Early Warning

Today I had an adventure with my car.

"Unsafe driving, by digitalart/ found at: freedigitalphotos.net

The main vehicle that I drive most is an '05 Ford Escape.  It has been a great car overall and has been pretty low maintenance.  However, I am no fool.  This car now has over 178,000 miles and it is almost a decade old.

So when the clutch started acting funny just after arriving home from California, I have to admit that I wasn't all that surprised that something could be up.  I also thought that I was really happy that this didn't happen while we were on the road.

I called my mechanic.  He is an honest guy.  He told me if the clutch needs replacing I probably need a new car.  He kindly pointed out that putting more money into a car than it is worth is probably not a good idea- especially when said car is old enough and at a mileage that could warrant a transmission or even an engine at any time.  My mechanic also knows that I often travel down to California and he told me he wouldn't want to see me get stranded on the side of the highway.

I was annoyed, but agreed with all of the logic stated above.

I also am very annoyed by car shopping.  Or should I say I hate car salesman.  Hell, don't we all???

My last experience was a good one because it was at the MINI dealer where they don't really have to sell you anything.  You wouldn't be there if you didn't want a MINI.  Duh!

But this time I would need to replace what I have with something similar.  There's nothing that big at the MINI dealer.  Damn!

So I made an appointment to have the car looked at by the mechanic in the afternoon and did a little internet car shopping.  I have had a car in mind if mine should go bad and yet I haven't been so sold on the idea that I have actively ever looked or even test driven.

To make a long story short, I actually found a decent price for the type of car I was thinking about and it turned out to be located at a dealer that, at least over the phone, has salespeople that don't seem to be ready to jerk you around or oozing in greasiness.  I made an appointment to talk with them tomorrow.

Then, during my day of errands and a little work, I drove my car around town with no more troubles at all.  Hmmm.... strange.

by the time I got to the mechanic I honestly wondered if I had just dreamed up some problem that never existed at all.

In the end my issue is simple.  I need a brake job, but my clutch is fine.  It's merely that both the clutch and the brakes feed from the same fluid reservoir and when the fluid is old or dirty it will sometimes affect the clutch performance.  Whew, brakes are way cheaper and I don't have to meet with ANY car salesman at all.  My Friday is saved for something far better.  Maybe I'll hit up a 'Happy Hour' with my neighbor- she's been bugging me to do that.  Oh, and I'm taking this for what it's worth.  I'll be renting a vehicle to drive down to California if I need something bigger than my MINI for the trip!  My Ford Escape is just too old for the trip now and I'm choosing to heed the early warning.

What do YOU wish came with an early warning system?  Have you ever failed to heed an early warning?  What happened?

Humble Pie

I know I blog an awful lot about places that my husband and I travel to.  You might think that means that we never encounter money issues.  The truth would be far from that.  Oh yes, we have our fair share of budgeting woes just like everyone else, as I mentioned in my last blog entry at: http://ayellowroseoftexas.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-we-maybe-dont-take-our-sweet.html
Sure, most of the time our finances can cover most things we need and even some things we want.  With a lot of hard work, especially on the part of my husband, and some pretty tight purse strings we do what neither of our families ever taught us to do.  We live below our means almost all the time. 
We save and scrimp and do special things only for special occasions.  We rarely ever eat at restaurants.  We don't have fancy cell phones.  Entertainment is kept to what we can actually, truly afford.  We don't buy the latest or greatest.  Electronics in our house are almost always way out of date (-like the one and only computer that we have ever owned is this laptop, circa 2007 that I get to write these blog entries on and read others wonderful stuff for which I am so grateful!)  Our one caveat is travel.  We would rather do that than anything else, so we budget accordingly.
And yet, there is my husband who as I have mentioned before is ultra generous- sometimes to a fault.  Sometimes until it hurts a bit in the household budget. 
Well.....
Last year we decided it was finally time for my husband to have a new car.  He was driving a 14 year old Ford Escort.  It was starting to nickel and dime us in the form of $300-$500 repairs every few months and some more major stuff was clearly on the way.  Neither my husband or I are handy enough with cars and we don't have any car fix-it type friends.  So, we decided to sell the car. 
A funny thing happened while I was in the process of putting it on Craigslist.  A very good friend told me that she would really like to buy it.  She was truly in need of a car and has friends that could help her fix it up.  But of course, she had no money.  You guessed it.  This is where my husbands generosity comes in.  My oldest friend and my husband worked out a deal.  She would make small payments to us for the next year and be finished with them by September 2011. 
Fast forward 6 months, and suddenly my friend can't continue to make even small payments to us.  Her husband is very sick.  She has 4 kids.  My husband is more than happy to write off her debt.
I hold my tongue.  It's really not my business.  And...I actually agreed with my husband that it was best to forgive this debt.  My friendship is worth way more than the money and my husband and I would never have loaned it if we couldn't afford to lose it.  So we told my friend not to worry about the debt and not another word was ever said about it.
Well...
Guess who just surprised me by paying back every last dime?  My friend and her husband received a large settlement from the VA and she really felt strongly about paying us back.
So... my husbands generosity ended up making it so we would be paid back just in time to cover his over zealous generosity from last weekend. 
I gotta' admit it.  I'm a little peeved... but damn I love that man!