The kids and I went to the store to pick up a (very) few grocery items, a kick stand for Kaylen's bike (she is without training wheels now! YAY!) and a birthday gift for a party Kelton was invited to on Sunday. As I pulled into the parking lot, my car started making a terrible squeaking sound. Now to be fair, the sound has been coming and going for about two weeks now and when it was gone, I could fool myself into thinking it was nothing. Yesterday is was clear I could deny it no longer. It was screaming to be heard. Literally. And it didn't stop. As in people were staring. A lot.
The kids and I did our shopping and then I drove the squeaky car over to Dakota's mom's apartment for a quick visit. (The kids have been itching to see their grandmother and I was missing her, too, so it was win-win for everyone.) After that, I drove home - with no squeak. ARGH!
With a drive to the beach on the agenda for next week, I decided to bite the bullet and call the repair place. I made an appointment for this morning to drop the car off at 8AM. My head was spinning full-on with how much it would cost. It's never cheap when I take my car in for work. Not ever. Damn Suzuki's.
In my blur of "What am I going to do?" I went to the washer and transferred the clothes to the dryer. I turned on the dryer and ....... OMG! Metal on metal grating, horrible sound. CRAP!!!!!!
With two kids and two dogs, there is a lot of laundry to be done around here. I cannot survive long without a dryer. The laundromat plus two kids holds little appeal though I would if I had to. I called the appliance repair place. I am familiar with the place because the dryer has needed a good amount of repair work over the years. I told them I thought it was the runner....again. They told me it was now $100 for them to arrive at my door. Damn. Ok. I had precious little choice. It's not like I can take it to them.
My stress level was through the roof. Who needs diet pills when a good hearty dose of "That's gonna cost a crap load of money you don't have." will do? I was a wreck.
The car. The dryer. Really? REALLY?!?!?! And let's not forget I'm still staring down the barrel of medical bills.
The phone rang. The kids grandmother called to let me know that Kelton had left his DS there. A look at the clock and I knew we had to leave right away to go retrieve the game and make it to the kids dentist appointments on time.
Oh yes, you read that right. I still had dental appointments to make it through.
We raced over, without the squeal, and picked up the game. I raced back to the dentist office (new patients mean lots of paperwork. Ugh!). We waited an hour before they called the first child in for x-rays. We were finally done two hours later. And then waited 40 more minute to be called up to the desk to hand over the $10 co-pay. (REALLY?!?!?! 40 minutes? I'm sure my children, with their
We made it home at 5pm.
Mommy poured herself a drink. A big one. A stiff one. :)
Then dinner, chores, time with the kids snuggling, watching a tv show with them and then reading stories before shipping all of us off to bed. They were out like lights.
No sleep for me though - I was too wired, worried and stressed out.
This morning I grabbed one of my favorite light jackets to layer over a camisole. I went to zip it except.....no zipper. I grumbled and grabbed something else. And then it hit me! NO ZIPPER! Metal on metal.
I went into the laundry room and opened the dryer door. I ran my hand around the drum edge and VIOLA! The zipper! I pulled it free, closed the door and hit start. No more noise! (It still needs work but nothing that can't wait for now. With a $100 walk to your door fee, that thing is going to be *not* working before the repair guy comes.) YES YES YES! I just "saved" $100 plus!!!
I got the kids up, ready and out the door by 7:30 to drop off my car - which squeaked all the way there and thankfully, one of the guys was in the parking lot so he heard it first hand. Nervously, I handed over my key and their door to door delivery service took the kids and me home.
I decided to further torture myself by balancing my checkbook and paying bills. Included in that was a call to the mortgage company because I didn't receive the August statement (the mortgage just went through an annual adjustment). Through a comedy of errors, and a thick Indian accent, I figured everything out (and it's a good thing I kept pushing because the first three figures he gave me were wrong.....better for my checkbook but sure to bite me hard on the other end).
While talking with the guy in India, my cell phone rang. I hit ignore and continued with my conversation. When I checked the message, it was from the car place. GULP. I called back and was told it wasn't as bad as I feared (Thank you, Jesus!). They could order the parts and, for a $20 expedite fee on the shipping on the part, have it done by tomorrow or I could wait a week. Ship that sucker tonight, please. It is the spring and adjuster for one of the rear brakes. All told, it is just over $100 to fix the squeal. I also asked that they do the long overdue (ummm.....I think it's been 18 months since I learned it needed to be done) transmission fluid flush. I have a coupon and since I was anticipating a MUCH higher bill, this feels like cake. Plus now I don't have to worry about my transmission going belly-up any time soon. I hope.
So for around $300 I am getting the car back into safe shape to drive my kids around. Yes, I have to put it on my credit card and pay it over time but at least I have that option and for that, I am grateful. Very grateful.
And considering the numbers that were racing through my head when I pulled myself from the safety of my bed this morning? I am super, super grateful.
Someone is watching over me today. Thank goodness.
1 comment:
Glad it all worked out. Always nice when that happens. Everything is sooo expensive these days and cars are the worst.
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