Oh. My. GOD!

Okay, firstly, we're preparing to get the "Blizzard of 2010" this weekend. The Virginia governor declared a state of emergency LAST night. Nearly every school in the area has already closed for tomorrow even though the first flake isn't supposed to fall until noon. And we're suppose to get 15-20 inches.

None of this would really bother me if I didn't have to work Saturday. I mean, I can always take off work, but on Saturdays I'm the ONLY one who works in my department and if I don't do it Saturday, then nothing will get done until Monday and things might get backed up. I feel guilty about all that kinda stuff. Still, if I can't get in to work, then I can't get into work, ya know.

HOWEVER, on top of all that, I took Miss Cleo to get her oil changed and inspected. And I wanted the mechanic to check into this rattling noise going on under her hood. I took mom's car to work. While I was there, I got a call from the mechanic.

He said I needed a new motor. I blew a...bearing rod? Rod bearer? hell, I don't know what kinda rod, but apparently some of mine were bad. And we could get a new motor or rebuild one, but that would cost $2700!!! Well, Miss Cleo is 9 years old, I've had her for 7. I was hoping she could hold out 2 or 3 more years, but since she can't, I'm not gonna sink that much money into her when I could use that same money on a down payment on a new car.

But believe me, on the way home, I was NOT in a good mood at all. I was, in fact, preparing for a breakdown of drama queen diva proportions. I never actually did, cause mom calmed me down before i even started, and she drove me to a local dealership where I found two cars I was interested. They're only $400 apart, are both 2008 models and have about 23,000 miles on them. I prefer one over the other, but would be happy with both.

And they place we went to Fitzgerald, has this no haggle policy, whatever price is on the sticker is the lowest they can go, so they're no haggling needed or down. AND the saleman was very VERY non-pushy. He didn't try to sell me line or schpeal, he just asked me what I was looking for, got me the keys for the test drive, answered my questions and did small talk. It was quite a relief not to have to deal with high pressure salemen throwing you a pitch! I would highly recommend visiting them if you're from the area.

At any rate, if the weather is permitting Monday, we're going back up and purchase one of them. SO I'll have a new car next week sometime. In the meantime, though, I have to take mom's car again tomorrow. possibly have it on the road during the early stages of what is being called a "paralyzing" snow storm. Lovely.

So instead, I'm gonna attempt to get up and get to work about 4:00 am so that I can leave at noon and not have to take any time. I doubt that'll happen cause God knows I have enough trouble getting to work by 8:00 normally, but we'll see. Because of that, I'm gonna have to get to bed relatively early tonight, so I'm not gonna be watching, or posting about Project Runway. ALthough I'll talk to Dave S., maybe he'll wanna write something up and I can post that tomorrow. We'll see.

At ANY rate, once i get home tomorrow, I'm hunkered down and prepared for the storm. I hit the grocery store this afternoon before the mad rush and got the basics. I have my Internet and two Netflix movies. If power goes out, I have candles, flashlights and books to read, with plenty of blankets to wrap up in. I have a cube of Pepsi. And I've already told work, I am not even TRYING to come in on Saturday, but I might try Sunday if I can make it. We'll see.

So despite a pretty stressful day, tonight is really relaxing and calm. The proverbial calm before the storm.

POLT Listening to "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones