I got up this morning at 6, but not to do my regular work out routine. I got up, slammed some makeup on my face, woke up SisterKaty and whisked her out the door to CarMax.  Exactlythe place that I wanted to be at 7:10 in the morning.  We had to go to CarMax because about two months ago the A/C in Ye Ol’ Jetta quit being cold.  This was a very depressing turn of events, considering that previous to its breaking, that A/C was FUH-REEZING.  And it was awesome.  It made my snot freeze. It ruined shave jobs a plenty. It was the best.  Zack told me soon after I announced the A/C’s brokenness that I should take it in and get it fixed.  I delayed doing anything, both because of the outside temperature (spring!) and because of the money that it could cost (millions!) to get it fixed.

Around lunchtime, Jeremy from CarMax called me up to inform me that my personal comfort for years to come would cost me exactly $786.00. “You could not pay the $800,” he (practically) said, “but you’d be arriving to work all sweaty for the next thirty years, never mind the fact that you only have to drive two miles to get there.” He was all, “Remember Texas summers? And how sometimes they are so hot that they suck the air right out of you the moment you step foot outside? And remember that even when you’re on the highway doing 70 miles an hour, and you roll down the windows, it won’t be refreshing. Instead, it will feel like someone has pointed a God-sized blow dryer right into your driver’s side window–bringing a heat that NO SUNROOF CAN CONQUER.”

While I was waiting for Zack to call me to approve my comfort-driven $800 expenditure, I started calculating all the things that $800 could buy me, realistically. It could buy me rent for 1 month. It could buy our small family groceries for about 3 months. It could provide the gas money for 16 tanks of gas in his Xterra (resulting in 4800 highway miles) or 20 tanks of diesel for the Jetta (resulting in 10,000 highway miles). $800 is equal in value to 6.6 years of dog food for Scout. SIX AND A HALF YEARS! I could buy 160 margaritas! That would be a good way to cool down.

Realistically, $800 isn’t as bad as it could be.  I even called around to make sure that the quote he gave me was a good price, and it is.  And I’m sure when it’s the middle of July and I’m getting into my black vehicle, I’ll really appreciate it.  But man. That credit card swipe is going to hurt.  Especially when I think about how many pairs of shoes I could get for $800. (32ish!)