What three day weekend?

The wife and I were looking forward to somewhat of an enjoyable three day holiday weekend this weekend. Granted, we did not have much planned (ok, we had nothing planned), but still, all of our plans that we could have had were shot. This posting kind of goes hand-in-hand with my previous posting, and you will see why.

Saturday started out pretty well. We all got up and got started on our day. In the early afternoon, the wife and I went grocery shopping without a problem. after getting home, and putting the groceries away, the wife decided that she was going to take our dogs to the dog park. At first she was a little upset when I told her that I didn’t want to go, but I think she understood when I told her to have our middle child sit up front (our youngest was going with her also) so that there was room for the dog in the car. After I told her that, she understood that there just wasn’t enough room for the entire family to go to the dog park anymore.

This is when our weekend totally went to shit. The wife, the girls, and the dogs were all in the car. When I looked out the window (cause they had been out of the house for a few minutes and I still seen the car in the drive) I seen the wife turn the key, but NOTHING! I go out there to see what is all going on. THE CAR WON’T START AT ALL!!!

I have been having this problem with the brake light staying on after I let my foot off the brakes pretty much since I got the car. So, to be safe (especially after I forgot to check last year when I had moved down and had no one to help me jump my car) I check the brake lights after I get out of the car, EVERY TIME! However, I do not recall checking them after we got home from the store. But, that is only because the trunk was open so that we could get the groceries out.

So, because the wife just decided to make dinner, and it was starting to get a little late, I told the wife that I would walk to the local Lowe’s to get a portable battery jumper in the morning. The next morning, yesterday morning, I hold true to my promise. I get up, eat breakfast, have a cup of coffee, and head out on my walk. It wasn’t too bad of a walk, only about 1.7 miles one way (except for the walk back which had a couple good sized hills that I had to walk up!).

After I get back home, and after the new battery jumper is charged up (surprisingly it only took a little bit, thank to the pre-charging the manufacturer does) I jump the battery and the car purrs like a kitten. I take the car for a ride to let the battery completely charge back up, come back home and turn it off and come back in the house. After a while, I go out and the car will not start AGAIN! I wait for the jumper to charge again. Once it is done, or at least charged up enough to jump the car, I take it out and get the car running again.

This time I just let the car run for about a half-hour. I figure that if the car runs that long, everything will be alright..right? Well, after about a half-hour, I go out, shut off the car, try to re-start it, and NOTHING!! Now I am totally pissed. I decide to wait a couple hours to re-jump the car, and decide that this time I am going to take it somewhere to get the battery and alternator checked. After waiting the couple hours, and figuring the jumper has charged up enough, I go out to get the car started. Just to find out that there was NOT enough juice in the jumper to get the car started.

So, guess what I get to do today? Now I get to go out and hope that the car will start this time. If it does, then the wife and I will go and get the battery and alternator checked to see which one needs to be replaced. If it doesn’t, then I get to WALK to the auto parts store, purchase a new battery (and HOPE that it is the battery that is bad), and some new tools (since I DO NOT have the proper tools here as they are back in Michigan, in my big tool box, at my parents house!!!).

If it is just the battery, then we are in good shape. We can just change it out and be good to go. However, if it is more than just the battery, we are TOTALLY SCREWED!!! Not only will I have to figure out how I am going to get my middle daughter to her Doctor’s appointment tomorrow, but the wife will need to figure out, on short notice, how she is going to get to and from work. Plus, we will have to figure out when, where, and how, we will get the car somewhere to get it fixed.

All that I can say is hopefully the rest of this week is better than last week and this past weekend.

Until next time my friends…

**Update: Thank goodness it was just the battery. Got it jumped here and made it to the auto parts store (barely). Got it tested and the test showed that the battery was dead! New battery is in and the car is starting and running like a champ! Looks like the start of a wonderful week now! 🙂

A little lost

It will be a week on Saturday that the wife and I had to turn over the van we were leasing. Now that we are down to only one vehicle, it really sucks! To be honest, I am a little lost. I know that I hardly ever went anywhere before, but if I wanted to I could. Now, that is really not an option.

Now I have to rely on a co-worker to get me to and from work. Not the most pleasant feeling in the world. I really don’t like relying on others to get me where I need to be. I am grateful that this friend of mine is willing to help me out. And, so far, they have proved to be trustworthy. However, I hate being dependant on others.

It really sucks because the wife gets out of work three hours after me, at least. Plus, when she gets out of work the banks and Doctor’s offices are closed. Which means that any and all appointments (like the ones that I have to set up for my daughters) have to be made strategically. Then I have to hope that my friend will be willing to take me to the wife’s work to get the car. Then I have to hope that the appointment will be done in time to pick the wife up from work when she gets out. To me, this is just one big cluster, you know?

I am hoping to be able to buy a decent, yet not-too-expensive vehicle in about a month. I am not 100% sure how we are going to do it, but if everything works out the way I have planned, and am hoping it does, we should have enough to get a decent vehicle.

I talked to my boss a little bit today about the possibility of me working later everyday in order to save up some money quicker. I’m not sure if she will be able to get the approval from the BIG BOSSES on that one though. The only problem with that will really be if there are any appointments getting scheduled, or that ARE ALREADY scheduled.

The more that I think about all of this, the more lost I feel. I just hope that we will be able to find our way, real soon.

Until next time, my friends…