What I really didn't need in my life right now is car problems.
I went to the bank after work to get some cash out of the ATM so I would have it on hand for going to the movies tomorrow, and as I was backing out of the space, my car started shuddering. For a second I didn't really think anything of it – occasionally my car does odd things, as I'm pretty sure all cars do – but then it didn't stop. I went to the gas station anyway, because it needed to be done, and then nursed it home.
The car is basically fine when actually running, but when it's idling, it shudders hard. And somewhere along the line the check engine light came on. It didn't happen right away; I know because I looked. The cruise control light was also flashing, but a quick Google of the "symptoms" showed that this always happens with Subaru vehicles, because it indicates that you can't use cruise control... which apparently you can't do when the Check Engine light is one.
I called the dealership, and the first question they asked was if I'd recently gotten gas. I said no, then amended to say that I just got gas, but the problem started before I got the gas. Since Googling said that other people have had this problem with the lights on their vehicle after getting bad gas, it was a logical enough question. He also asked if the Check Engine light was red or yellow. It's yellow, so I guess that means it's probably not going to explode... yet. If it was red, explosion was likely imminent.
I don't trust the car enough to drive it, so I'm going to have to get it towed to the dealership. Hopefully we haven't used up all of our free towing for the year on our AAA membership. I was thinking of having them do it tonight, but I figure if I have them come get it tomorrow and drop it off when the dealership is open, I probably won't actually have to go with it, because the tow truck guy can just hand off the keys. They did it for me last time, and it saves me having to go there, and Rikibeth having to follow along to take me back home.
When I mentioned it to one of my TKD classmates, he said it sounded a lot like what happened with his car when his alternator went, and the wonders of Subaru forums hypothesize that it might be spark plug related. Either way, it looks like it might be a couple of hundred dollar issue... which is better than a $1000+ issue, which is what I'm really hoping doesn't end up being the case.
I need to call the dealership again in the morning to say that I got a letter a few weeks ago about needing to take the car in to have the brake lines checked because apparently there were problems with them being corroded by New England winter, and also it is very nearly due for an oil change so I might as well have them take care of that while it's there.
So... yeah. Apparently that's going to be my morning tomorrow, and
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rikibeth is going to have to be my chauffeur for the rest of the day, because I have physical therapy at 10:30 am. I'm repaying her by paying for her to see Pacific Rim with me. She already took me to TKD tonight, because while I probably should have dealt with getting my car to the dealership instead, knowing that now on top of all of my medical stuff, I also have to deal with car stuff, kicking things seemed like a
really good idea.
And on the plus side, I'd already asked for Thursday off, so I have two days to deal with it instead of one. On the down side, the reason I asked for Thursday off was because I already had a bunch of stuff to do on Wednesday, and I needed to make a doctor's appointment to have my wrist looked at.
Because yes, I have yet another injury. I don't know what happened to my wrist, specifically, but at least this time around I remember exactly
when it started hurting. I gave it two weeks to heal up on its own, but it hasn't gotten any better and in the last couple of days it seems like maybe it has gotten a bit worse, so I decided it was time to make the call.
It hurts when I bend it, especially backward, and especially when I put pressure on it... like you do when you push open a door. Or push yourself up out of your seat. Or prop your chin in your hand. Or do push-ups. Or any number of other things that I do all the time but don't realize how often I do them until I started taping the wrist to keep it from bending in the way that hurts.
After almost three weeks now, I'm really starting to worry that I may have actually broken one of the little bones in the wrist. When I said that to one of my co-workers, he said, "Would you be able to move it like that, though? Wouldn't it hurt more?"
I said, "One of my friend's daughter walked around for weeks on a broken foot. So no, not necessarily."
So I suspect after my appointment with the doctor on Thursday morning I'll be headed over to the hospital for an x-ray. I'm honestly not sure what I want the outcome to be... in a way it would be a bit of a relief for them to find a break, because then it's not yet another situation of, "Okay, so it hurts, but we don't really know why it hurts or how to treat it." Which has been pretty much the case with every other injury I've had... including the knee that I'm currently in PT for. I think I'm driving my physical therapist crazy because she still can't figure out
why my knee (and hip and lower back) hurt.
But if it
is broken, then they're probably going to try to tell me that I can't do TKD, and I'm going to be like, "Okay, well, that's not actually an option, so tell me specifically what I can't do, and then I'll figure out what I can." Obviously contact sparring would be out, and striking with that hand, but the thing is, I've being doing TKD on it for the last three weeks! The only concession I've made to it was today when the wrist was taped so I couldn't bend it, so when we did push-ups I did them on my knuckles instead of flat palms.
So yeah... that's my day, or my next couple of days. I'm sure you can imagine how happy I am.
