starting with bad news, cause it's always more fun

bad news:
I took my car to a mechanic yesterday, found out that I'm going to need about $1000 in repairs, it needs axel boots (front and rear), 4 new tires, air intake (current one has a hole), and wheel alignment. to top it off, I guess when I took it in, the mechanic did something, possibly took the duct tape that was covering the hole of the intake off (the previous owner did the duct tape job, not me! I swear!) and so, when I tried to drive home tonight, the car would die while idling, so I had to gas it even when I was stopped, just to keep it running.

good news:
I got a 25-cent per/hour raise today!