Still Losing My Mind

Oh my fucking lord, what a week it's been. First of all, I was so happy to have all my car problems taken care of on the 3rd. Well, on Monday, the 8th, I went out at lunch to run some errands and when I pulled back in at work, I thought I saw out of the corner or my eye exhaust or smoke or something coming up out of the hood on the passenger side. I took a direct look at it and didn't see anything. I figured it may have been a heat mirage since it was so hot, but I also noticed that the interior of the car smelled like exhaust, which I had attributed to a gigantic truck that really had no business being on local roads at all that I had followed most of the way back. I shut the car off and turned it back on, and didn't see anything. I shut it off, got out, looked at the trunk, didn't see anything, felt it, and it was cool. I went in and didn't think about it again. However, on the way home I again started smelling exhaust even though there wasn't a truck in front of me. I still chalked it up to a large SUV in front of me, which was more a reflection of my thoughts about them than the reality of the situation, and switched the air intake to recirculate instead of drawing it in from outside, and the smell went away. However, on the way home, and all day Tuesday, I kept thinking I was seeing smoke or something out of the corner of my eye, but every time I looked at it directly, there was nothing. Wednesday coming home it got much worse, so when I got home, I walked in front of it again, and this time there was a nasty brown fluid gushing out of the front grill, but only on the passenger side. So, my companion and I got up early the next morning and he followed me back to Car-X. When I pulled out of my spot, I noticed a huge puddle where I had been parked. I got to Car-X fine, there were no lights on or anything, although this is the kind of thing where you can drive for a week with no problem, then all of a sudden when you're in the middle lane of a three lane highway, the check engine light comes on and the car dies 5 seconds later, which is why I wanted it looked at right away. I told them the problem, gave them the keys, then my companion walked to the el station and I drove his car to work. I got a call around 2 and they said that they apparently had not tightened the seal on the oil pan, or wherever it is they put the oil. when they had changed the oil last Wednesday and that's what was leaking out. That would explain the smell and the smoke. They rechanged the oil again, tightened the seal, cleaned out the mess, and didn't charge me for it. I stopped by after work, but my companion was swamped and couldn't meet me, so I picked up the key and went home. I had to see clients at 8, but my companion picked me up after at 9 and drove me there and I drove the car home, no problem. I even stopped at Taco Bell. Well, Friday morning, I pulled out of my parking spot and noticed another puddle, which I attributed to excess oil working its way through the engine. I got about a mile and a half away and stopped at a red light. When the light changed, I pressed the accelerator, and the car kind of shuddered as it started going, like it was trying to get traction, which was strange because the road wasn't wet. I did a mental "huh" and kept going. I got to another red light, stopped, and started when it changed no problem. However, at the next light, which, thanks to the brilliance of Chicago's street designers, was only about 10 feet away and still managed to be red, the car again shuddered as I started. I figured I'd have it looked at during lunch at the Car-X by work. Well, I got about halfway down the block, and traffic came to a halt. I stopped, and the whole car started violently shaking. I shifted into Neutral and it was ok. Traffic started again, and it shook when I started but then was fine. However, traffic again stopped for no apparent reason a few feet later and again the car shook violently. So, I figured I would stop at the Car-X at Western and Foster and have it looked at. However, getting into the Car-X requires making a left turn off of Foster onto Western, and the light is a red light camera light. It was green when I got there and there was one car turning left that was already in the intersection. I pulled up behind it and it made the turn. The light was still green, so I pulled into the intersection, but had to wait for oncoming traffic. The light then turned yellow and I started to get a little nervous as oncoming traffic seemed not to care that it was about to cost them $95 (what a fucking scam/rip-off the city has going), and continued to fly through. I couldn't turn because they would have plowed right into me. The light turned red and I was still stuck in the middle of the intersection and couldn't turn because I could tell one more oncoming car was going to run it. I had to wait, and sure enough he ran it and the flash bulb popped, and then I was able to turn. So, if I get a fucking ticket for that, I am tracking down the driver of that car and someone is going to die. What was I supposed to do, start turning and just let him plow into me? It turns out, that actually probably would have been the preferable course of action because then I could have gotten a new car. I pulled in to Car-X and let them take a look at it. I called my boss and left him a voicemail explaining the situation (fortunately he never cares at all about things like this, although I did feel bad that I had gotten a late start and it was already 9:05, which meant that even had this not happened, I wouldn't have been at work until 9:45 or so). The guy then came back out and handed me a sheet of paper and stated that the fuel injectors all needed replacing. One was dead and the other three were pumping minimal fuel into the engine, which is probably why my fuel efficiency had suddenly seemed to shoot way up over the past couple of weeks, and it was a miracle I had been able to drive there without it dying on me somewhere. The bare minimum work necessary to make it driveable again was going to be almost $1000. Now, those of you loyal readers know that I am going on vacation to Europe on Friday. I don't have 1000 fucking dollars to spend on car repair, and even if I did, that's one quarter of the down payment I want to put down on a new car. I called my dad and asked if I should have it done or should we get someone to tow it to a junk yard, sell it for scrap, and go car shopping that afternoon. It was a little earlier than I wanted. I want to save up a little more to get that $4000 for a downpayment to come out of my mutual fund rather than pulling it out of savings, and I need to join the credit union at work to get the best priced loan, and I don't want to get a new car just before winter and have to drive it through salt, slush, and ice right away, and the beginning of the quarter is the worst time to buy a new car since there's no bargaining power. However, I now have no trust in this car whatsoever. He convinced me to have it done, for most of those reasons (I don't have the financing set up yet and it's the wrong time to buy), and said that as long as it's running, I should get $800-$1000 in trade in value for it, as opposed to $100 if I junked it, so I would at least get my money back that way. Since I hadn't really been counting on getting any trade in value for it, I was able to accept that, although I still now have no money for the trip. I'm going to be sitting in my friend's apartment for 10 days watching Czech TV and then go to London, sit in the hotel for 8 hours, then go see Billy Elliot, and then go back to the hotel until the flight home the next day. They said it would take 3-4 hours, so I figured that would be around 1:30. I called my boss, this time talking to him, and told him I was taking a sick day, because I was sick of my car and I would very quickly have a nervous breakdown if I had to do anything more mentally taxing than watch TV all day. He agreed and I hopped on the bus and went home (although hopped may not be the right word, it took 50 minutes to get back to Sheridan and Montrose from Western and Foster, fucking ridiculous and they want to cut service and raise their rates when they can't even responsibly manage the money they get now and provide crappy service as it is). 1:30 came and went with no call, so around 2 I gave them a call. They said it was taking a little longer, but wouldn't cost me anything extra, and said it would be ready between 2:30 and 3. Well, 3:00 came and went and no word. Finally, at 4:35 they finally called and said it was ready. Again, it took about 50 minutes to get there, and I paid and drove home with no noticeable problems. I parked and left it until yesterday morning. This time there was no puddle when I pulled out of my spot, but I still feel it shaking a little whenever I stop, which may just be a sign of a nervous breakdown on my part, I have no trust with the car now and am probably very paranoid about something else happening. So, now it's back to my original plan, I'm going to drive it through winter and get my money's worth and then go car shopping for my new Yaris in June. Then, my companion was not very supportive as I was complaining about the timing of this and started bitching about how he's not going to sit around on vacation (which is fine, I never said he had to, I just have to), so I was just done. I went into a mental haze for most of the weekend, but was glad to get some good news on Playbill's website yesterday when I got in to work.

Apparently, Megan Mullally is releasing a new CD. It's about time since her last one came out in 2002, and as fabulous as it is, it's not enough to justify this long of a wait (plus, we should be getting the Young Frankenstein cast recording in the next few months, making it two CD's of hers). Playbill said it was coming out soon, but when I checked Amazon, they only had it listed as an out of print CD with one copy available from an independent seller, and no release date. So, I'm a little confused about the details, but I'll be keeping an eye out. Then, today, the news got better. As I had hoped, the announcement that Cheyenne Jackson is now the official lead in Xanadu has lead to an announcement that the cast album is now forthcoming. It's been in limbo for a while, presumably while the producers were waiting to see what was going to happen with James, although had he returned to the show, I would have advocated a double CD, one CD with James and another CD with Cheyenne, with I think Equity would have frowned on that, they tend to ruin good ideas like that. The CD is coming out January 8, at which time I will be on a cruise ship (barring any more car expenses), so while that would normally mean I'd have to wait another week until I get home, the CD will actually be available through the show's website beginning in early December, which coincidentally is around my birthday (hint, hint. . .). So, I'll have it in time for Christmas, with memories of Cheyenne to keep me warm.

In addition, there was another announcement today that normally would have made me ecstatic, but instead falls into the category of "why that show?" Clay Aiken, the real winner of Idol's season 2, is going to make his Broadway debut in January. As I read the first part of the headline, I started jumping out of my seat, but then saw that the second part stated that it was going to be in fucking Spamalot. Again, why that show? I would see him in just about anything else, even Legally Blonde or Jersey Boys, and maybe, just maybe Colour Purple (are there any white guy parts in it?), but I just can't take fucking Spamalot. Hopefully this will at least open the door on a new career path for him so he doesn't have to keep borrowing Amy Grant's (seriously, enough with the Christmas concerts already!) and I can see him in something else sometime soon.

Also keeping me sane, something that was driving me nuts a couple weeks ago, I listened to the Pal Joey recording, and it is fantastic. I don't understand why it's not readily available in stores. Seriously, order this now before it disappears. Patti is superb, as is everyone else. Peter Gallagher finally makes up for The Idolmaker.

Lastly, how fabulous is Kristen Chenoweth in Pushing Daisies? While Ned the Baker is gorgeous, she's the spark to the show and makes it the must see series this year, which is good since there aren't many others.

Alright, with all that, it's off to Europe in 72 hours, and Billy Elliot 2 weeks from tonight! Let's hope my bad luck is over, if I miss it I'm going to be furious! However, I was doing some research on shows in Berlin (although we still have yet to make any reservations so who knows if that's even going to happen at this point), and while I knew Mamma Mia was there, I also discovered that Tanz der Vampire is there!!! Now, for those of you who haven't heard of it, Tanz der Vampire is the original Austrian production of the show that became Dance of the Vampires on Broadway, also known as the show that proved that Michael Crawford's 15 minutes ended somewhere around 1993. It opened and closed after 44 performances in 2001 with the biggest loss in Broadway history. I'm not sure what show it beat out for that honor, I know previous champs were The Happy Time, Darling of the Day, and Kelly (which had the honor to become the first show to lose over $1 million), but it was pretty significant. No Tony nominations and not even a cast album, although the Viennese cast album is available (although after my experience with the Rebecca CD, I'm just going to see if I can find it when I'm there rather than trying to order it). Hopefully I'll make it, keep your fingers crossed!