I've Got Good News & Bad News

The good news is the Carvana-coverage-approved garage finally got back to me with their estimate…

The bad news is their estimate was basically “We can’t help you. You need to bring this to a specialist. Good luck in all your future endeavors!”

The good news is there was exactly one specialist of the type recommended on the list of Carvana-coverage-approved repair shops & they said I could bring it in this morning!

The bad news is it was pretty far away…

The good news is nobody beeped at me angrily for driving very slowly the entire way & I made it there without another tire exploding due to whatever it is protruding from the underbody of my broken car that is shredding tires!

The bad news is I left my phone charger in the car because what was I gonna plug it into anyway?

The good news is, I thought to check my phone to see if there was a post office nearby because I need some of those free boxes to mail some Poshmark sales & there was one ONLY 800 feet away from the garage!

The bad news is it was 800 feet up a San Francisco-style hill & the temperature was already Hell degrees…

The good news is, they had the boxes!

The bad news is I didn’t really know how I was going to get home. My whole family has been using a lot of Lyfts lately due to our transportation challenges & I felt like there had to be another way.

The good news is I used my maps app to figure out a public transportation route & the first bus stop was also just a few feet away!

The bad news is I literally don’t know how to take public transportation in Los Angeles? I just never have! Is there a card? Token? How much does it cost & how do I pay? I almost threw up from anxiety. Or heat stroke. Could’ve honestly been heat stroke.

The good news is I figured out there was an app I could pay with & I downloaded it & the bus driver wasn’t mad that I had to wait a minute before it actually activated to pay. Then a digital dollar & twenty-five cents later, I was on my way!

The bad news is I always feel, on some level, that even if I have a map or directions on my phone, that I am going to get lost when I try to do things like this. And I often do!

The good news is that, on the bus, I was the youngest person. There was an older woman who was stooped over a walker, but otherwise, was a dead ringer for Sophia Loren, wearing vintage RayBans and pearls and a full-skirted floral dress with a portrait neckline . There was another woman her age who was sporty with a fanny pack. There was another woman their age whose hair was dyed that hotsy totsy orange color that made me think she was probably a killer dancer in her day. They all seemed relaxed even though the bus was very warm.

The bad news is that we pulled over somewhere & just waited. I didn’t know why but looked at my app, knowing I might miss the next bus I was supposed to catch & then I’d have to wait a really long time for the next one & the temperature had risen the Hell-ten degrees.

The good news is our bus driver was apparently clocking out & another bus driver came to relieve him & we were back on the road.

The bad news is we only made it a few blocks before the new bus driver pulled over & was like, “Why is this bus so hot? Something isn’t right. Let me look into this?”

The good news is I remembered, “Oh, shit, I have a call with Busy & someone important & it’s in five minutes!” I hate forgetting things & was proud that my brain snatched that one out of the Milky Way before it was too late.

The bad news is, it was a Zoom & I didn’t think I had much choice but to take it from the bus with the camera off & mostly muted. I tried SO HARD not to be “that person” doing their business on the bus, not caring that there were other people just trying to live their lives in peace & not hear my big business ideas. I have made fun of that person so many times! I’m not her!!! I wondered if those older women had a group chat & if they were texting, “WTF?” to each other about me.

The good news is, during the call, the new driver got the bus back on the road, saying, “It should cool down on here in a few minutes.”

The bad news is it did not cool down on there in a few minutes, and toward what I hope was the end of the call with Busy & the important person, my phone overheated & died.

The good news is…well, there wasn’t a lot of good news at this point. I needed my phone to make sure I was getting off the bus at the right stop & getting back on another bus at the right stop. And I still had a couple trains I needed to take. And, oh, I needed the fucking phone to even get on another bus because that is where my new virtual bus money was stored?

The bad news is, I panicked. I just gathered up my very sweaty free postal supplies, my Carvana folder which is now encrusted with salt-stains, my backpack & my dead phone & got the fuck off the bus, lest we keep driving to a new neighborhood I’ve never heard of, where the bus ends its route & I will have to settle down in & live forever because there is no way for me to call anyone for a ride or to even say, “This is where I live now.”

The good news is, there was a McDonald’s nearby. There often is! So, I went in to chill out (literally) & procure a pretty cost-effective mood enhancer that is available over the counter, a cheeseburger Happy Meal. It has HAPPY right in the title!

The bad news is that a woman was washing her hands with the soda fountain in there.

The good news is, a little family bowed their heads & said grace over their paper wrapped sandwiches.

The bad news is not enough french fries come in a Happy Meal. I only felt, like, 50% happier, at best.

The good news is I gave my toy to a little girl who kept looking at me over the back of the booth she was sitting in with her mom. It was “Mighty Thor” and she is a girl, now, I guess? That’s pretty cool.

The bad news is I still didn’t know how I was exactly gonna get home or even let anyone know where in the heck I was. I didn’t even exactly know myself! Not without my phone. I took it out of my backpack just to give it a dirty look.

The good news is, somehow, the cool air of McDonald’s had somewhat miraculously revived my phone. Even though the battery had drained to red as it overheated, it now had a yellow amount of battery? Is electricity just flying around McDonald’ses & into our phones? Did that little Thor girl figure actually have super powers that charged my phone just a teensy bit during the short time she was in my possession?

The bad news is…well, there wasn’t really anymore bad news at that moment.

The good news is, I immediately forgot my guilt about using too many Lyfts & called one that second. I did opt for the car that could come in 15 minutes instead of 5 to save 89 cents. I’ve never had a Lyft come in under 15 minutes under any circumstances anyway!

The bad news is I was then worried that my phone would crap out again in the 15 minutes while I waited for my car.

The good news is it did not.

The bad news is the Lyft driver did not seem to get it that I wanted to keep the windows down for Covid-mitigation purposes. He kept rolling them back up & turning up the AC. Otherwise, he was a perfect angel & when he asked how my morning was going, I really told him the truth & he said, “Ohmygod. OhmyGOD!” in all the right places.

The good news is I was home in twenty minutes and there was a fresh 8-pack of rootbeer in the kitchen.

The bad news is it was on the counter & not cold.

The good news is I’m drinking it anyway?

If you made it this far, you’re a nice person. I wanted to bail on it after the first two lines while I was living it! But now I gotta know, what’s your good news/bad news for your day, your week, your month or even your year? I’ll be there for you…to read it in the comments!