More good news
On top of finding out that my car needed $900 worth of repairs, I learned that the reason I woke up to no running water yesterday wasn't because my pipes had frozen, but rather, because the water company hadn't received a payment from me since July. I thought I'd scheduled automatic payments and I never noticed that the money wasn't being deducted from my account. All the notices that they had sent to me were returned undeliverable by the post office. I paid off what I owed and hopefully when I return home this evening I'll have running water again. On the bright side, the packages which have been in USPS limbo since mid December FINALLY arrived yesterday, but unfortunately, the record I paid +$50 for was warped. It's still playable, but I'm pissed.