Wednesday! Wednesday! Thrill to the unexpected as the 1,500 ton Hummasorus devours SUVs and spits raging fireFIRE!fire!

Ok that failed attempt at something aside, seriously, I'm headed out to Detroit...well...now.

I decided this last night. Nicholas had asked me, "So, dude, when can I be expectin' ya?" in the casual manner that is his custom.

A sudden thought popped into my head. 'Why not tomorrow?'

And so, bowing my head to the gods of random, I told Nick that I'd start off at 1:00pm if a few things happened:

1) My transmission got diagonsed and wasn't shot to shit/could be repaired muy mas muchisimo cheapo (which in the language of cars is about 100 bucks).

2) If Chicago road conditions weren't fucked.

I have no idea about 2. I'll play that ball where it lies with my balls where they sit.

So far, today has been fucking magnificent. I woke up sleep-deprived, kinda meh, but then I took my car to the AAMCO nearby. They drove my car around for 40 minutes and computer checked it. Meanwhile I tapped away doing analyses on my laptop while listening to Judge Hatchett. I swear, I remember courtroom drama sounding stupid when I was a kid--what with that old white dude who should have been an extra on Growing Pains--but this was some inane shit. I did get a few laughs in my head, though, so it did the job.

The mechanic dude came back.

He told me that everything looked normal. Car performance, gear shifting, transmission fluid. Apparently GM cars (including my Buick) make their transmission fluid darker over time. I was delighted to hear this, asked about a few other things the guy might've noticed, and he said it was just wear and tear due to my car being 11 years old. It's an old Skylark, but power seats and all but one stereo speaker working.

So naturally I go up to pay. I ask what the damage is. "Oh no, honey, it's nothing." I look over to the AAMCO sign that says external diagnostics cost 39.95, computer diagnostics 75.95, and ask again in my classic scrunched face "you..sure?" voice. She told me that they hadn't charged for diagnostics for 8-9 years, that unlike 99% of other transmission places they weren't gonna charge me 150 bucks just to have a guy look at my car for 10-20 minutes. She figured that customers would come back to have work done if they could get something like a free diagnostic.

I blinked. I was delighted, told her so, and that I'd definetely be back. Hell, I'll recommend the place to anyone. I was expecting to pay around 100 bucks...and instead...it was free. The whole way back I was just completely confused. Was I really supposed to not pay at all? Nothing? I'm so heavily indoctrinated in capitalism that it completely blew my mind.

Later on, I got a note from the Ford people saying that the didn't need the official transcript label for, well, transcripts my schools had sent them.

All of this combined literally made me weep with joy for about 10 minutes while listening to 'center of the sun' by Poe.

So after eating tacos to get rid of the last of my fresh meat, I'm about packed and ready to head out.

I'll periodically update on my laptop and, if I can, send them online. If not, well, expect a lot of updates late.

I'll miss y'all. Time for artsy shit, urban decay and photography. And art galleries. And ale..and...

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