from catalytic converters & serpentine belts to alternators & ac

     Remember July 25th? How I was going to bring my mechanics gifts for the first anniversary of my first repair at their shop? Well, let me tell you. The brownies and Gatorade were a massive success. Alex said that I had great timing because they had just run out of water.

(I bought four tubs of brownies for two reasons: I wasn't sure how many mechanics they had, and the tubs seemed kinda small, tbh)

(Alex told me they only have four mechanics. Fuck.)

    But he also laughed-- good naturedly-- when he saw I had a card too.

why is every anniversary card a wedding one? I know that's like, the most common, but. Hallmark chill.

("From catalytic converters & serpentine belts to alternators and buffing paint off-- you guys are the BEST. Thanks for everything, especially when I was crying on the phone in another state.")

    They're hanging it on the wall.

    I was definitely the first person to ever celebrate one year of car repairs. It's just that I feel so fortunate for having found them in the first place, purely by chance. I'm not gouged to death by a chain who looks at my boobs and thinks I don't have a brain cell; I'm taught a lot about my car, so I'm not totally useless and uninformed, forced to believe a mechanic because I don't know better; I have an excellent warranty. The fact that I found them is pure chance, pure destiny, a sequence of events that could only have been designed by the gods themselves: my sister's Hyundai dealership strips her screw during an oil change years ago --> she tells me she only goes to Valvoline from then on --> I decide to go to Valvoline for Dani's first oil change --> Valvoline tells me my serpentine belt is hanging on by a thread and they can't do anything because it's rusted as well --> I beg Valvoline for a mechanic that won't price gouge me, as I'm very poor. In case the worker couldn't already tell --> Valvoline worker tells me where to go. The rest is history.

    To be honest, despite her illustrious career in and out of the shop, and my vivid memories that make me able to list her repairs off the top of my head, I don't exactly remember her timeline. The catalytic converter and serpentine belt were fixed in the same go, and that's what the invoice says, but I know at some point in the same day: Valvoline, Autozone, my mechanic.

    I think it goes that I went to Valvoline, then my check engine light came on while I was driving, so I went to Autozone to use their diagnostic tool, and from there I went to the mechanic to figure out what the diagnostic code meant. And thus, the catalytic converter.

    The rumors of Dani's repairs have been greatly exaggerated. 

    Just kidding, there are no rumors. I proudly list them all and revel in the fact that I have so much knowledge thanks to these guys. What I mean is that the memory got all muddled, and in my own mind, the dramatics of that day have been greatly exaggerated.

    What I mean is that I owe them a lot, and I truly believe that every single regular customer they have should celebrate the anniversary of their repairs. It's criminal that no one appreciates them. It's criminal that they treat everyone so well and do their work quickly and perfectly-- with four mechanics, no less-- and yet I was the first person to celebrate it. It's absolutely criminal because almost everyone there has a shitty early '00s car, and these people are the ones who keep them running.

    This is your newsflash: celebrate your mechanics.