When It Rains . . .

Do you ever have one of those days, or weeks, or months during which everything that could possibly goes wrong does go wrong, and then some?

Granted, we all do, I suppose. Lately, it's been one of those . . . oh, I'd say months.

The bills really began to pile up when the Aluminum Falcon (my car, for those not "in the know") decided one day in July that it didn't want to run anymore; you already know about my adventures with the chiropractor and oral surgeon; and a third, large set of payments suddenly became due because of something that I was not aware of (it would take me forever to go into the details; call it a "sin of omission") but ended up having to pay the government a large sum of money.


All of this added up, as you might imagine, to a great deal of stress during a very short period of time.

Figuring out exactly what's wrong with my car, let alone paying for it, has been a huge hassle. Two of my good friends, each well versed in auto mechanics, have now been over to look under the hood and have attempted to ascertain the problem. We first thought that my battery, which I replaced only two short years ago, needed to be replaced again. We took it out, cleaned off the gunk, put it back in, and tried to jump the Falcon, with no success. Then Richard began to look at the wiring and such.

It appears that I have some sort of electrical issue going on, so it seems I will need to have the thing towed to a car shop just to have that assessed and then repaired.


Fortunately, time and experience are great teachers and provide perspective. I'm finding myself able to take care of those aforementioned problems, even if it is one at a time. Next up is that car "thing." Though it's been collecting dust in my garage for the past two months, I've actually been able to get around through the use of a pretty decent loaner - my parents' old Dodge Stratus, which they hardly ever use - as long as I don't break anything (else!) and continue to put gas into it regularly.

A wise person once said that adversity not only teaches you a few things about yourself but about the kind of family and friends you have, too. I've learned, as I've watched people show their concern and lend helping hands, that I am, indeed, surrounded by loving and care family members and by the best kind of people I could possibly hope to call friends.