A Most Ridiculous Week

So I guess the trial isn't over yet.

On Sunday, after returning from camp, my Check Engine light went on. In the 5+ years I have owned the car, none of the lights had gone on, even when major repair was needed. So I figured it was a good idea to take it into the shop and hopefully this would help them discover what was wrong with the not-starting for me and starting for them issue.

Monday afternoon I dropped Derek off at the shop and picked up a rental car. Tuesday the shop called just to say they didn't know what was going on yet, but they'd keep looking. So far so good. Tuesday evening as I was getting into bed I was COLD, like shivering, teeth-chattering cold, and my temperature shot up to 102 in addition to several trips to the bathroom. Needless to say, I did not go to work yesterday.

The shop called yesterday while I was recovering on the couch and informed me that it would be $1000 to fix the car. CHOKE. I told them I needed more time to think about it, I'd call in the morning. In the mean time, I'm trying to figure out if it's worth spending that much to fix it or would it be a better investment to just buy a new, more reliable car? After talking with my friends, I conceded that I just needed a car that would run. I originally said I needed Derek to last a year while I'm paying off some medical debt, but I hesitantly figured I could squeeze a small car payment in somewhere.

Because I have to be fever-free for 24 hours before returning to work, I wasn't allowed to come in today. So this morning I called the shop, told them I wanted to just trash it and get a new one, and the guy encouraged me to come in and take a look at it. He spent a good deal of time with me, and I was paying attention, but I also could feel myself starting to tear up. You know those times where you're trying NOT to cry and it's just not working? Yeah, that was this time. Here he was trying to convince me that he could SAVE it and it wasn't as bad as it COULD be, and I was just confused because what I am to do now? I was more embarrassed than anything. But he was really nice and understood what I was going through and told me to wait a few seconds while he talked to his boss. The result? A new quote of $600! After some calculations, I said yes.

So this week I have gone from not having a car, to possibly getting a new one, to fixing the one I have, all with a GI illness mixed in. I'm pretty exhausted. But this weekend I'm headed to camp again, and I can't wait. I always find rest there, and I hope that this weekend isn't any different!