From Bad to Worse

Just when we thought things really couldn't get worse for our family, the wolf is at our door. This whole string of bad luck started on December 15th, and we really think it should be done by now! It's a strange Murphy's luck vortex that we just can't seem to get out of.

First our youngest fell through the ice, then our oldest had his ear impaled with a stick, the dryer gave up the ghost and the car Mark uses for work conked out one fine pre-dawn morning in the middle of nowhere. He was working a 12 hour shift, gone from 3:30 in the afternoon until 6:30 in the morning and we were unable to make a decision on how to proceed with the ancient Buick until that was over.

Despite the mechanic telling us he didn't know how long the car would last if he fixed the alternator, we decided to go ahead with the repair. The $366.57 (including tow) repair. After all, it's not like we were intending for Mark to use it for his daily 50 mile each way commute. We weren't even intending to use it for our weekly 18 mile each way commute to Girl Scouts, or our weekly Writer's Workshop probably 8 miles away. No, we just wanted to get to gymnastics, dance, the library and maybe the gym - all within a four mile radius of our home.

We picked up the land barge this morning. I insisted Mark come back home with it so I wouldn't be stranded on the highway with three kids in the back and the mercury not quite at 10 degrees. We did OK on the highway for maybe 10 miles and then it started making noises. When we were off the highway, Mark discovered he couldn't stop without the car dying. We just barely made it home, Mark took side streets, blew through stop signs and got very lucky with traffic. It died at the end of the driveway, emitting a strange metallic, oil and burnt plastic smell.

So, we made a bad decision. We need to move on. We really need to move the dead Buick out of the driveway or we'll have to plow around it. And we need a new car.

I'm trying to find the silver lining. I know there has to be one.