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Thursday, October 12, 2006

Cha-ching

The guy who would do the work on my Civic finally got around to coughing up an estimate yesterday. He thinks he can put the back bumper back together, but it needs a new front bumper, radiator, and radiator mount — all but the latter can be found on the aftermarket. What’s harder to find is either the $1800 it would take to do it, or the motivation to come up with the money in the first place. I only paid $3000 for the car in the first place, after all. I would have said “do it” without hesitation for $1000 or less, and would have had to think about it for $1500. Right now, I’m ready to write it off, because there could well be some damage to the front end beyond the radiator that isn’t easy to see. On the other hand, if $1800 would also fix the air conditioning and fix the alignment issues I’ve been having, it could be worth it. Mrs. Fetched points out that we probably wouldn’t find anything as good for $1800, so it may get another chance.

In other news, The Boy finally had his court appearance this morning. The lawyers worked out a plea arrangement (and as it turns out, they were the only ones on the morning’s docket that had settled on something) that got him a year of probation and fines. I think the judge would have liked to slap him, but given that his case was the only one ready to finish up, she may have felt pressured to accept the arrangement.

Between the fines, the fees, what he had to pay the lawyer, and the other things he has to do (like take a DUI course and have periodic drug tests), he’s going to be out $2000. Personally, I would just as soon have seen him get a trip to first-offender boot camp, except that the penal system shows itself incapable of handling diabetics. Mrs. Fetched would like to see him have to get his GED as a condition of his probation. Even with just fines and probation, this is going to be hanging over his head for a long time to come.

3 comments:

  1. Very true, FARf -- probation is not easy for some folks to get through successfully. I hope it goes smoothly for The Boy and he learns some better habits as a result.

    (Sometimes I wish this wasn't quite so public a forum....)

    ReplyDelete
  2. ...which is why I don't use real names on this blog.

    He hasn't shown himself to be concerned overly much, which is worrisome. In fact, he tried to tell us that we couldn't kick him out because he has to continue living "in the jurisdiction." Since that means the county, and perhaps the next county where his probation office is, he certainly doesn't have to live at FAR Manor. (And he won't, if he doesn't start showing some willingness to accommodate our wishes.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi FARfetched.

    I had a relative a good while back that spent a few days in the county jail. That seemed to turn him around.

    Hope The Boy sees the light soon.

    ReplyDelete

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