happiness punctuated with shock (but no awe)

So, Wednesday night, me and my lady watched dodgeball. Very entertaining, not quite up to the 5 star review it got in the Guardian, but certainly as good a slacker comedy as any of recent years. Let’s face it, no matter how highbrow you claim to be, people getting hit with stuff is funny.

Left the cinema on a wave of joy with a sprinkling of tiredness, as did Amy. We got in the car to head home. Amy drove into a pillar. Not fatally, obviously, but there is quite a scrape and a dent in the passenger side of our little Fiesta now.

So what happened? Proof, if needed, that happiness is a dangerous drug. We were in a space with another car parked to the right, a pillar to the rear left, and an empty space to the left. After getting in the drivers seat Amy, in her euphoric haze, managed to forget about the trifling matter of the pillar and saw only the empty space. She then proceed to reverse to the right at speed, pulling the front of the car across the empty space and meeting merrily with said pillar. Bugger.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not really all that bothered about scratches on the car (they add character!). But I do have a nagging fear of the day when we’ll need to buy a new one. I can’t bear the thought of this. I just can’t handle the ‘big’ purchases of modern life – anything that involves money, other people, time and effort gives me a terrible fear, be it getting new windows or a hair cut. There is this whole social contract to be negotiated and I just don’t want to. And, invariably, you get ripped off. I just want to be left alone to stay at home and get on with interesting stuff, and I want everything that is useful and necessary (car/computer/house etc.) to just keep working and hold it together. Is that so much to ask?