I've made up my mind. I think.

Now that summer has arrived with a vengence, the dreaded fact that my car a/c doesn't work has become a discomfort I can no longer avoid. I took it to my mechanic (at his home on his day off) and he discovered where the leak is. That diagnosis and coolant cost $100. My decision to correct the leak (order and pre-pay a high-pressure hose) cost me $153.00 at the Honda dealer (thankfully I got my mechanic's discount). I'll have to pick up the hose, and that's likely to cost me lunch and a matinee movie with my son (all done by driving the car without a/c). Then next Sunday, I am to return to my mechanic's home where he will install the hose, fill 'er up with coolant (spend more money), and then we pray there isn't a leak some place else. Or that the condensor doesn't then shit the bed.

That's it. New brakes (replaced original rotors from 1989/250k+ miles), a new clutch, failed initial smog check, and now the a/c has caused as much money to be spent on the car as I could get (with a working a/c) if I tried to sell it. I love that car, but I'm done spending money on it. It's carried us around for nearly 15 years, trouble free. It will be a sad day when it's time is up, but reading a review about a Honda CR-V emitting less pollution than 10 cars combined from ten years ago makes me feel like having a more environmentally friendly ride would be a nice contribution to our world.

Maybe I'll just buy oil and keep adding a quart...save money on actual oil changes...