So my car payment coupon book ended in November of 2008, and I celebrated. I’ve been paying for the Focus for the last five and a half years in blood, sweat, and tears. Like, literally. My solitary revels, however, were tempered by the fact that I hadn’t received any payoff information from Sovereign Bank. I fully expected to open my mailbox one day and find a bill for several thousand dollars in late payment fees, past-due installments, or excess interest charges. That’s just how it’s been, owning this car – right when you think you’re out of the woods, something else creeps up and fucks you in the ass.

Too graphic? You have NO IDEA.

This is the car whose transmission blew in the middle of the Bronx on New Year’s Eve, with only 18,000 miles on the odometer. This is the car whose check-engine light came on, and stayed on, for the entirity of the manufacturer’s limited warrantee, prompting me to eventually sue the Ford Motor Company and win a paltry amount that would barely cover one solid repair bill. This is the car whose alternator gave out in the middle of Back Bay, on the same day I learned that our funding for the film had been pulled and that I’d have to go on unemployment. This is the car that’s needed struts, springs, belts, tie rods, an entire rewiring of the steering column for god only knows what reason – whose motor mount actually FELL OFF while driving on the Mass Pike.

So, when I finally called Sovereign Bank on Friday, I expected the worst.

I did not expect to hear that not only was my car paid off, but that I would be receiving a refund check in the mail within the next week.

PAID OFF CAR!!! PAID OFF CAR!! PAID OFF CAR!! ANnnnnD, a refund check.

So awesome.