our hero rides off into the sunset...

and so our story comes to a close.

last we left off, i think my stella was towed off to midas. on monday morning i explained to them that all her lights came on but the engine didn't even think about turning over. why everyone thinks that sounds like a battery problem is beyond me, and why midas insisted it might be my battery when hamed and the aaa guy had both tried to jump my car is also beyond me. so it came as no big surprise when don from midas called and said "guess what? it's not your battery!!" and also as no big surprise when he ran some fancy-pants diagnostic test which told him exactly what the cab driver from friday night said without ever seeing the car -- bad starter. although unlike what the cab driver said, which was that the mexicans would fix my starter for $130, somehow at midas this same repair was going to cost $489, because also struts and something related to steering needed something or another. i don't know, i stopped listening at $4. i'm a little suspicious that don raised the price of my repair artificially (you think? at midas?) because he conveniently remembered that i was looking to get rid of the car. suddenly his daughter needed a car, and he had $400 to pay me, and that extra $82 diagnostic charge disappeared. so yesterday i took the title over to midas and left with $400 in my pocket. that seems better than a $500 repair. so now i feel that stella has a proper home with exactly what she needs: a young student who doesn't have money for a nicer car but needs to get to work, and has a father who happens to be a mechanic. everything comes to a nice happy ending. and puts me squarely where i belong, making better use of my two bikes.

it does, however, put me in the position of needing to name my bikes, which i haven't done in the few years that i've owned them. taking suggestions, with stella having been retired, and cicciolina in use as the name of my cell phone (i can't think of a better phone name than that of an italian porn star in parliament, can you?) anyone? the two girliest bikes on the road need names -- a mint green giant mountain bike, and a black specialized road bike with anodized purple wheels and matching water bottle cage? just get me a little white plastic basket with flowers for the fronts and i'll be in business.