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Apr. 17, 2003 As usual my car picks the most inopportune time to decide to go on the fritzagain. This is a common time for me to watch my computer act up, my car die, and about thirty other little emergencies. Waiting for my tax money to come back, I watch as about six other things sit on the sideline waiting for their turn, those will be the ones that break down after I have paid off all the things that were already broke and once again I go back to be the samebroke. In case you were wondering or even cared a smidgeon, those six little things are the microwave (eight minute for popcorn doesnt seem quite right), the vacuum (the burning smell and the fact it is smoking doesnt seem proper) the sink needs tweaking, the washer needs looking at and I need a new mattress (oh my aching back). Yes I know that is only five things but I feel like I am setting myself up here just by naming the others, so for the moment well skip that one. We were driving along, that is my son my sweetheart and me (sounds like a musical number) when a loud BOOM resounded along the road just ten minutes away from home and fifteen minutes away from anything. Pulling to the side I pop the hood and hello smoky stuff and smelly fumes. Its dead. Typical. Luckily a nice gentleman stopped by and drove us home where we could of course pace, stress, get into a light argument (yes I won) and got a tow truck. Pooling our money together I felt embarrassed that I had to ask my son for money but presently he had more than the two of us combined (it was rent week) and he was nice enough to loan it to uswith interest. Sheesh! Kids these days, absolutely refuse to do a thing for free especially when they see an opportunity to really cash in big. Who raised him? That is beside the point. We had the tow truck drop it off at a mechanic as we moped in the house grumpy and restless knowing that we are stuck for the weekend. Out of pity my sweethearts sister invites us for dinner and plays chauffeur (he gets his sweetness from her). So for a few hours we were able to forget that we have no transportation, one full day together stuck in the house on each others nerves, and no money until Friday. SIGH. That whole week was spent on buses and cabs and carpools. That spells wasted money on other forms of transportation, which equals less money to spend on our own form of transportation. How does that work? Not very well! You would think they would offer free transportation to people who have emergencies. And yes we looked at the car rental but they wanted steep prices. Either way it was best to pretend we were interested in our communities many diverse ways to get around. NOT. Finally Friday came and we got the car back. And we drove the car for exactly one whole week. Then on a Sunday night we were pulling out of an automotive store. We should have seen it coming. Just as we got onto the road the car began sputtering and then died. We pushed it (well I dont think I did too much on my part but made it look really good) into a nearby parking lot and proceeded to kick, cuss, and degrade my car. No it didnt do a bit of good and yes I felt like a big dork later. So we called my sweethearts sweet sister and she took us home. Where we proceeded to play out the events of the previous weekend, only it was Sunday so we didnt have that extra day to stare at each other and wonder how much we could get if we sold all their stuff. Okay yes, my son has many toys and I often pick times like these to remember I would be a million dollars richer if I had never allowed Pokemon into my house. The only good news was the car would be back to us on Wednesday minus five-hundred dollars but we were supposed to be excited that we had a brand new fuel pump. Right. Woo hoo! Im excited, does that go with my jeans? So now we are back on the road only I cant seem to get excited. Why? Well because I cant count on my car and its temper, so I never know if we are going to go somewhere and not get back in it. Plus as I am driving down the road I mentally take note of all the other things that we need fixed, repaired, and just plain need. Then there is the six little looming lurking ready to blow at anytime things that I will only name five of. Uh huh. They are waiting. They want to see me smile. They want to make sure I am not in a recurring stage of insomnia. They want to feed off my happiness and good fortune. One of these days I will bring you out of suspense mode and write an article about the sixth thing. Until then I just keep checking my mail, waiting for that lovely check that I get to have in my hand for the length of time it takes me to get to the bank and then kiss it goodbye as I watch my appliances get fit and fixed while I figure out how much overtime I need to work. Isnt life grand? About the author: Nancy Jackson is a full time author and poet with works in Literati, Twilight Times, Anotherealm, Sonny World, and various anthologies. Her pasttimes include spending time with her loved ones, drinking wine, and lots of writing! Email Nancy Jackson: coryann93@yahoo.com ------------ Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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