Today, in a parking garage, my car would not go into reverse, and a nice man had to push me out of a dead end--wishing me luck getting home. I was on my way home from the audiologist--after the super interesting hearing test--it was cool! I parked in the parking garage across the street from the building--and there was an exit for doctors only. I inadvertently tried to exit that way. When I realized what was happening, I put it in reverse, and NOTHING HAPPENED. NOTHING HAPPENED. It was so weird. There was an annoyed driver behind me who essentially stomped off. Then I put on my flashers, and the next gentleman was kinder, and told me to put it in neutral, and pushed me out of the little dead end I was in there, in the garage. He said--can you put it in drive? I said yes--he said, well, put it in drive and go home--just don't put it in reverse!
Then, with much trepidation, I drove out of the garage--and headed to Mopac. That was a bad idea--the car just felt super weird. The acceleration was not good--I went the wrong way on 38th, and ended up in a kind of sketchy neighborhood, looking for a mechanic to just drop the dang thing off at and Uber home. It was five--and my day had been long...I was driving around looking for a mechanic and GPS was telling me there was one--and I was yelling at her--WHERE?!
You know what that kind of day is--it stinks. I am fairly certain this is a big repair--probably transmission repairs that will cost a lot. The good news is, I really wanted to get a different car--this may be the thing that pushes us over the edge. The nice part was the Uber ride home--it was with a great guy named Jaime, who had emigrated from Cuba about four years ago--we talked about cars and how much we loved Texas over Florida. He was a delightful driver and was planning on getting his truck driving license (Class A?) because there is such a demand for over the road drivers and he enjoys it so much. Riding with him was so wonderful--it was like a reset, reminding me how awesome I have it--and how delightful life is. Jaime reminded me of it, and for that, I thank him.