Snowmageddon

This past week was hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

The week started with me randomly getting a car. I have never bought a car by myself before, so I didn’t know how long the financing process would take. I thought it would take a few weeks. It took about 10 minutes.

The gist:
Me: “Hi. I’m a law student who just got a job in the suburbs. Busing won’t cut it anymore, and I haven’t learned how to fly…”
Banker: “Got any cars in mind?”
Me: “Yep! I am eying a car at BigChain car dealership. It’s an Altima.”
Banker: “Do you have a number for the dealership?”
Me: “Yep. I filled out a form and Rick Salesman sent me an email, the number is 612-000-0000.”
Banker: “Please hold.”

Banker: “Okay. I’ve cleared everything with the car dealership. You’re approved for the loan. Just login to your online account and check “yes.” There is an e-check you can print out to get your car tonight.”
Me: “Wait, what? Tonight? Really?”
Banker: “Yep. Let me know if you have any problems.”
Click. I didn’t even have time to call mom before the car dealership called:
Salesman: “Hey, this is Rick Salesman from BigChain. We’ve emailed. I just talked to your bank.”
Me: “Uh…yeah…hi. Sorry about that. I didn’t think they were going to call you immediately…or even approve the loan that quickly.”
Salesman: “Yep. BigBank works quick.”
Me: “They sure do.”
Salesman: “So when are you coming to test drive?”
Me: “Well the problem is that I don’t have a car. So I have to find a ride…maybe tomorrow...”
Salesman: “Oh don’t worry about that. I’ll pick you up. You can test drive it back to the dealership. I’ll be there in 25 minutes.”
Yikes! I guess there isn’t a recession going on! Or, maybe so few people are buying that they are eager to sell to any non-sketchy person they can find. Hm. I really wanted the car, but I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly…

So I enjoyed the wonders of winter-car-ownership this week. Miami didn’t prepare me for any of this:

• The gas tank freezing shut. I was running low on gas and I couldn’t open the tank! Images of past tow-truck adventures started flashing before my eyes. The car has inside pull-level, so I didn’t know if it was really frozen shut or if the pull-level broke.  I had to get my car steamed in a car wash before it opened.  But it DID open…
• Getting stuck in my driveway. The neighbors found this hilarious. I pretended I was an Olympic hurdler when I lunged over the snow wall blocking my driveway…
• My febreeze freeze. The car completely stunk of nicotine when I bought it, so I bought some febreeze. It froze in my trunk, and is currently thawing on my desk.
• Snowmageddon: the first day I took my car to school we got 10 inches of snow. I hadn’t bought a snow shovel yet. It was tragic. My whiny vlog about it made CNN though!