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The city shut down our concrete pour today, over a misunderstanding. And since neither they nor our builder thought about taking their damn cell phones out of their pockets and calling either M or I to ask one simple question, we are experiencing an unnecessary delay. Stupid. It's fixed now but poor M had to scramble all afternoon while developing ulcers.

I took the Zoemobile in for an oil change today. And asked them to please tell me why the power steering is whining and why the front end thunks going around corners or over uneven pavement. This, of course, resulted in more bad news about my beloved car. (We still haven't fixed the bad news oil leak from six months ago as we have been monitoring it and it's livable - haven't even needed to add oil!)

So, I got the bad news and drove the car home and came inside to start research. Because the mechanic basically said, "Yeah, you can drive it home. But that's about it." Something about not being able to pass a safety inspection (which thankfully isn't due for another two years), and high-pressure power steering fluid hoses, and power steering pumps, and struts, and tires unacceptable for winter weather. This is in addition to the leaking oil gasket and recommended timing belt replacement.

Warning: do not look up the blue book value of your cherished 15-year-old car if you're already in a bad mood.

Let's just say the estimated repairs are about four times the trade-in value. If the car was in full working order. I wanted to cry. I realize that I should not be surprised that my old car with nearly 200k miles on it needs work. I get that. But this car has been so damn reliable, so faithful. I mean, we have put virtually nothing into it (except consumables and a bit of tranny work that bought us five more years and so was well worth it), so I'm used to it just going and not needing anything. This is why I love the car. It has never let me down. It has been comfortable and dependable. It's practically a member of the family. (I know, my motorhead roots are showing...cars are more than just transportation to me.)

So we reviewed The Budget and talked to The Fathers and are hatching a plan. Since we don't want to purchase a new car this close to the end of the calendar year (hello January 1 tax assessment) this will soon become "Hey, remember that crazy month and a half where we both worked full time and had all kinds of other obligations and shared one car?! Boy, that was nuts!"

We will make it, of course, and I'm totally whining about a first-world problem, but it's been a shitty day and my head hurts so just indulge me for one post.

This day was NOT APPROVED. Because it has been yucky, I will now STOP WORK and go to bed.