What does it mean when your car sounds like a strangled cat?

So how was your day?

Did you have to pay $453 because of shoddy car repairs from earlier in the year?

At least I had a pretty awesome day at work (sorry, can't share any details) to balance it out.

For the past few months (yeah, I know), my car has been making this squealing sound. It would only last for a few seconds, and I thought to myself "Hmm, that could be expensive," so I ignored it.

Last night the squealing got louder, lasted longer, happened more frequently and was accompanied by grinding sounds.

Can't really ignore that.

We dropped it off at our new mechanic (whose name is my Mom's maiden name) this morning, and while I waited to hear back, I got some sympathy out of Facebook:

Turns out my alternator - which was only a few months old - was cracked and loose. Bolts were missing. Etc. The belts were actually fine, just needed to be tightened or something. The mechanic could tell the alternator was new, and gave it to me so I could take it back to the other place to see if they would at least refund the price of the part.

The part that cracked off is taped to the top. The hole in the front is where the part should be.

But, the good news is my car no longer sounds like a cat being strangled.

The bad news is I have spent too much damn money on that car this year. And this isn't the first time someone else discovered shoddy work from that mechanic, and shoddy work that ultimately cost me more money for someone else to fix.

You know what would make my day better? If you entered my Active Bands giveaway by donating $5 to the American Cancer Society :)