I went out to do some fixing up on the new BobMobile. It needed a new passenger side mirror because the old one took a dive off the side while I was adjusting it. It literally jumped off its little mounting bracket complete with cartoonlike popping sound, because it jammed up on something while the motor kicked it off the car. I watched it go, amazed.
Did it fall and survive, like countless cel phones and other breakable objects dropped from the same distance? No, of course not. It hit just right and shattered into a million tiny bits, and after I put it back on, it was worse than not having it at all, like looking at my blind spot through the compound eye of an insect. With one human eye and one insect eye. BrundleFlyEyeBob.
Anyhow, I went to the car repair part of downtown to see if I could find a replacement mirror, get a leaky tire fixed, and see about finding a new remote control for the car alarm, because the buttons on the old one bit the dust and all I can make it do now is panic and not let me start the damned car without hotwiring it. Meaning I have to disassemble the remote and short connections on it to re-enable the starter. Fun.
At some point I will tell you about the car repair part of town. Which is now.
So you go there, and it is chaos. Bad traffic, cars in and out of everywhere, driving and parking on the sidewalk, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria. First thing I see is a guy waving a broken mirror at me. I nod to him, and he motions for me to pull over. So I do. He takes a look, pops the mirror off, and says he will be right back. “How much you think it will cost?” I ask to his back as he runs off. Ah well, maybe he just stole a broken mirror. I know what is coming when he gets back– chamullos. MirrorBob returns in a few minutes with a nice new replacement for the old mirror, pops it in, and then tells me an absurd price, which I knew was coming. I laugh at him. “For that much I could get the whole assembly with the motor and everything.”
“Nah, that would run you at least 60,000.” he replies.
“Bullshit. Because I went yesterday and checked and they told me it was worth 35. Shall we go and ask them again?”
All of a sudden the mood changes and a realistic price emerges, which I pay. He scurries back under the rock with his other cockroaches as soon as money changes hands. New mirror: check.
I continue on to the street where every vendor sells car stereos and alarms. I am looking for a place a friend recommended, and I find it. I go in and ask them if they can replace the remote, but they can’t. It’s one of them fancy American ones which can’t be adjusted or matched, unless you send off for one with the same serial number or somesuch. Maybe if I find the shop that originally installed this one, but it’s old, and fat chance they are still selling the same ones. After some haggling and bidding wars with the neighboring shop, they agree to replace the whole alarm for 30k (USD$60) so I agree. And I get a better alarm system to boot. Fixed alarm: check.
After that I continued on to the street where tires are fixed. Total chaos. The road becomes more of a parking lot as folks pull in and out and service is done in the street. Touts ask you what you need and guide you into places which provide your specific service. It’s like a giant crazy pit-stop on a raceway, with crappy cars. In my case there was a screw in the tire and a bad valve stem. $20 and 20 minutes later it was all as good as new. Fixed tire: check.
Did I mention that I got all of this done within a couple of hours? Never would this happen in previous places which shall go unnamed.