Friday morning, my car broke down again! Well, it’s not broken but the battery was dead and the engine wouldn’t start. We had the same issue a few months ago and we got a new battery. So something else is going on…according to my husband. My husband likes cars and messing with them. His job involves mechanical repairs/maintenance and audits so I put a lot trust in him about cars.

However, it’s uncomfortable when I need to drive my car with the check engine light on. Again, according to my husband, the cause of it was nothing critical. Here’s the thing. What if something else is happening? And if it’s a big issue? I’ll never be able to notice since the engine light is already on, until I literally end up getting stranded in the middle of the road somewhere. I am especially nervous because I almost always drive with my kids in the car. So the last couple of weeks, the engine started acting up especially when I drive over this bridge. It’s a little bit uphill so I have to press on the gas to keep up with traffic. When I do, it makes weird noises and doesn’t speed up as it’s supposed to do. Also, when I need to speed up to merge into the lane, it doesn’t do it so I’m very scared and told my husband that I couldn’t take it anymore!

So Friday, we went to a car dealership and bought a new car. Buying a car involves a lot of red tape for me! I thought I could get around by myself anywhere but I couldn’t help but realize that my vocabulary isn’t enough at all. When they explained the mechanical issues of the car, I had a hard time following them…and when we went through the paperwork for the payment, the insurance and everything, I wasn’t able to keep up with them. I didn’t know the meaning of “principal” when it’s used with loans, though I knew other meanings of it and “interest.” Anyway, we spent around five hours at the dealership, including test drives. My husband looks happy with the new car, saying that my barricade/block (to buy a new car) wasn’t as strong as he thought.

Of course, I’m glad to get a new, safe car and happy for him. It’s nice to have a car which is roomy, comfortable and clean.

In relation to happiness, I recently heard this podcast taking about happiness. The guest said that life has its ups and downs. Good things and bad things happen. And that affects the level of our happiness, but only in the short term. In the long run, we stay around the same level of happiness. We eventually level out whatever happens.

I felt she had a point. At the same time, if it’s a car, which may have a direct impact on our lives, I think Maslow's hierarchy of needs is applied and the safer car contributes to satisfy the second step of his pyramid “safety.” Which is more basic needs of a human. Even though we can get used to anything eventually, I still do think if our “safety” needs are not satisfied, it’s hard to feel happy. Well, I guess she was talking about the level of happiness after a certain point where all the basic needs are satisfied, then it probably remains around the same.