i took my car into the shop today. finally. this is the car that i bought on a whim back in march. for $800. not bad for whim. of course it would not have been possible without jean who drove me almost all the way to charlotte to pick it up. i have detailed some of the things the car made it possible for me to do that otherwise would have been impossible. mostly it’s been helpful in getting me too and from the laundromat, so I could avoid *inconveniencing* my upstairs neighbors by using their washer and dryer. this has prompted my family to dub it the “laundrymobile”. i quite like that. but i’ve also been able to occasionally pick up and drop off friends, or travel deep into carrboro without breaking a sweat. and that’s all I really need it to do. so it seemed that $800 was a worthy investment.

however, the car doesn’t run too well, and it has some issues (sunroof, steering, headlights, passenger side window, exhaust) in addition to just not running well (near-zero acceleration/torque under 20mph and up hills).

so till today, i’d yet to get the car looked at or inspected. and the verdict from the car people: the car isn’t safe to drive. it would cost $2000 to just deal with the first set of issues above, without even touching the engine.

and my housing situation: i really did my best to followup on the apartment next door, but i found out today that it had been rented to someone else. so when i spoke with my soon-to-be landlord (who honestly seems very nice and well-meaning), he suggested that i stay in his apartment (for free) until the one next door is available in august. which i would have totally gone for. had the apartment not already been rented. so he pretty much relented and figured his daughter would just have to make do somewhere else.

and now for something completely positive. i got a haircut today. it looks good. when i came back from cambodia and austin (having been gone from chapel hill for 3 weeks) everyone remarked that i had grown out my hair. so i got a haircut.