The other shoe always drops...but it's not all bad.
So the car trouble continues:
We were able to get our car checked out by a good friend of the family and he told us that the car is a lemon and that there's only going to be more and more problems with it in the next year or so. And it was STILL gonna cost around $1000.00 to fix it enough so that it MIGHT pass inspection. But the first people we saw weren't actually fixing the problems, they were fixing other things and over-charging us for labor. Anyway, we can't just keep pouring money into a money pit. So we started scrambling trying to find out if there was ANY way to buy a new (or new-to-us) car. Because in this area you NEED a car since public transportation is completely unreliable here. Very sketchy. So we've been running around trying to figure out what to do. Plus, with my health problems...standing out in the cold, the snow, the rain, and even in the sunshine isn't good for me. So this is pretty crappy.
But I'd made a promise to take my younger sister (who's 14) to Kings Dominion (this awesome amusement park a few hours away) because she's never been. Plus when I took her to her first amusement park (6 Flags) last summer, it was a complete disaster. So I really wanted to give her a really fun time this time around. But the whole summer went by and we didn't get to go (we didn't have money and then we didn't have time) but we pulled it together and went yesterday (Sunday)! And we had an AMAZINGLY AWESOME TIME!
We ended up starting out late because we were all so sleepy but I think Grace thought we'd never leave. But we did. And turned out just fine! We left around 9:30am and we stopped to get gas and John got some coffee and we hit the road around 10am. And we made really really good time and got to the park in about 90 minutes. We had a really nice drive down and the park had only been open an hour when we got there so there weren't a lot of lines.
We rode the new Tomb Raider: Firefall first! It was so scary and so much fun! Grace wouldn't open her eyes at all, but we both screamed and screamed our heads off it was awesome! John liked it too, he said it wasn't too jerky (we had having our heads banged endlessly). We also hit Anaconda (one of those looping metal rollercoasters, it was a new one for us all), and some of the FearFest events too. We rode the Rebel Yell and the Ricochet and a bunch of other rides. We had fun amusement park food (like Dippin' Dots, which I'd never had before, and Funnel Cake with Strawberry/Whipped Cream topping) and we just had a great day.
The weather was perfect and we didn't hit a lot of long lines and we called it a day around 5pm. We were all getting tired and wanted to head home. We had had a great day! Figured we could do some movie watching back at my mom's house. We had were having a fun drive home and were about an hour away when suddenly the whole gauge panel started going CRAZY! It wasn't registering the RPM or the MPH nothing! Even the gas gauge stared registering at empty even though I KNEW we had more than half a tank of gas. It was really scary. Thank God we were coming up on an exit and so we managed to get off on the exit ramp and head to the nearest (and ONLY) gas station. We pulled in and the car just died.
The car wouldn't start. The engine wouldn't even turn over. We couldn't put the car in Neutral to push it. Nothing worked, not the brake pedal or the gas pedal. The windshield wipers started going whenever he tried to start it. And the radio? Was working only when the KEY WASN'T EVEN IN THE IGNITION!! How bizarre is that? It was so weird. We tried to get a jump from someone but nothing happened. All the digital panels in the car reset including the time (except for the car's mileage). It was one of the most bizarre things ever.
So I called my uncle to see if he could come pick us up, but his truck was giving him problems! Plus he started nagging me. As I explained to him we hadn't been told not to drive the car or that the car was going to break down. Or, obviously, we wouldn't have taken it out of town! It had gotten really cold and dark by then and (since we don't have cell phones) I was standing out at a payphone in the cold and I couldn't get through to my dad or get in touch with my uncle again. After about 20 minutes I got through to my dad and he said he'd come get us. Which I totally appreciated. But when, over an hour later, my dad showed up...he drove through the gas station parking lot rather quickly and before we could flag him down he'd left the parking lot and took off down the road!
So we tried to call him on his cell phone, but he didn't answer. So John and I stood outside for another 20 minutes hoping that my dad would come back. Which he did. And we took everything we wanted/needed out of the car and my dad drove us up to my mom's house. By the time we got here we were all so tired.
We pulled up the bus schedule for tomorrow so John could get to work. And we're trying to figure out what to do with the car. I have no idea what to do. But we have to do something. We don't want to rack up "storage fees".
The good news is that John's dad and stepmom are going to let us have their "extra" car. We didn't even know they had an extra car! But we're so happy and excited that they do! We just have to figure out how to get to FL to pick it up. So that's the big thing we're trying to figure out now.
I'm just so glad that we even have an option! I'm so relieved and I hope that this car they're giving us will be able to pass inspection. Now I just have to figure out how to get to FL.
When I got home last night I couldn't sleep and I just tried to lose myself in LJ. I just tried to focus on anything other than all the stuff that I need to get done.
My body is achy all over today and my throat hurts and I feel pretty crappy. But I'm trying to see the glass as half-full. I'm just...exhausted. I hope we don't have any major problems getting home. And I really wish I'd done some grocery shopping last week. But...we'll figure it out. We don't have a choice.
That was my Sunday/weekend. How was yours? (No, seriously, I'd love to know if other people had a really nice weekend (that would cheer me up) or a really crappy weekend (because I could sympathize!).)
We were able to get our car checked out by a good friend of the family and he told us that the car is a lemon and that there's only going to be more and more problems with it in the next year or so. And it was STILL gonna cost around $1000.00 to fix it enough so that it MIGHT pass inspection. But the first people we saw weren't actually fixing the problems, they were fixing other things and over-charging us for labor. Anyway, we can't just keep pouring money into a money pit. So we started scrambling trying to find out if there was ANY way to buy a new (or new-to-us) car. Because in this area you NEED a car since public transportation is completely unreliable here. Very sketchy. So we've been running around trying to figure out what to do. Plus, with my health problems...standing out in the cold, the snow, the rain, and even in the sunshine isn't good for me. So this is pretty crappy.
But I'd made a promise to take my younger sister (who's 14) to Kings Dominion (this awesome amusement park a few hours away) because she's never been. Plus when I took her to her first amusement park (6 Flags) last summer, it was a complete disaster. So I really wanted to give her a really fun time this time around. But the whole summer went by and we didn't get to go (we didn't have money and then we didn't have time) but we pulled it together and went yesterday (Sunday)! And we had an AMAZINGLY AWESOME TIME!
We ended up starting out late because we were all so sleepy but I think Grace thought we'd never leave. But we did. And turned out just fine! We left around 9:30am and we stopped to get gas and John got some coffee and we hit the road around 10am. And we made really really good time and got to the park in about 90 minutes. We had a really nice drive down and the park had only been open an hour when we got there so there weren't a lot of lines.
We rode the new Tomb Raider: Firefall first! It was so scary and so much fun! Grace wouldn't open her eyes at all, but we both screamed and screamed our heads off it was awesome! John liked it too, he said it wasn't too jerky (we had having our heads banged endlessly). We also hit Anaconda (one of those looping metal rollercoasters, it was a new one for us all), and some of the FearFest events too. We rode the Rebel Yell and the Ricochet and a bunch of other rides. We had fun amusement park food (like Dippin' Dots, which I'd never had before, and Funnel Cake with Strawberry/Whipped Cream topping) and we just had a great day.
The weather was perfect and we didn't hit a lot of long lines and we called it a day around 5pm. We were all getting tired and wanted to head home. We had had a great day! Figured we could do some movie watching back at my mom's house. We had were having a fun drive home and were about an hour away when suddenly the whole gauge panel started going CRAZY! It wasn't registering the RPM or the MPH nothing! Even the gas gauge stared registering at empty even though I KNEW we had more than half a tank of gas. It was really scary. Thank God we were coming up on an exit and so we managed to get off on the exit ramp and head to the nearest (and ONLY) gas station. We pulled in and the car just died.
The car wouldn't start. The engine wouldn't even turn over. We couldn't put the car in Neutral to push it. Nothing worked, not the brake pedal or the gas pedal. The windshield wipers started going whenever he tried to start it. And the radio? Was working only when the KEY WASN'T EVEN IN THE IGNITION!! How bizarre is that? It was so weird. We tried to get a jump from someone but nothing happened. All the digital panels in the car reset including the time (except for the car's mileage). It was one of the most bizarre things ever.
So I called my uncle to see if he could come pick us up, but his truck was giving him problems! Plus he started nagging me. As I explained to him we hadn't been told not to drive the car or that the car was going to break down. Or, obviously, we wouldn't have taken it out of town! It had gotten really cold and dark by then and (since we don't have cell phones) I was standing out at a payphone in the cold and I couldn't get through to my dad or get in touch with my uncle again. After about 20 minutes I got through to my dad and he said he'd come get us. Which I totally appreciated. But when, over an hour later, my dad showed up...he drove through the gas station parking lot rather quickly and before we could flag him down he'd left the parking lot and took off down the road!
So we tried to call him on his cell phone, but he didn't answer. So John and I stood outside for another 20 minutes hoping that my dad would come back. Which he did. And we took everything we wanted/needed out of the car and my dad drove us up to my mom's house. By the time we got here we were all so tired.
We pulled up the bus schedule for tomorrow so John could get to work. And we're trying to figure out what to do with the car. I have no idea what to do. But we have to do something. We don't want to rack up "storage fees".
The good news is that John's dad and stepmom are going to let us have their "extra" car. We didn't even know they had an extra car! But we're so happy and excited that they do! We just have to figure out how to get to FL to pick it up. So that's the big thing we're trying to figure out now.
I'm just so glad that we even have an option! I'm so relieved and I hope that this car they're giving us will be able to pass inspection. Now I just have to figure out how to get to FL.
When I got home last night I couldn't sleep and I just tried to lose myself in LJ. I just tried to focus on anything other than all the stuff that I need to get done.
My body is achy all over today and my throat hurts and I feel pretty crappy. But I'm trying to see the glass as half-full. I'm just...exhausted. I hope we don't have any major problems getting home. And I really wish I'd done some grocery shopping last week. But...we'll figure it out. We don't have a choice.
That was my Sunday/weekend. How was yours? (No, seriously, I'd love to know if other people had a really nice weekend (that would cheer me up) or a really crappy weekend (because I could sympathize!).)