I got the Mini back this morning for the ridiculous price of $1,839.87. For that I got four new tires (they didn’t have three to match the one they put on in January, so they gave me a fourth free to replace it). I also got new front struts and a wheel alignment, and something else I can’t remember without looking at the bill, which is in the glove compartment.

The tire/mechanic place has a deal with a neighborhood car rental agency in which they’ll pay for a rental car (you buy the gas) if they have to keep your car for any length of time, so I found myself in a Hyundai Elantra yesterday afternoon and this morning. They call that thing a compact? It was a four-door sedan, for crying out loud.

I was driving it back to the agency this morning and found myself in an awful traffic mess. Apparently a cement truck dumped its load on the freeway going westbound, and the only road which I could take to get to the car rental place is also an alternate route to the freeway entrance. So what might take me 8 minutes during a normal day took me 25 minutes at 10:00 AM this morning, and I’m afraid I used a few bad words while I was traversing it.

I got there and dropped the car off and was given a lift down to the car repair place where I was able to retrieve the Mini with its new tires and its lovely silence when making turns. It hurt the wallet, though.