Here in Sweden, all cars must be inspected each year before they’re cleared to be registered and driven. In most ways I like this system because it means that you can always be pretty sure that your car is in good, safe working order. I’ve spent enough years of my life driving undependable rattle-traps that I really appreciate my car having regular, thorough check-ups. I appreciate less having to spend hundreds of dollars replacing parts that don’t really need replacing. One of the faults the inspectors found on our car a couple of weeks ago was a crack on the glass of one headlight. Apparently it can’t be repaired and the new part will have a price tag somewhere in the five-hundred-dollar range. Ouch. Even the auto repair shop balked a bit at that and said they thought we’d be okay to leave it, since the crack doesn’t impair the light’s function. Unfortunately, the inspectors don’t see it the same way, and if we don’t have it fixed, we can’t drive the car. The mechanic has been trying to find a used part at a junkyard, but so far hasn’t had any luck, and we have only until the 14th to get it done. Terrific.
The good news is that the only other problems were that the light above the license plate was out and that the emergency brake didn’t work. Both things were fixed today, so at least that’s done. Less good is that the bill for that part came to about $600. Thank god for plastic currency.
We’ll undoubtedly be putting even more strain on our credit cards in the coming week, since the lot of us are heading down to Uppsala for five days. Olof has to work the entire week, but Lydia will be on spring break and we haven’t all gone anywhere together for a while, so we figured we’d make a little trip of it. I’m sure I’ll be rethinking the wisdom of that plan after a week of schlepping three kids around on public transportation in Stockholm and Uppsala, but right now it still sounds like fun. I’m sort of hoping it will get us off the hook with Lydia as far as going away for vacation this summer is concerned. It seems that the most important thing for her about vacations is getting to stay in a hotel, and we’ll have that part covered. If I throw in a couple of trips to Pizza Hut and a toy store or two, we just might be in the clear.
I used to live in Uppsala–if you want to go to a really nice little cafe, try Hugo’s on Svartbäcksgatan. It is crowded but they are super child-friendly (or at least used to be), fetching you water if you are nursing and toys for babies, and so on. Across the street is a shop called Viola Ros, where an older lady sits and sews fantastic cloth bags, baby bibs, baby smocks, etc. I always end up buying things there. And, if you have been to Uppsala before, you probably know about the Uppsala English Book Shop, which you can get to from a courtyard on the same street or around the corner on St. Olofsgatan. I used to tell stories there in exchange for books!
Here in lovely Mississippi US – you have to do the same – and as I just found out, they won’t pass me with my HUGE windshield crack — out comes the plastic as well…