No mas! No mas!
Okay, universe, I give. You win!
The past few months have been crazy, with the things breaking and costing me lots of money.
First, one morning, we woke up to the faint odor of gas in the house. After checking all the obvious suspects, and finding nothing, we called the gas company. With the help of their gas sniffer, we found that one of the valves on the furnace wasn't quite closing all the way when it switched off. Not a big deal while the heat was running, since it was leaking slowly enough that it was safely burning off when the furnace fired, but bad news once we turned the heat off for the season. Gas guy turned off our gas, but with a quick call to our plumber, we were back in business. Goodbye, $350!
The NEXT week, I was driving home one night and my engine light and temp light in my car went completely bonkers. Limped the car home, took it to our mechanic the next morning to have her diagnosed as having a blown water pump. Goodbye, $1200!
The NEXT week, Wiley went into the basement to retrieve some laundry before work to find water all over the basement floor. Our hot water heater? Had a big hole in the side of it. Called the plumber again, and he was able to come out and replace it the same day. Goodbye, $900!
Added in to those numbers were the bills we were paying for Hannah's camp for the summer, the cost of airline tickets for her to go out to visit my MiL this summer (three round trip fares, since we're not keen on her flying herself with a connection quite yet), and a tax bill that was high enough to make my brain seize.
Then, two weeks ago, the washing machine died. This time, it was a mortal injury and Wiley was not able to resurrect it as he had done at least twice before, and so this week, we replaced that too. Goodbye, another $800!
Today, while heading for the train station, the oil light in the car started screaming at me. I hobbled her home, and Wiley (who's not here today, of course) is pretty sure she's just low on oil and it's not going to be another expensive repair. Can you guess how much I am hoping it isn't?
I'd kind of like to stop hemorrhaging money, at least for a little bit.
And through it all, no matter how frustrating these ridiculous expenses have been, coming all at once, I am profoundly grateful that as annoying as it all is - it's ANNOYING and not something that has catapulted us into financial disaster or debt. I sigh, I grumble, I write a check and my problem is solved. With that said, though, I'd like the universe to go pick on someone else now, really.
The past few months have been crazy, with the things breaking and costing me lots of money.
First, one morning, we woke up to the faint odor of gas in the house. After checking all the obvious suspects, and finding nothing, we called the gas company. With the help of their gas sniffer, we found that one of the valves on the furnace wasn't quite closing all the way when it switched off. Not a big deal while the heat was running, since it was leaking slowly enough that it was safely burning off when the furnace fired, but bad news once we turned the heat off for the season. Gas guy turned off our gas, but with a quick call to our plumber, we were back in business. Goodbye, $350!
The NEXT week, I was driving home one night and my engine light and temp light in my car went completely bonkers. Limped the car home, took it to our mechanic the next morning to have her diagnosed as having a blown water pump. Goodbye, $1200!
The NEXT week, Wiley went into the basement to retrieve some laundry before work to find water all over the basement floor. Our hot water heater? Had a big hole in the side of it. Called the plumber again, and he was able to come out and replace it the same day. Goodbye, $900!
Added in to those numbers were the bills we were paying for Hannah's camp for the summer, the cost of airline tickets for her to go out to visit my MiL this summer (three round trip fares, since we're not keen on her flying herself with a connection quite yet), and a tax bill that was high enough to make my brain seize.
Then, two weeks ago, the washing machine died. This time, it was a mortal injury and Wiley was not able to resurrect it as he had done at least twice before, and so this week, we replaced that too. Goodbye, another $800!
Today, while heading for the train station, the oil light in the car started screaming at me. I hobbled her home, and Wiley (who's not here today, of course) is pretty sure she's just low on oil and it's not going to be another expensive repair. Can you guess how much I am hoping it isn't?
I'd kind of like to stop hemorrhaging money, at least for a little bit.
And through it all, no matter how frustrating these ridiculous expenses have been, coming all at once, I am profoundly grateful that as annoying as it all is - it's ANNOYING and not something that has catapulted us into financial disaster or debt. I sigh, I grumble, I write a check and my problem is solved. With that said, though, I'd like the universe to go pick on someone else now, really.