car troubles

Well I've been experiencing a lot of car troubles lately. I've definitely been tested with patience. Of course it was my fault, I waited till the last minute to look at my car registration information and realized a couple days before it was due that I had to get my car smogged. Once I realized this, I started to stress. My check engine light had been on for awhile, but I've been putting off fixing it till I got a job. Unfortunately I had to get it fixed in order to do the smog check so that I could get my car registered for 2009. Anyway, I took my car to Meineke to get checked out and they told me that the third cylinder was misfiring and they needed to change out all the spark plugs, gaskets, and the coil in the third cylinder. After that bill of $585 I had to drive 100 miles so that the computer would clear and they could do the smog check. So I drove 185 miles, and just my luck....the check engine light came back on. Geez, what a bummer! I had driven out to San Clemente to camp with my cousins and had to leave early to fix the car...again. So back to Meineke I went. Now they had to change out the fuel injector. That cost another $200! So after spending (borrowing) all this money, my car was fixed. I was able to get the car to pass smog with flying colors! Finally that stress is over with!