Homeless story: Disaster strikes

So it's time for me to finally let everyone in on what I've been up to. As you should know, I'm homeless and unemployed for about a year now.

I live in my car with my dog.

Well recently, I was driving up to my mom's to help her with some housework and to teach her how to use her eBay and etsy accounts, when my car started overheating badly. I have coolant, so it must be the thermostat.

I limp my car into the parking lot of a nearby auto mechanics and ask if I can borrow a socket and wrench. After some back and forth about why I'm not hiring them to fix the problem (they didn't have the part and my car wouldn't be drivable for two days. also, I live in it.) They let me borrow the tool and five minutes later I hand it back ( after wiping it off. Always try to return tools in the same condition you got them.)

The car is now without a thermostat. the thermostat closes off the coolant flow until the engine is up to operating temperature. In the summer, you can get by without it. I manage to get the car to my mom's, but it's overheating again by the time I get there. I figure it has something to do with the fact I forgot to refill the reservoir after losing a fair bit while opening the pipe up. No biggie.

Of course, my mom insisted I take it up to the local mechanic (a different shop from the one I borrowed the wrench from) and have him look it over. She freaked when she found out it wasn't registered or inspected. So Randy ended up being consulted for an inspection instead of a check up.

Now, Randy is a great guy. His labor rates are about 30% higher than the norm, but he'll pass your car for inspection as long as it isn't a realistic danger to anyone. He'll do minor repairs for nothing, and his work holds up good.

Randy, could not, in good conscience, pass my car for inspection. If Randy says your car is unsafe than your car is a goddamn deathtrap. The subframe was so rusted out it should have fallen out from under me. That was just one of the six potentially deadly problems he found. It's also the only one I remember because at that point I knew I was fucked.

I drove the car to my mom's and we were going to take the car to a scrapyard the next day. Unfortunately, I never got the title in the mail. (For those of you wondering why it would be in the mail, it's because Pennsylvania does things stupid. Stupid with a lot of bureaucracy.) A scrapyard can't take a car without a title.

So this is where I'll leave you for today, stuck at my mother's, without a place to live, dead broke. It starts to get better tomorrow.

R.I.P. Penny, the 1992 Subaru Legacy Rustbucket. You did good.