car woes

my poor little honda has been conking out on me.  as i slow down to a stop at a sign or light to turn, all the lights on the dash go crazy, i lose power steering and my gas pedal won't let me push down on it.  in the past week i've become a pro at flipping on my emergency blinkers and idling over to the side of the road to turn off and on the in a matter of seconds. (although, it seems like a lot longer with cars behind me!)  called around to some honda shops and garages and explained my problem.  most agreed it must be the alternator.  i took it into kragen for a free alternator test and low and behold, it was indeed the alternator!  was mighty proud of myself for accurately describing the problem over the phone since i am not a car person.  purchased a new one with a lifetime warranty for $292 (ouch!) and assisted shrek as he installed it the next day.  am really liking having such a handy boyfriend around :)

car woes don't stop there, unfortunately.  shifting's been a bit rough and i realized i was way overdue (about 9,000 miles!) for a major service.  saved about $150 by taking it to a generic automotive garage (found with excellent yelp reviews) instead of the honda dealership.  still paid a pretty penny, tho, but what's that saying?  something about an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?  yeah, the kicker is after all that my car conked out on me AGAIN on my way home from work!  what's the deal?!