Oh such joy...

...it is when your husband says "The car's handling funny. Can you make an appointment for next week?"

So you do.

Then you find out you almost permanently killed your car and that'll be $605.37, please and thanks.

The fuel line was leaking (and with gas prices as they are, that's no laughing matter), the spark plugs were shot, the fuel filter was clogged, but the worst issue was the hydraulic balancing seal was leaking oil into engine parts that oil should not be in, and onto the serpentine belt, causing it to slip and erode. Had it not gotten fixed in time, it would have ruined our engine. (Also really annoying is that to fix it they have to drain the engine of oil, fix it and put in new oil...I just got a long overdue oil change the last week of school. I could have saved $40.00 if I'd just taken it in then.)

I'm trying to think really positively. We had the money available and it won't be a choice between having the car fixed and eating. So, that's good. We are getting ready to take the car on a 550 mile round trip and that easily could have broken it, and then we'd have NO car, no transportation and still have a car payment for several more months on a car that had become a really large, heavy brick. So better to pay now than have no car. We avoided any permanent damage. Our car should last several more years.

So really, this is one time my husband's paranoia has blessed us.

(But does handing over that much money ever really feel like a blessing?)