The next thing was the big thing: Seeing if the minivan still works to my satisfaction. Last time I used it was Wednesday, when, after dealing with the door ajar indicator light and body lights coming on on my way home from work, I opened the power side door and got extremely desperate trying to get it to completely close. It didn't look as if the door was open from my vantage point of the front bay window. But as soon as I hopped into the car, and shut the driver's-side door, the door ajar indicator light was on. And when I turned on the car (and it turned on just fine), the "POWER DOOR" indicator light came on. I'm shocked that there were no lights that burned out the battery between Wednesday and yesterday/Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, it took only one try for the power slide door to open and then fully shut by itself. The less cold temperature plus the sun probably had something to do with getting it to shut immediately and for good.
I'm paranoid about looking at the thermostat for the minivan, and my eyes darted to it about every five seconds. But honestly, it was as smooth a ride this beaten down, quarter-century-old work van can be. I drove it to my storage place and then to Chipotle to pick up lunch, and it didn't overheat whatsoever. And the doors stayed locked ... well, until I drove into Chipotle. For all I know that damn door ajar light will come on no matter the temperature, but so long as I can drive the car (and I can lock the doors once it's parked), I'm not sure the doors unlocking themselves is a huge enough deal to worry about.
---
Finally, it was time for me last/Saturday night to reserve a car for tomorrow/Monday through Wednesday. I marveled at how cheap it was for a two-day rental -- only $82! -- but I didn't reserve because I didn't quite know how I felt about the minivan. It drove fine, but in the end, I wanted the sensation, and security, of a new car until (hopefully) my car is returned to me.
It dawned on me when I went back on to the car rental that there is no guarantee that the price that I saw would be the same when I finally reserved. And goddammit, they weren't the same -- they went up, dramatically, like an extra 85%. If I reserved when I saw the prices (and I should have because I could cancel at any time), I would have had to pay only, I think, $82, a savings of about 27% of the price I paid for the rental last week.
After beating myself up for reserving too late, I thought about whether or not I should reserve it at all. After all, the minivan works, and I still don't know exactly how much that fucking repair job is going to cost me. I should save all the money I can now. But ... in the end, I still can't quite trust that the minivan won't crap out on me on my way to or from work. Also, more than saving up money, I wanted to feel, yet again, like I can drive without a care in the world, and so I need, or "need," to rent a car Monday through Wednesday just to feel normal again ... and to go to the Timberwolves Game (friend got me a ticket) and, probably, to go out for coffee Tuesday night, even though I would've planned to stay home if I didn't rent a car. Finally, I found a way to defray the cost of renting it: The points I have saved up on my credit card. I don't think I have ever tapped those points to redeem something, but I am going to use them this billing cycle ostensibly to pay for most of the rental. That's the way I can justify renting a car again when the minivan probably will get me everywhere I need to go.
Mental note: As soon as I find a price for a rental care you like, I should reserve it.
No comments:
Post a Comment