She's dead.....DEAD....AHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!! - 7/20/06

I KILLED HER
That's right, she (the Prelude)is without a doubt, dead. No persistant vegetative state, no hospice, no d...ownstairs dusting, ....she's done. Dead. Pushin up the daisys (albeit oily daisys...ok ok Burnt Oily daisys). I must say she put up a good fight.

WHAT HAPPEN?
CEO Jayson and I were headed out to Seneca Rocks, West Virginiiiiieeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to get some totally sweet trad climbing in with our brand spankin new camelots. For some spectacularly brilliant reason, I offered to drive. We made it down I66 and I81 but after a 15 or so miles out on route 55, something didn't feel so good, and it wasn't the McDonald's hashbrowns mixing with the previous night's Taco Bell Burrito Bucket. No no. We were heading up a moderate hill when I noticed a loss of get up and go from the engine. I mumbled something resembling a curse word, laid off the gas, depressed it again, and just short of nothin. I listened to the car as we crested the hill and it sounded exactly like a go-cart engine. We pulled over and smelled something burning and that something definitely wasn't a clutch (thanks for the lesson in that one Waan!). Nothing out of the ordinary: No steam, No leaks no torn belts, nothin. So we thought it would be in our (ok my best) interest to get the car as close to home as possible and stop along the way and see if we can get a quick diag from a local mechanic. We stopped in Cityvillechestertonfield, VA (@ the intersecting of 55 and 81). The mechanic there advised us that it was in fact a misfiring cylinder and that driving on it a whole lot wasn't "a jolly good idea" (because that's how they talk in Cityvillechestertonfield). Jayse and I made it back to his place and jumped in his Tahoe because as we both agreed, not climbing was not an option and headed to Great Falls for the day.

PROGNOSIS: NEGATIVE
The earliest I could get the car to be looked at by Honda near my place was Tuesday. You can't see me but I'm totally patting myself on the back for moving forward with my Bike To Work campaign before this happened. Honda didn't get a chance to look at it until 3:30...I received the call at 4.

Honda: Hello, may I speak to James?
Chief: That's me, what's the damage?
Honda: Well, sir...I don't know how to put this.
Chief: Give it me straight doc.
Honda: Have you been driving particularly hard recently?
Chief: Hmmm....No actually! I've been babying her since her last breakdown.
Honda: Well, you see...it looks like you need a new *long pause* motor.
Chief: Awesome! She's dead! That bitch has been nothing but trouble these past 7 years. She *is* dead right?
Honda: Yea. On a compression test, where the normal pressure is 150, none of your cylinders passed. One was 122, Two was 127, Four was 125, and Three wasn't compressing at all.
Chief: I'm looking at having to buy a new car or get this one repaired. How much would you fucksticks charge for this?
Honda: I can only estimate here: $800 for a new motor, $400-$500 for misc parts--
Chief: That's not too bad---
Honda: ...and about $2000 worth of labor

OH WTF
Well after the whole MR2 fiasco (entirely different story) and a bunch of other factors, I have come to loathe the idea of getting a car. Mr. 2 showed me that the so-called curse on my prelude wasn't so much a curse on the car as it was a curse on me, conveniently timed around December of every year. Secondly, is it me or are drivers in this area getting dumber...oh wait, they are. So anything I get is ultimately going to be destroyed by most likely my curse, myself, or a Maryland driver. Also, my biggest gripe with the MR2 was that I never had an opportunity to drive it like it should. Aside from driving habits, curses, and gas prices, the biggest reason I hate the idea of a new car is a new car payment. Debt is really my archnemisis; I fucking hate it and I carry none of it. If I can't afford to have something now, I shouldn't have it now (with the exception of equity and education).

So now I am again, sans auto, and again borrowing a car...this time from Maggie. Hopefully she hasn't read last year's post from when I borrowed the Porsche. I'm torn between getting a supermondo econobox (Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, Nissan Versa) or getting a Mazda3 which now that everyone owns one, would be hilarious. So much for the promise I made to myself "No 4 door cars until your 35."