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Home > Cars, self-reliance, and solvency

Cars, self-reliance, and solvency

October 27th, 2005 at 02:51 pm

I had a no-spend day yesterday. Today I was going to blow it by heading with a coworker to Penzeys Spices at lunch, but I’ll be heading to the mechanic instead. I was mere blocks away from work when I switched the Pimsleur CD off (I’m trying to learn Italian) and heard an infernal rattling sound coming from the center of the car. I pulled over, peeked under the car, and oh my—a metal something-or-other is hanging inches from the ground. Based on the description I gave my mechanic (which was better than the one I gave here), he thinks it’s just a heat shield, which isn’t the worst thing in the world and shouldn’t be that expensive. Still, I just had my car in to have the B-Pipe replaced. It had a hole in it that made my Civic sound like a hotrod, which was fun for about a day and then just embarrassing.

I had thought about taking a class this year on basic auto maintenance, but decided against it. Not that it would have helped in this case, but it’s part of a larger desire of mine to be as self-reliant as possible. Part of my idea of self-reliance involves financial solvency, which is why I got on this personal finance kick in the first place.

3 Responses to “Cars, self-reliance, and solvency”

  1. Anonymous Says:
    1130426093

    It does sound like a heat shield, not a big deal and should be a quick/cheap to fix unless its rusted beyond repair. I hear good things about the book, Autorepair for Dummies if you can't make the time for a class at the moment. Even if you don't plan to do your own repairs its always good to know the basics.

  2. Anonymous Says:
    1130472226

    You live in Milwaukee? That's the only place I know Pensey's Spice is.

  3. Anonymous Says:
    1130494926

    Penzey's has a few retail locations scattered about the country--they just opened a store in Massachusetts, where I live.

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