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"Leave the car. Take the cannoli."
Jan. 12th, 2015 08:52 amCourt is, indeed, not on the docket this morning, so I will be leaving for Pearson a little earlier than planned. Mel's flight is showing with a "short delay," which I hope does not mean the same thing it meant in HHGTG. The bug's about the same, and the folks at my other stop up there are welcoming me anyway.
But that's not what I came here to tell you about. At 7:25, the house phone rang: Emily calling. Cam was heading to work and their car stalled, including a moment where he had no brakes. I was barely conscious and still in full Lurch Voice at that point, but I think we agreed to have him try starting it again (he managed to get safely onto a side street) or, failing that, call AAA.
By the time I'd gotten dressed and recharged my mobile, there was a text: It started and everything seems fine:/
I agreed with that assessment. Especially the :/ part. That car is close to ten years old, had over 170,000 miles on it when they inherited it from us after the 2013 accident, and is starting to get into that age where repair costs are starting to resemble monthly car payments. There's still some incentive to put it off- Ford is very kindly letting me pay off their last repair, interest free, for $25 per month through June, but one more on top of that would likely exceed the value of the car.
Replacing it with something a little newer, a little less weary, a little more reliable? I could do that. But getting them what they probably should have at this point is beyond me at the moment, with my school loans for her fully kicked in and our taxes going up because, surprise!, the kid's not a dependent anymore.
So in talking with Eleanor about it, I switched my Bug Voice from Brenda Vaccaro to Marlon Brando and suggested a meet among the Three Families- us, his mom, his dad- to see if we can do something better together. Whether that's just something paid-for that's better, or something much newer/more reliable that we're putting a down payment on? That's what'll be on the table- along with the cannoli, of course.
But that's not what I came here to tell you about. At 7:25, the house phone rang: Emily calling. Cam was heading to work and their car stalled, including a moment where he had no brakes. I was barely conscious and still in full Lurch Voice at that point, but I think we agreed to have him try starting it again (he managed to get safely onto a side street) or, failing that, call AAA.
By the time I'd gotten dressed and recharged my mobile, there was a text: It started and everything seems fine:/
I agreed with that assessment. Especially the :/ part. That car is close to ten years old, had over 170,000 miles on it when they inherited it from us after the 2013 accident, and is starting to get into that age where repair costs are starting to resemble monthly car payments. There's still some incentive to put it off- Ford is very kindly letting me pay off their last repair, interest free, for $25 per month through June, but one more on top of that would likely exceed the value of the car.
Replacing it with something a little newer, a little less weary, a little more reliable? I could do that. But getting them what they probably should have at this point is beyond me at the moment, with my school loans for her fully kicked in and our taxes going up because, surprise!, the kid's not a dependent anymore.
So in talking with Eleanor about it, I switched my Bug Voice from Brenda Vaccaro to Marlon Brando and suggested a meet among the Three Families- us, his mom, his dad- to see if we can do something better together. Whether that's just something paid-for that's better, or something much newer/more reliable that we're putting a down payment on? That's what'll be on the table- along with the cannoli, of course.