Blaine enjoys oil changes, highway driving and long walks on the beach.

Some of you may remember that when I was a wee college freshman, I accidentally rear-ended a truck with its tailgate down while I was going like, five miles per hour. The wreck caused some hood trauma and a cracked headlight casing, but Blaine was released from the mechanic's in stable condition. After finding out how much it would cost to get the hood and headlight back to their previous conditions, I decided to screw that, because I had/have no money. Four years later, he remains in his poor, dented-in state. Now he is almost 10 years old, with almost 125k miles, and replacing anything seems pointless if it doesn't directly cause problems with the car. The headlight still works fine with the cracked casing.

Last June, I was in College Station visiting Matt and I needed to get my car inspected, since I still was registered in Texas. They passed me with no problem, but not before they screwed something up: a something that cost me $150 to fix. They didn't fix it properly, because now Blaine squeaks when it's cold or rainy. I decided NOT to go back there to get this year's inspection, because I don't want them to screw my car up again. So I went somewhere else.

This Somewhere Else had a pierced lip and the gall to tell me he wouldn't pass my car until I replace the cracked casing! I am not standing for it! I still have no money, and there's no need to replace the casing when the light itself works fine. My father is a big proponent of not getting inspections done until you get pulled over by the cops, and I think I might take a leaf out of that book from here on out.