When It Rains, It Pours

I am one of those people with a dark cloud hanging over my head.  I have had plenty of good things happen in my life and for the most part I am a very happy person (as long as I’m well medicated of course) but sometimes I feel like I am running in circles.  This week is certainly one of those times.  Monday morning Love went to leave for work and realized that his car had a flat tire.  Luckily for us we have 3 cars so he just jumped in the Jeep and went about his day.  I’m hoping it’s just a nail and can be plugged for $20 but knowing our luck we will have to get 2 new tires.  Yesterday I went out to lunch and my check engine light came on.  When I got back in the car after running errands my gas light was on too.  I thought it was odd since I had over a half tank of gas in the morning but I stopped and filled up.  When I got back in the car the gas light was still on and the gauge was still on E.  I called Hyundai when I got back to my office because I have 96,816 miles on my Santa Fe and I bought it 5 years ago this month so I wasn’t sure if I was still under warranty.  Of course the answer I received was that the fuel sensors are only covered for 36,000 miles and it will cost me roughly $500 to fix.  Did I mention that we ordered oil today? Yup, another $376 out the window for roughly $1,000 in unexpected expenses in 3 short days.  Excuse me for feeling a little down right now.

We had a spell like this during the month of August in 2010.  On a Tuesday Love was driving home when a woman driving a Durango decided that she needed to avoid stopping for the bus in front of her so she drove into the side of the Civic.  Thank goodness Nate was not in the car because the window shattered and his car seat was filled with glass.  That Friday (oddly enough it happened to be the 13^th) I decided to take the Jeep since my car was low on gas and Love had a rental.  Driving down the highway at 70mph I thought that my tire had blown and shredded off because it sounded like metal was scraping on the pavement.  When we got out of the car Aimee and I were shocked to find the tire was fine.  We called for a tow and when we got to the shop the tire snapped as it was being backed down.  They told me the ball joint had snapped and they had never seen that happen before.  Lucky me.  Turns out it was a recalled part and I had the other side replaced 2 weeks later. 

Aimee and I had my mother drive us back to her car so we could head back to work.  I was so stressed I bought a pack of cigarettes and would have had a drink if I wasn’t on the clock.  At 5pm we were so excited to finally go home and forget everything that had happened.  We made it down the street and Aimee’s truck broke down and was leaking gas.  She had the fuel filter changed the day before and the mechanic didn’t put the cap back on properly so it fell off and we were stranded…in Southampton…on a Friday night…in AUGUST.  We went back to the office and cracked open a bottle of wine and hung out in the garden outside for almost 2 hours waiting for her mechanic to come and save the day.  We got home around 8pm and we still talk about what a shitty day that was.  At least we had each other.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse I got a flat tire on my car 3 days later.  Did I mention that my brother was getting married in another state 3 days after that?  And I was driving 5 people in my car?  Yeah, good times for sure.  The wedding was actually a welcome distraction from all that was going on at home.  I look back and realize how nice it was to leave our problems behind for a few days and enjoy our family and friends and the beautiful cabin in the woods.  I wish I had something to look forward to right now.  When life hands you a lemon…

look at a cute picture of Nate and everything is better ;)