Cars, the Blessed Curse!

Jon and I just might start pulling our hair out in the very near future! All three of his and all ten of mine . . . In the last few months, we have been going crazy in our immediate and extended family trying to keep everyone on the road.

The first really BIG problem. Sarah was going down the road, well, actually waiting at a red light. Her car just shuddered slightly and then the engine died. After trying to restart it a couple of times, the engine jammed and she has spent the summer trying to save up the money for a rather costly repair. It has been in the shop for two weeks and hopefully, the engine head will be delivered tomorrow so they can put it all back together, empty the repair bay it is sitting in and we can get our Bravada back.

While Sarah was working her little tail off trying to save up money for her repair, the Bravada refused to start one day. Stephen ran down and changed the fuel filter, Jon was out of town. It definitely needed to be changed, but that didn't fix the problem. SO, she called me back, I went down to get her, bring her home so she could take the van while we got the Bravada fixed. When we got in and started the van . . . . . it had to think about it and then finally kicked off. ARRGGH! We went straight to Costco to get a new battery, it was sounding a little sluggish to Jon that weekend and I didn't want Sarah to get stranded! They didn't have much so we had to go over to a car parts place, drove up to Mariah's place and visited while the engine cooled enough we could get under there and change the batteries. Off Sarah went.

That left me with the truck, which I kept here because it had a tire leaking and I didn't want Sarah to get stranded. It had such horrible tires losing rubber, I took it in an

d got tires all the way around. Jon was thrilled, NOT! They tried their hardest to let them put "truck" tires on it because the ones that I put on were really meant for SUV's. Too Bad! I decided to not say anything to Jon to see how long it would take him to notice . . . . he noticed the first

morning he was home. Now this is the guy that could get attacked with the garbage it is piling up so high and wouldn't notice . . . . interesting, huh?!?!? ;-} Gotta love him!

As soon as I got those tires on that ugly truck, I called Sarah and had her com

e and bring my van, the one with the radio, good shocks, and good AC,

back to me. I know, mean old mom. At least I filled the tanks of that gas hog for her!

Last week, Brianna called. She was planning to take Rob's car to work. It wouldn't start. She had to jump into her van, race off to her parents' home to drop off the girls and get to work. Jon was home, so we went over to to check it out. He cleaned up one terminal and it seemed to be OK. Brianna went drove her van to work and the window got stuck down, in the heat, letting all the cool air out. Jon & I went over to the school she is teaching at and tried to put the pick up battery in it (explanation coming) The cable in Rob's car was too short and those silly things can cost as much as a battery. He cleaned the other terminal and left a note for Brianna to turn everything off when she started it to try to keep the battery going for a time until someone can get a new battery or her van window fixed.

Now, why would we take the battery out of our pickup? Because last week when poor Stephen borrowed the truck, the horrible thing caught on fire. When he called, I thought he was giving me a hard time because I always tease him about his "bucket of bolts". Suddenly, I realized he was serious! When he said alternator, I knew what was up. It did the same thing to me a few years ago. Jon put one on that wasn't supposed to do that again! Since he was OK, I asked if it burned to the ground. I was disappointed when he said" no", but then remembered that we don't have comprehensive coverage on it.

So, with Ed's help and trailer, it is now parked in the back yard, with Rob's ugly jeep, looking sad and forlorn. Thank goodness Sarah's car is out of there. We would be turned for running a wrecking yard in a residential zone! I would like to just sell it for what we can get out

of it, but remembered that I am going to have to haul blocks, soil and materials as soon as it cools off . . . HA!

So now I am trying to decide if I like cars or not. Not really, I love my AC. radio, smooth shock absorbed ride, especially in this eternal heat . . . but boy howdy! Give us break already!

A Few Days Later---Stephen just found out that they need two catalytic converters. The Huish luck holds on!! Brianna said that she was not warned about the Huish Luck before she married Rob. Wonder if Stephen was warned . . .

Still my sentiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .