Thursday, April 21, 2011

vanny, vanny, vanny

sometimes i feel like the little annoyances of life stack & pile up all around me until i'm so tired of my own crap that i could just run away. and that's usually when i stop talking to most of the people who i like because i don't want them to be as bored of me as i am of myself. i don't want to be a whiner, but i have nothing of value that's not complainy to say, so i just shut the heck up & keep me to myself. that's where i've been lately. in that irritating, nothing-really-seems-bad-enough-for-a-legitimate-complaint-because-there-are-so-many-people-in-the-world-with-bigger-real-problems, place.

however,  i can tell you guys that one of my biggest irritations has finally been resolved. see, in tennessee, in order to get your license plates current & legal, your car has to pass inspection every year. that's fine, but if you drive an ancient car, like our vanny, it's hard to get it to pass inspection. april is the month when we have to deal with this every year, which thankfully falls around the time of tax returns. so a couple weeks ago, we dropped vanny off at the shop to get her back up to speed, waited 8 hours, while wandering aimlessly through parking lots and various retail shops in the rain (since we have no other running vehicle & didn't have a ride to anywhere else because we are low class & have very few local friends), then went back & gave them all our money. it was nearly $1300 to get everything done that needed to be done so vanny could pass her upcoming test. for us, that is a vast amount of money to spend on any one thing, but it had to be done & at least we had it to spend.

so we took her in for her inspection a couple days later & she failed her test. they couldn't tell us why, only that she wouldn't communicate with their machines, so they couldn't pass her. back to the mechanic. they say she tests out fine for them. back to an inspection station, but a different one this time in hopes that maybe she'll talk to their machines. nope. she failed her freakin test on 4 machines. we cried a little on the inside, not knowing what to do & hoping we wouldn't be forced to drive on expired tags for the rest of vanny's not-so-natural life whilst dodging any cops who drive behind us by zipping through neighborhoods or hiding inside car-washes (we did this for a year and a half once before getting busted).

we prayed & prayed & then chris took vanny to a third inspection station. first machine, fail. over to the second machine & finally, FINALLY, she decided to speak to that machine. she told it she was fine & dandy and didn't need any further servicing.

we can only conclude that vanny is a diva bee-otch and didn't want to communicate with the first 5 machines, but decided that she liked the last one enough to whisper out her secret - that though she may look old and crotchety, she really has no needs that must be attended to. i think she just wanted the attention.

21 comments:

  1. Yay for passing inspection. I always worry about that same crap every year here in Texas.

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  2. Ugh... it's always fingers crossed over here too. LOL. x

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  3. I'm with you here, Sherilin. We are donating a car tomorrow that failed inspection and needed more repairs than it was worth. Plus my van almost didn't pass its last go round and we have 3 or 4 months until the next one to get it all prettified!

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  4. I like your tag here: stupid crap. That's exactly what this experience sounds like.

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  5. That's my entire tax return you spent on your poor van! I would have said screw it after the first couple and bought a new car. But you must really like her, huh? Just get her some chocolate and maybe she'll cooperate better next time!

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  6. it's not a matter of liking her a lot. some days i don't like her much at all, but she does run & for that i'm grateful since i can't afford a new car. that's why we never replaced the dead one that's been sitting in a heap in our driveway for more than a year like a lump of poo. we're not a one car family by choice.
    i'll try the chocolate. it makes me cooperate better!

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  7. So you're the other people in the world who drive old cars? LOL Hubs would die before he got any of us a new car--I'm opposed to though, because the cost is ridiculous. I drive a 1987 Mercedes that Hubs makes bio-diesel fuel for--and our daughters have old Mercedes too. And, in SC, NO INSPECTIONS! You need to move here!

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  8. Oh, wow! So glad vanny passed! It would have been devasting to have spent that much money for nothing!

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  9. MS has no emission control laws... but our inspection stickers are $5. And I see lots of legal cars on the road with bungee cords holding them together.

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  10. WOW! You sound exactly like us! We had to downgrade to one car for financial reasons. And we can't afford to buy a new car. So the cars we end up with are older and in need of mechanical work. We actually had to replace the whole engine of the one we have now (Ellwood). We have spent so much money on him and he is still a P.O.C. Sometimes I really hate him.
    Glad Vanny passed her test. Thankfully we don't have that here. The car just has to pass a road worthy when you buy it.

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  11. We lived in TN once when I was a kid, I remember the car inspections. I remember dad being all panicky as well.
    Keep your chin up Sherilin.

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  12. Then maybe she needs to be referred to as Lady Vanny. Right?

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  13. That system sounds absolutely insane....RIGHT now our dang car wouldn't pass anything. IT is barely driving and I keep thinking at any momemt it might be the last. And right now we have no money for fixin...so I keep driving as long as I can...I am thankful you had the money cuz that is a huge worry!

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  14. Vanny is am awesome bitch but, don't trust her. She lies. Glad it finally passed inspection.

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  15. Glad she finally passed. I will say we have some law about after you have spent a certain amount towards repairs and the car still doesn't pass I believe the state mechanics office approves it and you can get tags anyway. Also, sometimes after repairs and computer resetting you have to drive the car for a while (like a week) for everything to finish cycling thru and then they will pass. Been thru it several times myself.

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  16. Oh, the woes of The Inspection. Since husband's been overseas, his car failed one year, and the next year my car failed. Pain in the butt!

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  17. In our state, after a certain amount of money has been spent, the Mob stops by to make your problem disappear. After that, they break your legs. Of course, we ARE close to New Jersey.
    Did you know you used "lump of poo" and "chocolate" in the same comment? It may be a freudian slip of the keyboard (NOTE: probably NOT a real malady). Then again, I may just be seeing things in a juvenile manner.
    It's how I roll.

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  18. hi there...just fpound you over at danieles site and wanted to pop in and visit...we have to get a pink slip here in australia...it needs to pass as well...our 2 regos are coming up soon...boo hoo...my hubbys car will be lucky to pass...ill cross my fingers...lol..take care...xxx

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  19. Vanny is an old gal and is above talking to some new microchip juvenile,...what am I talking about?
    Inspections are mostly useless, but lucrative.

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  20. Vanny was being a bee-yotch! I think none of those machines were good enough for her. She only "hooks up" with the best. ;)

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  21. Thank goodness the state of AR stopped doing inspections. I do remember growing up and riding with my dad to get his truck inspected. He was really good friends with the guy who did the inspections so he always got a "pass"; otherwise, none of our clunkers would have ever passed.

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don't let me be the only one doing the talking around here. spill your guts!