How I spent my evening

This post is a prime example of the turdpool that is the life of everyone in my family. My oldest boy has a POS car. It is a 2005 Malibu and was not a great car when we bought it used 6 or 7 years ago. It was what we could afford. The car had electronics issues starting almost on day one, with the electric locks, windows and right brake light not working for years now. The headliner has started to fall, the stereo works intermittently. The boy has not taken good care of the car. I doubt it has been washed in a half dozen years. But it always ran fairly well, other than going through batteries every couple of years. This also could be a function of always replacing the battery with the cheapest possible option.

Yesterday, he had to drive his girlfriend to Chicago to catch a plane at the World's Worst Airport. On Monday he had the oil changed in his car. He bought a couple of new tires to replace the badly worn used ones he got last year. I'm am sure this took every penny he managed to earn over the weekend in his job as bartender. The tires were needed, so he did not mind.

The wife and I discussed letting him take our car. Since I left my old job I am out one company car, so her vehicle is all we have. In a selfish move we decided that letting him take our only vehicle was a risk we were not willing to make.

On the way home, his car broke down. I suspect a thrown rod or worse. Luckily, it happened right at an Oasis* so he was able to coast off the highway. In another minor stroke of good luck I added roadside assistance and towing to our insurance a couple of months ago. He told the car repair place to give him an estimate. I tell you that any repair over $500 is too much to spend on that car. Even though the car is a junker, it beats a car payment. I fear the worst.

So he wife and I drove to Chicago last night to fetch the boy. Then we drove home. 6-1/2 hours in round trip. We got home shortly after 1:00AM. I can look forward to making the trip again at he end of he week to either pick up the repaired car, or more likely to find a way to dispose of it. He doesn't have the money to fix it and neither do I. If we have to junk it, he won't even recoup the cost of the tires. They have less than 300 miles on them. That is the kind of luck we have. 

Still, we are blessed in so many ways. I told him if he focuses on all that is bad in his life, he misses the good. It is a mantra I repeat to myself many times a day. Some days it is pretty hard to see the microscopic good beneath the ocean of sewage. 



*The oasis rest stop is a unique Chicago institution. Look them up. He was at the South Holland establishment, almost at the state line.