bad Car-ma

As Dave Barry would say, "I am not making this up."

So The Dealership (see previous blog) did call and said, basically, "We will charge you almost as much as the van is worth to fix it for you. Or if you buy a new car from us, you can trade it in for about a third of what it is worth. OR, if you buy a used car from us, we'll just keep your van for no extra charge." I decided to have it towed back home until I could decide what to do. (it makes a pretty good storage shed, actually.)

So the declarer of it as healthy (see previous blog) feels REALLY bad about having done so, even though he drove it, like, 500 miles (I'm still not making this up) before giving it back to me, just to be sure it really was healthy. So...feeling as bad as he does about it, he is going to replace the transmission for me for about 1/3 of what the dealership wanted. O-K. good news. Just the logistics of getting it back down to the shop three hours away, but he can handle that, too. With a minimum of grovelling at his boss's feet, he hopes.

So...just gotta juggle cars with Mom and sister until the other sister leaves Sunday and I can use Mom's Geo until the behemoth is fixed and I can get some financial wrangling done around the divorce settlement so I can get something a little more economical to drive. >sigh< Good-enough news.

So sister juggles cars with her husband to get us all down to Monterey in one vehicle to spend a "Night at the Museum" (see future blog). Works out fine. comfortable car, though I am not allowed to help drive because its a company car....

Monterey with kids & cousin and sis. Beach, playground, beautiful weather, sunburned nose, cool aquarium overnighter...phone call from Mom. Stranded on the highway. Geo is dead. Bad news.

(I am not making this up.)