Car-tastrophe

As soon as you get up from your computer, I want you to go check your car. Check the tires, the oil, the windshield wipers - check everything. I have had my schedule screwed up the last FOUR DAYS in a row because of cars. Monday - the head boss of where i work grounded one off our vans and questioned the drivability of others first thing in the morning; unnecessary drama ensued as people who should not have been involved got involved; $1800, 4 tires, 2 front brakes, 1 back brake, 2 front-end alignments and 30 hours later we were good to go. Tuesday - evaluations were due weeks ago, but my boss still hadn't done his; word came down from on high that anyone who did not have an eval on file by Friday would not be getting a raise, so i came in to work 2 hours early to get mine; his car dropped its transmission the night before, on the Eastern Shore so he had to cancel. Wednesday - in the rain i go to get some dinner and find the restaurant closed due to the holiday so start to drive home; the car shifts weird, jumps, makes an alarming noise, loses power as the RPMs spike and smoke starts pouring out from under the hood; i manage to coax it into a parking lot and call roadside assistance only to find out it has expired; i figure i might be able to baby it to the dealership, which is about 2-3 miles away, but it will not budge; i pop the hood to check it (in the rain, remember and of course i was wearing a white shirt) and smoke is rising from underneath the engine block - time to get towed; to go 2-3 miles it is $140, and he wants cash; i make 4 calls for someone to get me and get 4 voicemails - finally i get Ron and he comes to get me after he and his date finish dinner (sorry about that, Ron) Thursday - i am supposed to be off of work for the day, but have rescheduled my evaluation from Tuesday to today at 9am; the folks at Enterprise (where i made a reservation 12 hours earlier) don't answer the phone for 45 minutes, but eventually i get there and pick up a ... i guess it is a car... Ford Aveo?... never heard of it and it is like a bike with a roof, and there rental price is different (by $15 a day) than what i was quoted on the phone; whatever - i take it and get to work 15 minutes late; get out of there (did fine on my evaluation; thanks for wondering) and head to my personal trainer appointment just barely on time, but Jamie is nowhere to be found - i'm changing my clothes when another employee comes busting through the door proclaiming "Jamie just called, her car got towed and she had to go to the impound lot; she'll be 20 minutes late;" of course she will - what else could i have expected? As i sit here, i have no idea when i will have my car back and i was supposed to leave on a driving adventure an hour ago. sigh. We aren't even going to discuss how exactly i am going to pay for these repairs. I think i am going to check out a stack of books from the library and stay inside where it's safe (oh, except that a tiny piece of the porch ceiling collapsed yesterday during the thunderstorms). I'm sure you can't tell, since blogs rarely convey tone well, but i am actually laughing. No one has been hurt and at some point the little inconveniences of life just pile up to make your day (or week in this case) feel like a french farce. Eventually you just have to shake your head and smile. But that doesn't mean that all of you shouldn't drive extra careful and do a thorough vehicle inspection - i'd hate to think that this is contagious and i didn't warn you!