Who brought the tank?

Yesterday, on my way to my 2nd day of work, my car, a kindof beat-up 1990 Saab 900, turned into a tank. I was driving along on the Mass Pike when I heard a mighty engine roaring. I turned my head to stare at the car coming up on my left because his car was so freaking loud. Then I realized that MY car was, in fact, the one that was so freaking loud. I drove the rest of the way to Watertown and called the Saab dealership. They said that they could fix an exhaust problem in about an hour and a half so if I could get it in by 4pm, they would work on it. So, on my second day of work, I asked my new boss if I could leave early. Quite impressive of me, eh? Anyway, I got it to the dealership where they looked at my exhaust system and said they would love to help me but the entire thing was completely welded together and all new parts would cost $1900 (as opposed to just the pipe that was actually broken which would've only cost $300). Well, the car is probably not even worth $1900, so I asked if they had any suggestions. Midas. That was the suggestion. So, I got back into my tank-like vehicle and drove down the road to Midas. When the mechanic there lifted up the car, he, too, discovered that the entire exhaust system was welded, but he had full confidence that he could put in new clips and pipes and muffler, all for the bargain price of $470. What could I do? Today, my car sounds as quiet as it ever has and I may put off buying new bedroom furniture for a few weeks!

In other house news, I laid a linoleum tile floor last night with the help of my favorite home-repair guru, my mom. Whew! It was much harder than it looked like it was going to be (why was I surprised by that?) but we managed to get most of it down, enough so that we could take a shower and get out without sticking to the flooring that was there when we pulled the old tiles up. Joe bought a new entertainment console, so our living room is coming together. Now, if we could just find a roommate and move the rest of our stuff in, I would be a very happy homeowner.

In more important, personal life news, Bryan returns from his week-long road trip tonight and the day cannot go by fast enough until I leave work to pick him up at the airport. Luckily, I have a smooth, quiet ride to meet him at the curb.