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The lack of an entry in this month until this point is justified by my colossal output last month. Honest.

I'm writing today because I'm nervous. No, not about Liz's seasonal adjustment to her attitude about children, although that's not the most comforting thought. No, I have faith that Liz will rationally examine all the issues and decide.. well, actually I have no idea what Liz will decide, but I'm sure she'll tell me about it at an appropriate moment. ;-)

No, I'm nervous because my car is at the mechanics for the annual inspection. While the inspection is, in some idealistic ways, a good idea, I suspect that the auto mechanics welcomed it with open arms. I take the car in once a year, they tell me what needs to be done to it to make it driveable, I pay them some charming amount of money, and they put grease on it somewhere.

Of course, it's more complex than that. I hope it is, at least. It just seems like every time I bring it in, the problems they find are usually something that I can't verify on my own, since I lack the necessary knowledge. For example, the last three years running (two years? Three years? Um, lessee, got the car in October of 96, first inspection was February of '97, so '97, '98, and '99, yes last three years) they've had to do the same piece of work on the front passenger side CV joint. I had to look up on the Internet what a CV joint is, and I can't rememeber what it does, only about how much it costs to get some work done on it. The bad part is that I told someone who is mechanically inclined about that, and his eyes bugged out. He said, in an incredulous tone, that he couldn't think of what could be happening to the CV joint that would cause it to need to have the work done to it every year.

Yep, nothing like confirming that feeling that I've been ripped off. :-P

I really like to trust the various experts/specialists that I have to deal with in my life. My dentist told me to knock off drinking the soda, or she'd have to break out the drill when I came back in six months, and explained to me the one-two punch combination of carbonic acid and sugar on my teeth. I quit drinking soda. The network IS guys here say to have the virus scanner installed and make sure the DAT files are updated regularly. This is stuff I knew, and knew that I should do, so I've been doing it. The mechanic says that my CV joint needs its seal replaced. I have to sort of shrug and hand over a check for whatever amount they charge me.

So, I'm sitting in my office, waiting for the shop to call and tell me how much I'll be paying today. They haven't called yet. This is the routine I go through with this every year: I drop the car off at the shop around 7:15AM or so, go into the office, tell them what I think needs to be done (Inspection. Oil change. Whee.), give them my spare key, and head in to work (Liz drove me today. Isn't she wonderful?). About 10:30-11AM or so, the shop calls and dutifully informs me what I'll be billed today. I quietly agree, and about 2:30-3PM or so, they call back saying it's done and I can pick it up whenever. It's 1:15 right now, and they haven't called yet with their first blush diagnosis. Nothing. Nada. How long does it take to throw some darts at the "Medium Reaming Level" Auto Repair Dartboard?

That probably isn't fair. The mechanics shop is probably staffed by the most honorable mechanics you can find in the state, who won't wring extra repair work and profit out of my 12 year old minivan. Okay, it's minutely possible.

This, of course, comes at a wonderful time. You see, last night, at MacWorld Toyko, Apple debuted the new PowerBook. Wanna. A lot. But it's fairly expensive. Not that I haven't been saving, but still. Well, I guess we'll see. I should probably wait until summer to buy a new computer, anyway. Give the line some time to be used, let any bugs get shaken out, that sort of thing. Really.

Wanna.