So my mechanic and I started talking, and he's Belgian, and speaks French. So we chatted for a few minutes. I love doing that because I always remember or learn vocabulary. Today it was a few car-related words that I couldn't have remembered yesterday if my life depended on it. I told him that I was having transmission issues with the car not wanting to go into gear sometimes, and that sometimes I feel a slight little 'pop' under the brake pedal, and also that I needed an oil change, new wiper blades, and that the trunk latch doesn't always release from inside the car. I fully expected the transmission and brake issues alone to take a couple days and plenty of money.

After I spoke with him, I made the phone calls I needed to make, printed off resumes to go with my headshots in preparation for tonight's meeting, and went to bed about 11:15 or so.

I got all of 4 hours sleep. The mechanic called me at 3:30 to let me know that my car was ready, and that the transmission issue was only that whoever worked on it last had put the wrong kind of oil in it and it was too thick for it to easily go into gear when it was cold. I'm not 100% sure that was the only problem with it, but it seems to be working fine so far. He replaced the wiper blades, fixed the trunk latch, and found nothing wrong with the brakes. Total cost: $124.61. I just about jumped for joy when he told me the price. He could have charged me well over $1,000 and I would have been content enough to have the car fixed. I'd EXPECTED a charge of well over $1,000. To have it be such a low charge was incredible to me, and I was thrilled. So what I had earmarked from my tax refund for car repairs will go into savings for future car repairs or other unexpected/unplanned expenditures.

Mike took me back to the mechanic's to pick up my car, then I ran a quick errand and met up with him again at the commercial agents discussion tonight. The man who spoke tonight is a real character, and tells it to ya straight. It was a pleasure to listen to him speak, and to hear more about the industry. He also looked at everyone's headshots and commented on what he thought of them. It was great information to hear and great to get the feedback about our shots.

Then I dashed home to meet with my scene partner and rehearse our scene for tomorrow night's class. I was nervous about it - have been having trouble with brain fog and memorization, which isn't helped by not getting enough sleep, so I'm not entirely off book yet. Rehearsal tonight made the lines make more sense to me, and they started coming more easily. Tonight at work I need to practice them until I've got them fairly solid, and then a few minutes when I get up tomorrow should be sufficient to get through it in class.

Food-wise, I had a bit of goat cheese and a small lamb chop as a little snack before coming into work, a glass of soy milk when I got up, and earlier tonight I had a lamb burger with grilled onions wrapped in lettuce for 'breakfast' before Mike took me to pick up my car. He was strapped for time, and since I was awake and he was doing me a favor, I told him I'd go pick up some dinner for him - didn't have my car, so that limited where I could go, but he was fine with a burger from the place on the corner. They also have lamb, buffalo, venison, turkey, and ostrich burgers, so if I want a burger, that's where I go! Good stuff.

I'm really sleepy tonight and have been fighting a headache for a few hours now - I have GOT to make sure I get enough sleep! Tomorrow I should be able to get my 8 hours in, and then I head to acting class.