The Joy of a Reliable Car (and a Little Entertainment Along the Way)
There’s something undeniably satisfying about driving a car that just works. After years of dealing with a finicky Ford Explorer that had an air conditioner that crapped out, I can now appreciate the simple luxury of reliable climate control. For a few years, I drove with the windows down in that old car, even when it wasn’t exactly comfortable. I’d tell myself that 75° outside didn’t require the air conditioning.
Even with the wind in my face, there were a few problems. No AC was manageable, but there’s only so much you can handle when your car is requiring constant repairs. Every couple of years, a major part of the car would break down, and I’d end up spending around $800 just to keep it running. After a while, I realized that I wasn’t getting much out of it—like holding onto an old computer that’s slowly falling apart. Eventually, I let it go and upgraded to something more reliable.
My new car, with its working air conditioning and heat, feels like a huge upgrade. It even has heated seats and climate control on both sides of the car, which is fantastic. And to top it off, there’s a backup camera—a feature I never thought I’d be so grateful for, but here I am, driving confidently with it. I’ve learned that sometimes, making the sacrifice to save up for something like a dependable car pays off. If you’re still driving a clunker, it might be worth skipping some of the unnecessary luxuries like 5 different tv/movie streaming services and putting that money toward something you actually need. Trust me, a reliable car will change your life.
BTW… I’ve noticed something about streaming services. It’s easy to get caught up in paying for multiple subscriptions, but I’ve realized that many services share the same content. For example, you can catch the Godzilla series on Tubi for free (with ads) and then next month it’ll be on one of the other platforms. I’ve seen Batman movies move from Max, to Amazon Prime, and then to Netflix, and then back to MAX, and then on Tubi! So why not just stick to one service, enjoy the original content they offer, and drop it when you're done? It’s about trimming the excess and making your subscriptions work for you.
Speaking of Godzilla, I recently caught up with the Godzilla series on Apple TV+, which I had previously cancelled but reactivated to watch the 2nd season of “Severance”. It dives deeper into the origins of the monsters, and it’s fascinating to get more context about what’s happening behind the scenes in those epic battles. The show was great. One problem i’ve had with a couple of them is the character Milli Bobby Brown plays. Honestly, I’ve also reached my limit with Millie Bobby Brown. She was charming in the first season of Stranger Things, but now? I'm starting to feel like she's overdoing it, much like Dakota Fanning did in her younger years. But I digress.
Looking ahead, I’m pretty psyched about the upcoming Thunderbolts movie. I’ve avoided spoilers, which is tough in this day and age, but I’m going in almost completely cold. There’s a lot of speculation about the bad guy— the internet thinks it’s “Sentry”… although i haven’t watched an more trailers or read any articles since the Superbowl. I always end up seeing a bad review like IGN will write a bad review of every superhero movie now probably because it gets them more clicks. I want to go in fresh, I hate accidentally seeing reviews for movies or spoilers in my google news and then I go into the movie with the subconscious thought of “Why didn’t they like this movie?”, then I spend the whole movie-watching experience with preconceived notions.
I’m just excited for a solid, ground-level action film. After enjoying Black Widow and the Captain America sequels, I’m looking forward to what’s coming next.
That’s it for now—excited to see Thunderbolts this weekend and share my thoughts afterward. Until then, I’ll be cruising around with my car’s air conditioning blasting and enjoying the ride.
