After getting off to a rocky start at work because of my ankle, I am getting into the swing of getting up early, getting to know the company, and the way things are done here. So far, so good. The first week was spent trying to figure out how Visual FoxPro 7 works, and cursing at how different it is from any other thing I’ve developed in. The editor and debuggers are shit, the DBMS is shit, but on the other hand, it’s fairly easy to make simple things. I guess it’s a matter of taste.
I’ve found that, like any small company, many things aren’t formally taken care of yet, so a lot is left to your own capabilities to make it happen. Also, you’re not pampered with “perks of the job,” so to say, so here and there it’s rather spartan. But in these economically difficult and strained times, I’m not complaining at all. The job, though not the most enthusing job I can imagine, will most likely get better as time goes by, and until that time I’ll enjoy the fact that it’s paying my bills.
My ankle is still giving my grief, and the swelling doesn’t seem to subside past a certain point, which makes me wonder if I ruptured tendons or ligaments and I should get a physician to check it out. I think I’ll make an appointment for next week somewhere. That reminds me; I’m in a bad need of a haircut.
My car! Oh, I almost forgot…
…the garage/dealership where I bought my car was also the one that initially gave me a quote on the damages. They sent me a list of damages, and prices, which I faxed to the nearest official Honda dealer, with whom I’ve always had a very good relationship, ever since I bought my Civic there. I talked to the head mechanic, and he said that he reckoned that the amount of money that was charged for the repairs were accurate, but that a lot of the costs could be cut by opting for spare parts instead of factory-brand-new ones. But he wasn’t sure about any of that until he got a look at my car. So we arranged for a salvage company to tow the car from the other dealer to the Honda dealer.
The mechanic gave me a ring, and told me that he would be able to repair the car for about 3200 euro less than the original quote I got from the other mechanic. He said that he had easier access to spare parts because of his Honda affiliation, and because he also had been in contact with another company who had a similar Del Sol that had sustained a bunch of cosmetic damage in a crash, of which he could get the suspension, and some other parts. So that cut the costs tremendously. Also, the cosmetic damage didn’t seem like such a big thing, neither, because instead of replacing the entire shield, they’d simply work repair the dent. Perhaps I could even get the dents in the trunk of my car repair in one go. I’ll have to ask.
The only thing the mechanic was loathed to take into account was the costs for the rims, since he wasn’t sure what it’d take to repair those, and get some new tires, etc. I think that’ll be okay. Now, the only thing I need to take care of is my payment plan. I have an idea on how to do it, but it would send me even further in debt, which is something I’m not really looking forward to. I have made it a priority to make sure I square my debts within the next two years, which is a real time-span considering the amount of money I still owe left and right…
…anyway, the mechanic told me that it would take a while for them to repair the car since they were up until their ears in work. I told him that it would allow me some more time to gather the money, so that I didn’t mind at all. And seeing as how my father was sweet enough to give me a car – a shitty, three-hundred euro car, mind you – that I could use in the meantime, and the fact that I’m not relying on my car for home-work transportation, I think everything will be okay.
On a completely unrelated note; I heard that one of my ex-girlfriends – a girl I haven’t spoken to in well over 5 years, dropped by my Kung Fu class while I wasn’t there to ask about joining up. I hope to run into her one of these days, because I wouldn’t mind catching up a bit, and seeing what has become of her.
