Unfortunately I am struggling right now. What else is new? Looming medical tests, and the possibility that the new career I had planned will not happen.
I realized today that I can't attend a friend's birthday party in two weeks. I've spent the last few days car shopping but it's clear I won't have a vehicle in time - and even if I did get a vehicle it's a 3-hour round trip at night driving an unfamiliar route to an unfamiliar city. I am renting a car for a few days next week when a different friend comes into town, but rental cars are much more costly than I had thought. I honestly can't believe the prices of everything, and there is a shortage here - car dealers can't even keep stocked with new or used vehicles. Used vehicles are 3x the price they were just a few years ago. I refuse to pay a ridiculous price and I am also fussy about the kind of vehicle I want (for the first time in my life I won't be buying the cheapest, smallest car I can get, because we have particular needs now living where we do). I am also thinking to buy an electric or at least hybrid vehicle, because gas costs are high here and will no doubt soar using the situation in the middle east as justification.
She will have other people at her birthday and I'm not quite sure why I am beating myself up over this. My husband thinks I shouldn't go. And I have to admit that even though she is a pretty good friend, she would never make that trip for me despite owning her own car. Yes, I chose to move away from the city and therefore I am willing to go further for things, but not if I have to pay hundreds for a rental car on top of it. And I guess maybe for the first time in my freaking life I could be a bit self-protective. I'm an extravert and risk-taker which is why I would even consider driving alone through strange cities at night, something many women wouldn't do (it's a girls-only party so I can't bring my husband and he doesn't drive due to poor vision).
