I am all set to go. One problem on my end- this entire episode cost me $300. Yes, you heard me. They charged me $85 to have my car towed and $50 to keep it stored at the station, $125 for the battery and he gave me a deal with the labor because he knew I was trying to make money and not spend it. Oh, wasn't that kind. If he was looking to be nice maybe he could have started by not charging me such astronomical figures in the first place. I don't know if this is how all stations are but it's not like I could necessarily take my car somewhere else. Needless to say after all this I was not exactly in the greatest of moods.

I suppose I should have expected such setbacks and could have even planned for them. But the truth of the matter is I went with a limited budget and didn't have the money to put aside for such problems. I am drowning in student loans (I pay more a month in student loans then I do when I pay rent. Yeah, the almighty education system) and other bills. I had planned my trip for two months as that is as far in advance I could pay all my bills for.. What will become of my trip?