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Car Trouble…

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I set up the spare bedroom for ‘Murphy’. Apparently he’s planning to be here for a while.

When we returned home from our trip, my car refused to start. My 5 year old battery has been hanging on for far too long and finally decided to quit. My husband replaced the battery over the weekend and the troubles worsened. The car, an automatic, started stalling. Stalling, stopping, and restarting is always super fun in the dark at 5:00 a.m. when you are a female driving alone.

Catching my sarcasm?

Now, let me back up here a sec to tell you a little history about me. In college, I drove everywhere fast – and I had a shoe box of speeding tickets to prove it. I owned a modified Honda Civic and frequently participated in late night street races while living in Los Angeles. I ‘may’ have also been involved in high speed police pursuit.

Before you write a bunch of angry comments about how stupid/dangerous speeding/racing is, let me save you some time. First, I drove like that nearly TEN years ago. Second, at this point in my life, I realize how stupid/dangerous it is. Third, the aforementioned information made my current situation funny…at least to my husband.

My husband took my car to the mechanic to have it repaired. He, who knew me in my racing days, couldn’t stop laughing when he told me what was wrong with the car. Apparently there is an air flap on, near, around, or somewhere in the vicinity of your carburetor (have mercy, I don’t know a thing about cars). If you drive a good portion of your commute under 35mph and don’t accelerate quickly, the darn thing gums up and stops your vehicle. THIS, is what went wrong with my car.

The mechanic specifically told my husband, ‘Tell your wife to stop driving like an old lady.’

The teasing from my husband will never cease.

The only redeeming factor? The mechanic didn’t charge us to clean the flap and my car now drives perfectly.

Community College – A Good Investment…

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about Zac Bissonnette’s recommendation for students to attend community college for two years prior to moving to a four year university. Surprisingly, a lot of you didn’t agree and several folks stated, ‘You get what you pay for.’

Here’s the funny part…

I attended community college prior to moving on to a private university.

Obviously I’m not the expert but let me tell you why I absolutely agree with Zac (obviously not all community colleges are the same as ours):

1. Our state college and our community college shared more than half of the same instructors – who taught the same classes at both. The difference? I paid $60 while my state friends paid $580.

2. The class sizes were significantly smaller at the community college vs. the state college. All of my teachers knew my name.

3. San Diego State University, our local state college, is notorious for its impossible acceptance standards. BUT, if you attend the local community college for two years, you are guaranteed a spot. While your perfect GPA valedictorian student can’t get in, my average GPA husband is registering for classes.

4. According to Bissonnette, students who transfer from community college to a four year university are more likely to graduate than those who started in university their freshman year.

5. Best of all, my student loans amounted to $15,000 instead of $30,000 and my diploma from my private university looks exactly the same as someone who attended all four years. There isn’t an asterisk on my diploma saying, ‘We only vouch for half her education.’

That’s just my experience… what’s yours?