It feels good to have my own set of wheels once again. I abhor having someone else chauffeuring me around. It took an incredibly long time to get Pyro fixed after that fender-bender back in February mainly because I didn’t have a steady and reliable flow of income anymore after getting laid off. Pyro still needs a paint job, but is otherwise repaired and running smoothly.

It really is lucky that some of my mom’s friends were able to work on Pyro for me. Otherwise I’d have never been able to afford getting him fixed this time around. The power steering was messed up, I needed a new hood, front bumper, passenger-side fender, headlight, and a few other parts as well. In the end, there is still technically one part that isn’t “fixed”. The air compressor was smashed to bits, however, a brand new one alone cost over $600 dollars. A used, but working one, cost about $400. The guys tried their damnedest to get that fixed. In the end they had to opt to put in a used one that wasn’t working anymore. I’m not that familiar with cars, but from what I understood, the arm of the air compressor connects with the power steering. Without the arm there is no power steering. I did not want a car without power steering, it’ a bitch to drive. So they found an air compressor with the arm intact. I don’t have an air conditioner in the car now, but I can deal with that.

I’ve been seriously considering getting the car painted black, and after seeing the car with it’s primer-black hood, fender, and bumper, I’m even more tempted. The whole “red cars are involved in more accidents” stereotype seems to be true, for me at least. Unfortunately I can’t even afford to purchase some of the Amazon books I’ve been oogling lately, much less a paint job.

My grandfather had some bodywork done to his truck not long ago by a friend of his. The guy cant do a lot of stuff since he operates his “body shop” out of his farm’s garage. He’s mostly set up to work on folks’ vehicles and equipment that gets banged up. But, if I should choose to paint my car black he could probably do it. I’m not sure he could match my car’s current paint color though. It’s called Burnt Orange and is this funny mix between orange, red, and rust. Since he’s set up for very basic stuff I figure matching the paint job might be a bit hard for him. But a primary color? That should be a piece of cake.

Of course, if I paint the car black then the information on my registration and title is no longer accurate. I suspect that would result in a trip to the DMV.