Celebrating School Endings with Candy and Car Repairs

Yesterday I decided to take my car in to the shop.  I had been hearing a scraping kind of noise when I turned the steering wheel in a hard left.  I confess that my first inclination was to avoid making hard lefts, but I also have some travel by car coming in the next few weeks, so to the shop I went yesterday morning.  Happily I was able to leave it and walk back home.

Sure enough, my car has issues, including lots of rust.  In a way, I'm not surprised.  It's a rare week that I don't drive through flooded streets down here.  And the car is 7 years old.

You're going to ask me what I had replaced, and I'm not sure.  It's not the tie rod, but it is something that's part of the system that keeps the wheels attached to the car.  And for good measure, some shock absorbers for the back tires.  My spouse listened to the call with the mechanic, so I don't feel like the mechanic was taking advantage of my lack of knowledge.

It's a huge bill, and my first thought was absolutely no way am I putting that kind of money into an old car.  My spouse was the voice of reason; he said, "If you want to keep it, we need to make the repair."  And knowing what we know about car shortages across the land, a huge repair bill is still cheaper than replacing the car, even if we could find one to buy.

It's not how I planned to celebrate having grades for my online classes turned in and papers for my seminary classes done.  Happily, we did that on Friday night.  We went to the brewery at Hollywood Beach, and we went early, before the crowds.  I like the brewery for many reasons, but during this time of surging pandemic, I like it because it's outdoor dining, but it's raised above the crowds.  The people walking by on the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk are below our feet, so it feels a bit safer in terms of disease transmission.

Despite an unexpected car bill that's unexpectedly high, I feel fortunate.  We have money set aside for just this possibility.  I know so many people who are dealing with such a variety of health issues (none of them COVID caused), so I know how much worse it could be.  I am often reminded of words of wisdom in one of Anne Lamotte's early books, when one of her friends said that a problem solved by an infusion of cash is not really an interesting problem.  It's especially not a problem when one has the money.

Even with car issues and just this morning, AC issues, it's been a delightful week-end.  I've been reading Connie Willis' Doomsday Book, a book about bubonic plague and flu and time travel and Advent and theology; I've read it before, and I'm even more impressed this time.  We watched some Christmas cooking shows while sorting through paperwork.  I had a lovely conversation with my mom and dad on the phone.  We ate chocolate from a present that arrived on Friday.  I took a nap, and even with the map, I went to bed early.

I feel lucky in so many ways.  May it continue--for me, and for us all.