For breakfast I had faux duck ramen, for lunch I had mac and cheese with black beans, for dinner I had tomatoe soup with mozzarella cheese, and for my healthy snack I had wasabi peas.

I got in more than enough exercise in a long walk that took me down Mass Ave to a tree-lined trail along the sludge river, then over Clarendon Hill, through Teele Square, and finally to Davis where I got a french soda at the Diesel Café.

Success again. Perhaps this is lucky 13.

I was in a bad mood and didn't want to deal with anyone. I was thinking of cutting or purging or self-harming, so I did what I've learned is a very healthy activity that really helps me get through a state like that: I went for a walk. I got as far as Foodmaster up by Arlington High School. I had intended to try to reach Lexington Center again, but I was feeling quite dizzy and it was quite sticky and muggy outside, so I decided to go into the air conditioned Foodmaster.

I was walking haphazardly through the isles until store employees started questioning me if I was looking for something and if I was feeling alright. I probably did look a bit strange wandering in a daze with neither a carriage nor a basket.

I left Foodmaster and headed back towards the house_of_clocks. However, shortly after I had set out on my return trip, purpleglitter stopped behind me and meowed. I was supposed to help her look at cars, and when she found out I wasn't at home she figured I had set off on a walk and came looking for me. I hopped in and we headed off to our first stop: a 1997 Ford Escort wagon at a dealership in Winchester.

The Escort looked fine from the outside. The first hint of trouble was the odd sound the engine made when the salesperson started it. However, the real problems were found after we got into it. The ceiling was a bit damp and the air coming out of the vents had a nautical flavor. The car had taken a dip. Needless to say, the car was a no.

After we left Winchester, we picked up some hot cheese-covered breadsticks at My Brother's Place and ate them at purpleglitter's apartment and then headed out to car #2: a 1996 Buick Century from a private seller in Union Square in Somerville, just one street over from our apartment on Dane Street in the mid 1990s.

The car had some noticeable damage on the front which the owner informed us was from him hitting a deer. While the damage was large enough to cause us pause, it appeared to be only cosmetic. Another issue with the car was the passenger window that would not open.

We took the car for a test drive, and it ran smoothly. purpleglitter drove down 93 and ended up getting lost on the side streets in Boston trying to turn around. Heading back we missed our exit into Somerville. When we were approaching the FoodMaster at Clarendon Hill, I called the owner to tell him that we were running quite late due to this.

After the call, the car died, and it died in an odd way. We were sitting at a stop light and the dashboard lights got dim. Then the speedometer shot up to seventy, darted several times between 50 and 70, then every went off. By everything, I mean we didn't even have hazard lights and were were stopped on the very busy Alewife Brook Parkway at night.

Cars whizzing by, we called the owner to explain the situation. He sounded a bit annoyed, and asked if we could get the car out of the intersection. While it was bit dangerous to get out in the traffic to push the car, it would have been more dangerous to leave the car sitting there, so I got out and pushed. We parked the car on Broadway just over the Arlington Line. There we waited for the owner to arrive.

The owner arrived in an SUV with a friend of his. He sounded a bit accusatory, and wouldn't believe at first that we hadn't done something reckless to damage the car. While him and his friend were trying to get the car started, I called iamacliche and asked him if he could give us a ride back to purpleglitter's car in Union Square. He told us that he only had room for one passenger, so I walked home while he took purpleglitter to get her car. Upon finding her car, purpleglitter found a $40 parking ticket on the windshield. An extra jab from whatever mischievous spirit was amusing itself with us today.