The Grand Blanc Debacle
WARNING!!!!!! THIS WILL BE VERY LONG!!!!!
So, last week Karen sent me a Facebook message saying there was going to be a birthday party for her daughter at our brother's house. I hadn't even MET Isabelle yet, even though she was turning 2, because they live in California. Hell, I hadn't seen ANY of my adopted siblings in at least 2 years. 3, in some cases. So I decided to go, even knowing the car wasn't in the best of shape. Now, Ken and Christina live in Grand Blanc, which is roughly an hour away from me. I got 10 miles away from their house, and the car died. Just BOOM! kaput. I managed to pull off to the side of the road, but the radiator was smoking. I was MAD AS HELL. The car has been running a little hot lately but never actually got close to overheating. Sunday night Josh said it just needed coolant because it was a little low, and he'd do that while he was out. I took his word for it when he said he did, so I didn't check the coolant level before I left. Naturally, when the car stalled in a cloud of smoke, I assumed he had lied and forgotten about the coolant. I called Karen, explained the situation, and she sent Christina out to get me.
It should have ended there. It SHOULD have been enough to give the car a few hours to cool down on US-23 while I was at Bellie's party, have someone take me back, put in the coolant that my brother gave me, and go home. That's exactly what I did... except for the going home. Because Helen was the one to take me back to the car, I had to leave less than 3 hours after I got there, as Helen apparently can't be away from her house for an entire afternoon. I wanted more time with my siblings, so I decided that instead of going home, I'd just go back to Ken and Christina's house. A) I'd spend more time with them and B) I was far closer to their house than mine, so I figured it would be safer to try and head there and see how the car was running before driving to Westland.
Now, I had stalled just past exit 67. After putting more coolant in, I got all the way to exit 75. Not very at all! I did, however, manage to get off the freeway and park at a party store. I called Josh to let him know what had happened, as by now I knew he HAD put coolant in, but there was a leak. He tells me, "I gave you my cash for gas. You're on your own." So, I'm almost totally broke, I have next to NO knowledge about cars, I'm stranded, and he's being a dick. I was frustrated, stressed, and he managed to tip me over into PISSED THE FUCK OFF. I called Karen, Tony *her husband* answered, and I couldn't help it. I started crying. I was completely overwhelmed and I tend to cry when I get angry. He came to get me, and I went back to Ken and Christina's.
Tuesday Chris and Tony took me to my car so Chris could take a look, as he hadn't been at Ken's until late the previous evening. He spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out what was wrong, and after using some radiator sealant it looked like it was patched enough to at least get me home. I'd still need to get it repaired, but at least I wouldn't be stuck. However, the seal lasted a whole 10 minutes. The guy that owned the party store *which also happened to be a repair shop and towing service* asked me to move the car to a different spot, because he claims I was taking up 3. I don't think I was, but I can't be blamed for not being concerned with how I was parked when MY CAR WAS SMOKING. So I moved it to a corner spot, and in the time it took me to cross the parking lot, my car pissed out all the coolant. There was a great, green, smelly trail between the two spots and giant puddle under the car. Chris declared it a lost cause, and I talked to the owner to get an estimate on a new radiator. He wanted $400. I decided I should talk to Josh, and see what he thought, since $400 just wasn't feasible.
After being outside with a hot car in my jeans and black t-shirt in nearly 100 degree weather, I decided to borrow some of Ken's clothes and go swimming. When I got back to the house, Josh had left me a message saying his mechanic friend will replace the radiator as long as we buy it, and since a radiator is only about $130, it's a much better option financially. "But I don't want it sitting some parking lot for a week so you have to find a place to put it and a way to get there!" he says. So I pull out the card from the place my car was parked at, and the guy gave me an estimate for towing it to Helen's house, as I couldn't keep the car at Ken's and Helen was the only other one that lived even remotely near this shop. He couldn't give me a definite answer since he didn't have access to a computer right then, but he guessed it would be between $80 or $100. The next thing I did was call Helen to actually GET the permission to put the car at her place. That in itself caused MASSIVE amounts of drama and I ended up hanging up on her. You want to know why? Because she said she couldn't have the car there because it would be a danger to her raccoons. I said, "Helen, I'm DESPERATE!!! Are you SERIOUSLY telling me your raccoons are more important than your DAUGHTER?" and she said, "Well of course they are!"
*throws phone on table*
I called Tanya, as that's my default setting. Get mad, sad, upset, or insanely excited, call Tanya. It's just what I do. So she calmed me down and I managed to have a civil conversation with Helen after that. I also managed to convince her that my demon car was not going to have her precious raccoons for breakfast.
Next up, call Josh. Let him know what I've up with for a plan, and see if maybe Mike or someone can loan us the towing fee since none of my siblings have that kind of extra money laying around. He flipped out on me. Yelled that I got myself into this mess, and "I don't know how many times I have to tell you that you're on your own. I gave you my cash, so I can't help you. You're a big girl. Be a fucking adult and make some fucking decisions on your own!"
It was the last straw. He'd been NO help whatsoever, I'd been stressed out and had JUST argued with Helen. I was emotionally wound up and I snapped. Told him that it was NOT my fault, because it's not like I SHOT a hole in the radiator, and since it was OUR money and HIS car, I figured he might want to be kept in the loop. I also informed him that there was NO way I could come up with the money, so if he couldn't figure something out I was stopping by the car, grabbing my CDs, and leaving it there with no more than a "Fuck you." He said fine, he'd try and figure something out. Fortunately about an hour later his VA money came through, and all was well. The guy at the towing place wanted $120 once he was able to mapquest the route to Helen's house, but I must have looked really upset or something because almost immediately he went, "Ok. Tell you what, I'll do it for $75." So, my car is now safely at Helen's, and I am safely home. I have to say, I think my relationships with both Helen and Josh have taken some major hits, though.
And now, to my entry's subtitle. My siblings are amazing. We hardly even TALK but the second I'm in trouble, each and every one of them bent over backward to try and help me. Ken and Christina have three kids, and ALREADY had 7 houseguests, but there was absolutely no question that I would have a place to stay as long as I needed it. Chris didn't need to put that much effort into trying to figure out what was wrong or try to fix it. Tony and Karen didn't need to drive me around or rearrange their plans to make sure me and my car made it safely to Helen's. And Tanya wasn't there, but I called her at least three times over those couple of days to vent, TWICE in the middle of the night, and she was there to calm me down, as always.
I am seriously blessed to have such a fantastic group of brothers and sisters.
****EDIT****
Ok, I realize this may be confusing because of the sheer number of names.
Ken-brother
Christina-Sister-in-law *Ken's wife*
Karen-sister
Tony-Brother-in-law *Karen's husband*
Isabelle/Bellie- niece *Karen and Tony's daughter*
Chris-brother
Tanya- sister
Helen- adoptive mother
Josh- boyfriend *but y'all know this, I think*