Jetta Journal

My car has been making a funny noise for several months but I figured it was just the particular kind of tires I have. Then, about a week ago, it started get much worse and finally it got so loud that my usual fix for funny noises in the car didnt work. That being, turning the radio up which is similar to the black tape over the “check engine” light fix or the never drive west in the evenings fix for the broken sun visor.

I found myself thinking that I just wasnt in the mood to spend money on the car. I spent all week convincing myself that the noise didnt bother me and I could live with it. Then, I remembered something from some distant episode of Car Talk where those guys were talking about the sound a wheel bearing makes when it wears out. My car sounded just like that. Then I remembered them saying that it is dangerous and that if it isnt taken care of, the wheel could fall off, on a mountain road causing one to fall of a cliff and die a fiery death. EEK!

I went to my neighborhood mechanic this morning.

There is a very friendly guy who works reception there and maybe he fixes cars too. His son was hanging out with him today and it was really cute. He put the son to work washing the windows and the kid, who was about eight, started using about a half of a roll of paper towel per square inch of glass he was cleaning. I had to chuckle because I used to do that too when I was exploited for my child labor by the evil parents. I also remember washing windows at a rate of about one per hour which was a pace approximately equal to the pace of this young boy. The father walked by and I swear he uttered THE EXACT SAME WORDS my mother used to say to me, “Jesus Christ, STOP wasting the G[mumble] D[mumble] paper towel!!!”

They inspected my car and gave me the bad news Yes, one of the wheel bearings was worn but the breaks were in bad shape too. Total cost of repair: $512. Less than I expected but just about all that I have. Oh well, better to be broke for a week than dead because a wheel fell off while I was driving on a mountain road with cliffs prone to turn ordinary car crashes in fiery deaths.