A Mind Occasionally Voyaging

So, as mentioned previously, I bought a car.
This has proben to be a an expensive operation, nickel-and-diming the hell out of me. So far…

• $90 – Engine diagnostic and disposal of the old car
• $3399.00 – Purchase price of the car
• $954.10 – Taxes, Tags, and MD State Inspection repairs
• $6.96 – Wiring harness adapter
• $8.50 – Center Console Pocket (Necessary to fill the extra space in the dash left by…)
• $179.99 – New stereo to replace the old one that sucked
• $1.05 – Bandages for the cuts on my hand from pulling the stock stereo out
• -$4.23 – Found in change inside the stock radio
• $29.95 – Keyless entry fob that isn’t compatibile with my car
• $32.99 – Keyless entry fob that is compatible with my car
• $19.99 – Faux Suede seat cover for the passenger seat, since Leah sticks to leather.
• $7.99 – Steering wheel cover the day after I parked in direct sunlight and nearly defleshed my hands
• $38 – New power antenna that isn’t quite compatible with my car but which I managed to get in there anyway
• $30.98 – Performance module
• $11.58 – SD cards for the new stereo

Grand total: $4806.85

Previously, on A Mind Occasionally Voyaging…
My car finally melted away to nothing.
I’ve been driving my dad’s old Volvo since then. It’s not a bad car, or, at least, it wasn’t in her heyday. 18 gallon gas tank, which means that I only have to fill her up once a week, even with the mileage hit it takes when the turbocharger kicks in. But it’s old, and it loses two quarts of oil a week, most of which ends up on the rear windscreen. And most of the electronics are out. And there are other various things wrong with it. But it runs great, and it’s a comfy car to drive.
But it’s also just a loaner. Which is why I did something uncharacteristic, and didn’t spend months agonizing over this decision.
I bought a car. Here she is:

For those of you who do better with statistics than with pictures, here’s her vitals:
1998 Subaru Legacy Outback Limited Edition
117k miles
4-speed Automatic Transmission
2.5L H4 PFI DOHC 16V
Leather Seats
Alloy Wheels
All-wheel drive
There’s a few things I’ll miss: you can’t get automatic seatbelts any more, so I’ll be buckling up manually from now on. And the stereo has a CD player built in, so they didn’t think anyone would need a line input jack. And the controls are all small and dainty as you see on most modern cars. And the speedometer is on the left, which creeps me the hell out.
But she’s mine. Yay me.

For the third time this year, I find myself constrained to blog a bit on the passing of another treasured friend of the non-human variety. It really seems these days like nothing good can happen to me without some equal and opposite bad thing happening. Only by “equal and opposite” I mean “At least a little worse”
Aside from a brief stint in a rusted out Ford Escort, I’ve driven a Subaru all my driving life. In fact, I’ve driven a ’91 Subaru Legacy Wagon my entire driving life. Not the same wagon, mind you: Some time late in 2001 or 2002, I traded in the old red one for a gold one with less than half the miles.
If you’ve owned a Subaru of that vintage, you know that they’re tough cars. The red one lasted the equivalent of driving it to the moon and halfway back. The electrical system was pretty badly damaged, to the point that I had to run new lines directly from the battery to the headlights, and my tail lights plugged into the cigarette lighter. The door locks were shot, the air conditioner had died one day so violently that it took out the power steering belt. It also had a bad wrinkle in the fender where I’d lost control in the rain and slammed into a jersey wall. I replaced it shortly after the timing belt had gone, leaving me stranded at a Home Depot.
The gold Subaru was in much better shape. But not for long. There’s some sort of design flaw on that vintage of Subaru that results in the driver’s side ball joint breaking about once every other year. Had them replaced quite a few times. The timing belt went too once, and early this year, the windshield developed a crack. I had to have the entire exhaust system replaced in January as most of it had fallen off.
For the past few months, she’s been idling rough. I replaced the spark plug wires, and then the spark plugs. And then I bought a ratcheting offset screwdriver and turned the idle up. That made it run smoother once she got started, but it also made the check engine light come on. She got harder to start — the engine would turn over, but would die immediately if I didn’t give it gas right away. And then she started to lose acceleration. Had to push the pedal to the floor to gain any sort of speed at all.
So, last night, I took her into the shop. I was hoping that my fuel injector was going to turn out to be clogged, but something in my head told me that the solution was going to include “rebuilt engine”.
I got the call this morning at 10:00 AM. The engine has internal damage. There’s a 90 psi drop between the left and right side.
In lieu of flowers, please send motor oil.