The Black Hole aka The Car

I am fed up to the teeth with cars and car repairs. Hubby took the car in to have the bushings done and ended up going to a different place than at first (one that had been recommended though) and there's both good news and bad news.

The good news is that this place will do the bushings and tie rod for less than we were first quoted. Much less, like half the original quote. The bad news is that the bushing repair is the least of our worries. This place actually *looked* at the car obviously (unlike every other place we've been to for the past year it appears), because they figured out what's wrong with it and told us why it's been going through rear tires at a rapid pace.

The. Back. Axle. Is. Bent.

Yes, bent. They asked if we'd been in an accident. Uh, no. They showed Hubby the damage and he says it's pretty clear. Too bad we don't know what caused it. The only thing I can think of is the time last winter when we bottomed out badly in the alley about a block from our house during that bad snow. It took me several hours to dig the car out because it was actually wedged onto that icy snow so badly that the wheels weren't quite touching the ground (like by a fraction of an inch). Maybe we bent the axle when we bottomed out?

Regardless, now we know what the problem is and the solution is clear. It's not going to get better unless we replace the axle so that's what we're doing. It won't be ready until some time tomorrow and we're getting a "good" price on the work but it's still going to cost $1,000!

I've mostly finished hyperventilating (although we'll see if I manage to sleep through the night or wake up with an anxiety attack). What's really crazy is that I was looking back through my own blog archives to see what my menu was for last Rosh Hashana and I realized that it was at this very time last year that the water pump problem manifested. That repair ended up costing us $2,000! What is it about this time of year? This is also when both the fire and the flood happened in the condo I used to own.

As for Rosh Hashana, I got paid today and went grocery shopping. When the dust cleared I'd spent $300 and I have food for the holiday this weekend plus another 4 or 5 meals. Actually, $50 of that is a payment for food I charged 6 months ago at Pesach, so it's not quite as bad as it sounds but I still don't have enough money to pay all my bills, let alone do anything much extra. I'm very pleased that this is a 3 paycheque month. If it wasn't, I'd be in big trouble.

What did I get? Round challahs, salmon and a brisket. I was pretty dead on with my cost estimate too. The brisket cost just over $57. Half a salmon was just over $20. I got the items for the various simanim too (carrots, dates, pomegranate, squash, etc.) and all the disposable table items for the meal, as well as some everyday food needs, things for Dear Child's breakfasts and lunches, etc. And some junk. Hey, I've been waiting a very long time for the full size Oreo cookies to be kosher and they were all labeled with the OU dairy today! I bought a package of them, but they were on sale too. But I figure the healthy stuff, like the cheese sticks, cream cheese and yogurt balance the cookies out.

I have to get the kitchen ready tomorrow and we're closing the office at noon on Friday so I'll be cooking then. Luckily, Eldest Daughter will also be home so I won't be cooking with kidlets underfoot. Candlelighting is at 7 pm so I should have enough time to get it all done....

Before I close, I'd just like to say something to each one of my readers. If I've upset you this year, hurt your feelings in any way or whatever, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Have a happy and healthy year full of all good things!