So let me just tell you how God totally orchestrated my day.

I convinced Nathan that we needed to attack this mechanic together. So we both took a vacation day to get it straightened out. We get to the shop and the mechanic/owner will not be there for another two hours. I think that this would be a good time to go somewhere else and get the brake switch replaced in Nate’s truck. Nathan called multiple shops and no one could get him in until Monday. We were getting kinda frustrated. Then one of us thought about a dealership in the next town over. Sure enough, we call and they can take his truck “right now.” Cool. So off we go. I had never paid much attention to this dealership and would never have stopped there on a whim.

As we pull in to the dealership (which has a total of about 20 cars on the lot), I spy with my little eye a car that I like: a beige Altima. (Three years ago, we had a Nissan Altima as a rental car and fell in love.) We take his truck back to the service department and meander over to the car. It is perfect. 2005, woodgrain interior, power everything, controls on the steering wheel, just a beauty. I mention to Nathan that I am just going to see what price they have on it. We go into the showroom and are approached by a middle aged man in a t-shirt and shorts. Very laid back. Said he saw us looking at the car, wondered if we wanted to drive it. I explained that we don’t have a downpayment or a trade, and we are in a pinch with our other car. He explains that if our credit is good enough, we may not need a downpayment. He tells us to take the car for a spin and he’ll have a some financing options for us when we get back.

Nathan and I hop in and take it to pick up the car that is in the shop. We agree on a monthly amount we could afford. We get to the mechanic and decide to just take the car with all the repairs. I didn’t feel like I was making any headway, and I need a car. I was still unsure if we would be able to get the Altima for the price Nate and I had agreed on.

We get back to the dealership, and he has some ballpark figures drawn up for us. He shows us the office reports that show that as of today, they took $1000 off the price of the car. So we fill out some paperwork, get insurance, and meet with the financing guy. We decide on the 100,000 mile extended warranty. We see the monthly payment and as the finance guy is typing away on his computer, I say to Nathan, “Look…that’s only $2 above the limit I set!” like I was very proud of our luck. Then the finance guy says, “Actually, that was just a close estimate. I need to take $2 off that payment.” So now it’s less than $.25 over. How crazy was that! I had just said that, and he was wrong. He did not do that for our benefit, we were already sold.

So off we drove in our new car. Isn’t she a beauty?

(One day I will take pictures with my house in the background instead of my neighbor’s.)

It was amazing how many things just fell into place today. We would have never shopped at that dealership. The only reason we were there was because they had an opening in their service schedule (a repair that cost $33). The financing worked out beautifully. Insuring the car was easy and fairly cheap, since we were adding it to an exisiting policy. When I bragged that we were so close to our estimate, he had made a mistake and we were right at our estimate. I handled the bully mechanic, again, with humility and grace (although I was so angry that he treated me totally differently with Nathan accompanying me). I felt okay with paying the full amount, and that is so different than how I felt yesterday.

(I actually said, “Too much confusion!” to the kids I work with on our field trip to the bowling alley today. So I sang Watchtower the whole time…as I was outbowled by several elementary school kids with severe emotional disorders.)

Will the drama never cease? Seriously.

I always knew I was a stress eater. I use food to calm, to comfort. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve figured that out. But I guess I thought that if I knew that, then I would automatically just stop doing it. But it’s not that easy. Today’s breakfast was the usual. Then at lunch, I really (I mean REALLY) wanted pizza. There’s a new pizza place in town that reminds me of home. One of the few true Greenup County food staples. And they opened one here a few months ago. I knew they had a buffet, and figured that I’d be fine if I could get a lunch buffet to go. And I was right! I got a big salad and 2 pieces of pizza, even though the box they gave me could have held a 16-inch pizza. 2 pieces. I was so proud of myself. (Until a male co-worker who is trying to put on weight said, “Can you really eat pizza when you are on a diet?” as he ate his big, juicy meatloaf sandwich from the Fuegery.) But things went downhill from there. On the way home, my boss (and transportation) stopped at a convenient store, where I bought (and ingested) another Starbucks drink and a package of mini muffins. Horrible. Then I came home and made 2 cheese quesadillas on small corn tortillas. Not the frozen Kashi meals I have, or any of the healthy stuff I could make, but ooey gooey cheese.

I know it could have been much worse, and I appreciate and praise myself for some of the damage control I did. But the feeling was terrible. I felt so powerless to my need to comfort myself with food. It could have been much worse. Had I had transportation (Nate is in class, so he’s got our one working vehicle), or if it wasn’t very cold outside, I would have chosen Taco Bell or Dairy Queen or something similar for dinner. I actually considered walking the 2ish miles to Taco Bell, but I couldn’t remember if there was sidewalks the whole way. I wanted food. I still want food. But there’s just nothing at the house that I want.

The issue? My car. No, my mechanic. So when I dropped off the car Monday, the note said, “Please call me before you fix anything over x amount.” We’ve had several vague conversations about the state of my car. I call today to see if he has diagnosed the issue, and (tah-dah!) he says that my car is ready for me to pick up. I am initially very impressed that it was less than my x amount, but then he gives me the total. The total is more than twice my limit. TWICE the amount plus $50. It’s insane. So I go to talk to him, and my options are to pay it or to have him take all the parts back off. And considering he’s already had it for 3 days, it’s hard telling how long that would take. If he would have called me, like I asked, I would have told him not to fix it. But he didn’t. And now what do I do?

I realize that I have led a very fortunate life, but today was the first time I have ever felt that I was treated differently because I am a woman. Sometimes at work I feel like I end up doing a lot because I have a woman’s eye and I don’t have ADHD, but that’s different. Today I felt like the mechanic thought he could walk all over me, and get me to pay for repairs I did not authorize, because I am a woman. And it pissed me off. I so felt like it would have made a difference if I was a man or even if I had a man with me, based on the attitude and tone he took with me. And I don’t know what to do. Do I take a man with me to prove my point? Do I continue to try to rectify the situation on my own, realizing that I may not get the outcome I want or deserve?

Let me say, at this point, that I was nothing short of polite and then some while conversing with said mechanic. I apologized many times for the “misunderstanding” and for my “ignorance of car lingo” when he told me where he believes he got my authorization to fix my car (which is a total load of crap). I attempted to problem solve and attempt to find a compromise, but he was having none of it. So where are things? I am at home, and my car is with the mechanic. I’m going to see him tomorrow and figure this mess out. All I know is that I am not paying 2x for the work he did. I do not doubt that he did work totalling that amount. The car was very sick. I just cannot believe he did not authorize the work.

But now it’s time for Gray’s Anatomy. And I deserve it. With my big glass of ice water. And a mini York Peppermint Patty. Yeah. Take that, Mr. Mechanic.