Less than a month ago, my parents gave us one of their cars. They had 4 cars for the 2 of them and their driveway isn't that big so they gave us this car. The price couldn't be beat..it was free. Actually it was more like something my mother could and does constantly remind us that it was a Christmas present and makes it sound like we owe her for life because she gave it to us. Anyways, the car isn't brand new and if you stop at a red light and then have to tackle a hill without any head start, the car acts like it's that little engine that could. It doesn't want to keep going, it's not sure it can but in the end, it can do it.

Dec21 and I were driving to my parents' house. Everything was going okay so far. The snow was pouring down at what looked like a 100 miles per hour. We got stopped at a red light that just happened to be at the bottom of a hill. I personally think that's just asking for trouble putting a red light there but what do I know?? Anyways..we weren't exactly at the bottom, more like the bottom corner so we would have to turn to get more on to the hill. Sounds easy huh?? Dec21 was driving and started turning..the car was going slow but it was moving..then it stopped. The front end of the car was on the hill, the back end of the car was in the intersection AND was at the bottom of the hill. The car refused to move. You couldn't bribe it with a fresh container of oil.

Dec21 got out of the car and decided to push while I tried stearing. A couple guys came over and offered to help. Who'd believe it?? There are some nice people out there!! I don't know where they came from..one minute they weren't there, the next they were. One guy had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. If it fell out of his mouth do you think he'd want a reimbursment?? Anyways..we were able to get the car into a driveway. Dec21 wasn't sure what to do. I had a suggestion that we should back up and go to my parents' house another way. Dec21 was hesitant but eventually agreed to try so he got in the car and we started backing up. My idea was to go a back way that would give us a head start when going up another hill that didn't have red lights. Granted it would have been a bitch to get stuck on a back road but I thought it was worth a try anyways. Surprise!! My idea worked!! I had a good idea and it worked!! Quick..someone call CNN.

We got to my parents' house without any other problems. We told my mother about it and she suggested taking it to get fixed. She called around, found a place to take it but first we went to an auto store that supposedly sells anything you need for a car, both inside and out. My parents explained what the problem was, to which as a response they gave about 20 guesses as to what was wrong. Translation: They don't have a clue what's wrong with the car. In the store I got bitched at by mother. She asked why we didn't tell her the car had problems. Well excuse me but we did tell her it didn't tackle hills in the best possible way. Then she said "You didn't tell me it was this bad." My response was an obvious "Well it wasn't this bad before!!" I can't tell her something is wrong with the car when even WE don't know, can I??

After that waste of time trip to that store we went to the place to drop it off. The place was closed so we had to leave the car there. My parents' parked across the street from the place, so we walked back and forth, dropping off the key, locking the doors and such. The fact that it was freezing cold didn't help things.

After we dropped the car off we went to the cigarette store so Dec21 and my mother could get cigarettes. On the way up there my mother said "You know what this is a sign of right??" My response was "Yeah that you shouldn't accept a car from your parents." Obviously that wasn't the answer she was thinking of. She said "No it's a sign that you need to get a job." Web designing is a real job in her opinion. I thought my answer was MUCH better.

So here I am sitting here in front of the computer..wondering what's wrong with the car and how much it's going to cost. I'm almost afraid to find out. Actually finding out won't be nearly as bad as hearing my mother complain about it and get all depressed. Yes I know it's not techincally her car anymore but that's still the way she is. I told my mother she should have given us a different car she had that Dec21 actually wanted more. She said "Well that's having problems too." Well I'd say it's a good thing we didn't pay for this car or I'd be asking for a refund.