So, yesterday when I went out to leave work, I put the key into the Mercedes and it would not turn at all. I jiggled things for about 20 minutes and no luck. Christian came up and did the same for another 20 minutes or so, nothing. We had to leave the car in the parking garage here at work overnight.

I also researched forums online and found out that this is apparently common for old MB’s and that we are going to have to replace the ignition cylinder ($$$). Our mechanic (who is awesome) agreed when we called him this morning. However, since it is locked up and the wheel is locked up, we need to have it towed to the mechanic. The steering wheel is locked up so we can’t put it in neutral and push it down because there is no steering.

But, here is the problem. The parking garage has a ceiling with a clearance of 6 foot 9 inches. WHO BUILDS A PARKING GARAGE THAT SHORT? The car is on the fourth floor. We have found that no form of traditional towing vehicles can make it under that height of ceiling. The only thing that could get in is something like a pickup truck. We had 2 companies try and fail so far. Christian actually had to take a personal day from work and has been calling towing companies from 9 AM until 3 PM today, waiting for them to come out and fail, and then try more companies. We finally found someone who claims they have a small enough vehicle but since we can’t have them coming into the garage and blocking traffic during busy times (7-9 AM, 4-6 PM), they are going to have to come at something like 10 AM tomorrow. Which means another personal day. Then we get to pay a lot of money to our mechanic for the repairs.

Also, in the last 3 weeks the places we get our veggie oil to run the car have dried up. We are not sure if someone else is also taking the oil for their car or if the collection company is coming more often or what.

But I am about tired of this car, myself. It is very nice looking and the veggie oil is a good idea, in theory. However, if there is no oil available, diesel is $4.50 right now and that is not so fun. You know what I would like? An electric scooter to ride to work. Yep.