I posted the diary I repost below the squiggle on Saturday, and was amazed at the response of the community. Nurse Kelley waved her magic wand and it got on the rec list immediately.
The problem is this: I need a car, and have no money for one.
Some people have asked what happened, and so I said I would post a second installment.
In amounts ranging from $2 to $50, I received a total of a little over $300 from other Kossacks. Someone even sent a donation without leaving a comment. I also received an offer to use another Kossack's credit, and possibility of a car that was going to be donated next month if I can get to it.
You guys are amazing. Suddenly I seem to have options, after my only choices seemed to be driving a dangerous car or going without one. So thanks to all of you.
I bought my car last February. It's a 1984 Toyota Cressida. Everything leaked, and it needed a new water pump, but with the water pump the cost came to around $900. It was all I could afford, and after more than a month without a car, checking Craig's List several times a day, I was glad to have it. I live outside of Tucson, and though there is a shuttle bus that connects to the city buses, getting anywhere is a lengthy and complicated process.
My old Honda Civic, that a friend had bequeathed to me, was another casualty of the shooting in Tucson that had happened just 5 days earlier. I was on my way to carpool down to Sierra Vista for an orchestra rehearsal. At the corner of the Safeway shopping center I was stopped for 40 minutes, seeing emergency vehicles coming and going, but unable to see what was going on. I thought it was an accident. I have written about that elsewhere, but it sets the tone for what came after.
I had not heard from my son, who is mentally ill and sometimes homeless, for some months, but I got a message that week from some court worker at the county jail. On that Thursday, I called the jail and learned that he was there, and the person I talked to said I could visit that afternoon. I hesitated - I was feeling numb and a bit depressed. I had been to Gabby's office the day before, and was still feeling that. But I said I would go.
It was a mistake.
Leaving the jail I made a turn onto a ramp that was either under construction or demolition. It was unpaved, and I kept going forward until I found a place to turn off. I suddenly crashed into something and the car stopped. I got out, and saw that I had jumped a curb perhaps a foot high. I hadn't seen it. My fender was bashed in; when I stopped shaking, I managed to kick it out so the wheel could turn, and started to drive home. On the way it it started smoking. I pulled into a parking lot.
I managed to get home. But the frame of the car was damaged, and cost more than the car was worth.
Fast forward a year. Same January concert in Sierra Vista. On Thursday I stopped on the way to carpool to have the fluids topped off. The mechanic told me that in less than 3 weeks, I was down 3 quarts of oil and a gallon of transmission fluid. He said he could fill it, but it was dangerous to drive, and could catch fire since oil was leaking all over. He would not give me a receipt.
So here's where I am: The mechanic said he has a 94 trans am with a rebuilt engine he is selling for $2000. I don't have that. He said if I let him keep the car while I saved up money, he could try to find parts and seal everything for $1000. He might have to get parts from all over the world, since there are no parts available now that fit that engine.
Needless to say, that is more than the car is worth.
I am on SSDI, and get $951 a month. I also get $55 in food stamps. There is not much left for saving, but if I don't buy anything extra, I could probably manage about $100 a month. That won't really get me very far towards a car in a reasonable amount of time.
It's deja vu all over again.
I also have $560 from this concert. But I gave money to a friend who, with her husband, got my bedroom window fixed last Easter "until I could pay them." My dog has not been to the vet for 3 years. That was also supposed to come out of this concert. Also my phone and water bills - a total of perhaps $60. Sometime before March, I have to get my bow rehaired. I had to borrow one for this concert. That concert will pay $350.
And that's it. That's the last concert til the fall.
So here I am. I need a car and have no way to get one.
If you know of someone who has an old car lying around they would be willing to part with without expecting much payment, that would be great. Or maybe the community could help with some money. I told the dog-sitter, whose husband "knows guys who are into cars."
Help!
4:00 PM PT: Paypal accout rmaraport at yahoo dot com
Added as Nurse Kelley's suggestion.
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