Car Problems

My car is my lifeline. It's what gets me around, my kids around. It's the thing that takes me to work.
Except it's not currently drivable.

Needs a new: water pump and a whole host of general maintainace things that should have been done a few months ago.

For those of you who might not know, a water pump helps pump water or antifreeze through the engine to keep it from getting to hot. Which is why there is a temperature gauge on your dashboard, and I have been looking at that gauge more than I watch my gas gauge or even my speedometer! Not that I go super fast, especially around town- I'm just more worries about my engine heating up than I am my speed!

Been seeing this side of my car way to much! 

At least there is beauty here. (Sometimes)

I have had the water pump replaced on this same vehicle, about 10 years ago, so I guess it's time.

But when money is as tight as it has been for us since the hubby lost his well-paid position with benefits, you tend to put off things like this, hoping another job will come along. Until you just can't put it off anymore. I am thankful for parents who help us out- probably more than they should. I am thankful for early Christmas presents, and a soon to be fixed car.  Thursday morning at 9am cannot come soon enough!

Not comfortable driving the car around town, especially when the hubby was pouring water into the radiator, and sure enough we looked under the car and it was pouring out almost as fast as he put it in there. Now how to get the car to the dealer on Thursday? The dealer is all the way across town, this might take a miracle. God will provide.

I guess we will be trying to squeeze into the truck for the next few days. I say squeeze because, while it's a 4 door truck, extended cab, it's not a large extended cab. I dislike putting baby girl in the front seat, but what choice do I have? I don't exactly want to be stranded with a baby and a 6 year old, especially if it's hot out, and hubby is usually at work some 60 miles away, and couldn't come rescue us until he was delivering his packages anyway.





The job situation is bleak for hubby, unless he gets a job and we would probably have to move- to a bigger city. With very few friends, and little family. The job he wants- or is qualified for just aren't in this town.

The good news is, I am able to pick up another 2 hours a week at my job. It's a start. Plus my job is downtown, so maybe on Tuesday this week I can take the bus while jinn has the day off, and spends some time with the much neglected 6 year old (or so he thinks).

School starts Wednesday for the 6 year old, so that will be nice on one hand to be able to have him back on some sort of schedule. While he won't like the fact that mom and dad are taking away his iPod- except on weekends, or even after he helps around the house. In first grade he'll have some homework to do possibly, and he doesn't need to be on an electronic device all the time anyway. I think I might have to go back to him earning screen bucks.

Secretly, I almost liked it when our XBOX360 wasn't working- because it seemed like we spent more time together as a family. Playing board games, just hanging out- albeit we were all on out iPods or iPhones.

Can't wait to move to the country, less internet (because it's slower out there) and more time outside.

Poor Truck..... Poor Us!

July ended with a bang- literally. Ouch. 

We had just stopped at a stop sign (corner of Mary and Milner for you locals) and it was our turn to go, so my husband proceeded through the intersection, going South- we were heading to our church that's south of town early Sunday morning. 

The lady who hit us did not stop at her stop sign, and hit us- all 3 of us were in the truck. She must have been going 30-40mph. We did NOT see her coming.  Little guy was in the middle in a booster seat, and ended up with a bloody nose, and a fat upper lip. I bumped my head and had a minor concussion, and my neck hurt right away, so the emergency crew took me to the hospital. On a back board, in the ambulance, with a neck brace. Sorry, no photos of that one- also, not something I want to remember! Hubby has had back pain and ankle soreness since the event. 

That's our 'new' 2001 Ford Ranger, after the accident. 

We had just switched vehicles within the last 3-4 months, so we weren't carrying enough insurance on this newer one. The old one was a 1998 Chevy S-10, but it was a rust-bucket, so it wasn't worth much. So, no, insurance couldn't help us with repairs- lesson learned, the hard way! 

Broken axle. Not that I know anything about trucks, or axles for that matter. I was able to get the door open  and climb out of the truck after the accident (I was hyperventilating- and needed some air). Once I got out, I looked at the tire. This tire was originally under the truck. 

The lady who hit us has no insurance. Or a job. Or anyway to pay us. 

Broke the wheel hub, flattened the tire. The repairman has been able to save this tire!  

Not the rim, though. 

That's not how a tire is supposed to look, right? 

Not. Good. At. All. 

Hopefully we will be getting it back sometime this week, or so the repairman is telling us. Thank goodness, it's hard to stay at home all day. I know that's my job, but my job is also to run errands, go grocery shopping, keep doctor appointments, occasionally take my child to the park, etc. Having one vehicle makes that hard, especially when hubby has to take it to work. I have been able to 'get' the car when I needed, and one Friday my son and I jumped on a city bus to go downtown to the library (thankful they run by our house). That was an adventure that I'm not sure I want to repeat. 

Since the accident, our family has been going to the chiropractor- almost everyday. 

I think I'm a more cautious driver now. I'm looking two or three times, making sure other people stop before I venture into an intersection. I've gotten over the fact of freaking out at major intersections. I make sure hubby is NOT driving distracted. 

Several things to Praise the Lord about: 

1. We choose that morning to drive the truck, not the car (could have been worse).
2. The lady could have hit the door (where I was sitting).
3. There was no glass broken!
4. CAT scan came back negative on my head and spine- they let me go home the same day, no overnight stay.
5. God has provided the money for repairing the truck- without taking out a loan from the bank (which we DID NOT want to do.)
6. The truck will be fixed soon, yesterday marked the 2 week mark.
7. Our son has since stopped talking about accidents and being afraid of getting into another one while riding in a car.
8. Due to a friend of the family wedding the day before, my hubby's whole family was in town (both siblings and spouses). They were still in town and were able to be here and support us, get stuff out of the truck for us after the accident and of course, pray for us.  

 

ps. Our church was having Bib Overall Sunday that day, so you can guess what we were all wearing. We think little man hit my buttons on my bibs. We didn't make it to church. We didn't make it to the picnic after church at a local county park.