Ride on.

The repair was made and the alternator was replaced. Well. On the plus side, the repair was made the same day. On the downside, he charged more for the part than needed.

On the downerside, my dad probably won’t let this go for a long time. He has a tendency to be emotionally masochistic about things he regrets. Probably where I get it from. For the next week, he’ll look up every single alternator he could have gotten that would have been cheaper. Then years from now, he’ll bring this up as if I wasn’t here to remember it. Let it go, man. It’s done, it’s over. The only reason we went to this guy is because it’s close and we could get there without stalling or a tow. Always have a close relationship with your mechanic. We do with our normal guy, Dave.

Personally, I don’t care about the damn money. After growing up and watching him be this way, I made a mental note to never give a shit about money lost. It happened, it’s over, and the van lives to see another day. Though, I do intend to still buy her a new battery. She deserves it.

I should point out I’m actually paying for the damn repair. My dad likes pointing out that the repair cost is probably less than half the value of the van. Yeah? I don’t know, things like that don’t really mean anything to me. If I get another car, that car will just have problems, too. What’s the difference? I’d rather have the shitty car I know, than the shitty car I don’t know.

And frankly, the thought of retiring the van makes me want to cry. She’s 18 years old. I promised myself I’d let her see twenty years.