Yes, I am still here. I'm just very, very busy. And tired. And bored or frustrated with certain aspects of my life.
I got through all the Jewish Holidays. I went off to the US to the wedding I talked about before and had a fabulous time. And I've been exercising pretty well twice a week.
On the other hand, our car was totalled recently. We weren't in it; a family member was cut off on the freeway. The family member is okay but we've spent the past while arguing with ICBC over the value of the car. They did come up from their initial, offensive, offer but we're probably still out about $2,000 over what we'd have to spend to replace the car.
And more things have gone wrong with the house. If anybody tells you old houses are money pits, believe them! A leak in the main bathroom upstairs led to a gigantic hole in our kitchen ceiling and another, smaller one. Our upper cabinets are mostly down (with the contents in boxes) and the bakers rack I keep a lot of our other kitchen stuff on is sitting in the living room. Basically, the living room is unusable. We pass through it to the kitchen, bath and our daughter's room.
The floor in the bathroom and through most of the kitchen is laid and part of it is grouted. We should get our new toilet put in within anywhere from a day to a week, depending on how busy our son-in-law is and how fast he gets around to both it and to putting the vanity back in the bathroom (with the new top on it). The thought that we might finally have a fully functioning bathroom is exciting but seems slightly unreal. It will be wonderful not to have to go upstairs to use the facilities there in the middle of the night, however. I'm really looking forward to that!
Once they finish the work in the bathroom upstairs comes the messy part. The new drywall will have to be taped, mudded and sanded until a thick layer of white powder covers pretty much everything in the house (including, no doubt, my lungs). After that the new upper cupboards and new range hood can go up. If that happens before Pesach I'll be thrillled.
And then there's money. I'm so messed up there. My credit card is maxed. Actually, it was over limit until a few days ago. Now it's exactly at the limit and I have to make another payment before they add the interest or that will put me over again. I skipped a couple of transfers to my TFSA, although I still have over $1,000 in there. And I have a huge cell bill from my trip to the US. I tried to use it as little as possible but still incurred over $80 in long distance or roaming charges. A bunch of those calls were incoming ones from my hubby or daughter, so I couldn't exactly refuse to pick up!
What next? Well, I'm pretty well broke until Wednesday and I'll probably be broke again almost immediately afterwards, once I pay the various bills that absolutely, positively have to be paid. But we'll technically have money sometime this week, because we'll get the cheque from ICBC. We still have to decide what we're going to do about a new car. We have to decide new, near new or very used. We're still debating over what kind of car to get (since we have to replace it, the only sensible thing to do is to buy one this time that will fit all four kids in their car or booster seats, plus at least 2 adults). And we have to decide if we're going to do it now or wait until my hubby receives money from his late mother's estate (probably a few months away).
Showing posts with label car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car. Show all posts
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Monday, December 21, 2009
Friday and the Very Bad Car Day
For some reason I thought I had posted about this, but I obviously didn't. Sleep deprivation will do that to you, I guess.
We've been having problems on and off with the car, often at night or when it's very cold. You insert the key in the ignition and...nothing. Maybe a click, maybe an attempt at turning over, maybe not. It didn't always happen after the car had been sitting for a long time. Sometimes you could be in the midst of a series of brief stops and the car could work fine repeatedly and then just not work. We figured it was one of 4 things:
1. a battery problem, including a dead cell
2. an alternator problem
3. the starter solenoid, or
4. an intermittent electrical system problem
We were trying to arrange to get it in somewhere to be looked at (and had actually booked an appointment for the middle of the day on Tuesday, which I just this second realized needs to be cancelled) but it died on us early Friday morning, parked on a major street a couple of blocks from home.
BCAA came and jumped it and my son-in-law got it home while I took everyone to work and school in the van instead. Then it stopped again at the house and couldn't be restarted. BCAA had to come back to take it to a shop to be worked on. The dealership that I'd made the appointment with was too far away but they took it to another place that was quite close. Interestingly, they didn't tow it but showed up with a flatbed truck and loaded it onto there.
The small shop it went to replaced the battery and some clamps that attach the battery to the car. It turns out that the battery was oozing sulphuric acid and the positive terminal was corroded through. The final bill was $238, less than a third of what it would have been for a new alternator. That's something to be thankful for at least.
Of course, all of this took most of the day and caused endless stress on the shortest Shabbos of the year. We did get it back before Shabbos, but we were cutting it pretty fine. I never got to Safeway since I didn't have a vehicle and that meant we were out of a couple of things we really needed. Milk, for instance.
I can hear someone saying, "But you drove the van". Well, yes. But my son-in-law needed that back when preschool let out at 11:30 am. That's when he took his 2 girls and drove them to Hope. His folks live up north and met him there because they're taking the girls for 10 days or so. So I didn't have a vehicle and my Hubby had to borrow the van from work to pick me up so we could play musical cars when the thing was finally ready.
In all of this mess Dear Child ended up not going to school for the last day before winter break, mostly because I had no way to know if I would be able to pick her up! However, I had to go to her school anyway in the morning because I had all the notes for all the teachers and all the gifts for them for Hanukkah/winter break and they had to be given to them that day. Then Dear Child hung out with her big sister, who had a dentist appointment at the mall while I worked and waited for the saga of the car to unfold.
It was a horrible day and I was very tempted to take the car and have it crushed into a large paperweight but I resisted the temptation and am now able to drive again. This makes over $2,800 in repairs these past few months, $2,000 a year ago and 3 pairs of rear tires (roughly $600) in the past 8 or 10 months (due to the bent axle). Actually, the final pair of tires (winter ones) are supposed to be bought tomorrow so we can put the other winter tires on too. Then we'll be able to drive to the house at some point during winter break. We hope.
We've been having problems on and off with the car, often at night or when it's very cold. You insert the key in the ignition and...nothing. Maybe a click, maybe an attempt at turning over, maybe not. It didn't always happen after the car had been sitting for a long time. Sometimes you could be in the midst of a series of brief stops and the car could work fine repeatedly and then just not work. We figured it was one of 4 things:
1. a battery problem, including a dead cell
2. an alternator problem
3. the starter solenoid, or
4. an intermittent electrical system problem
We were trying to arrange to get it in somewhere to be looked at (and had actually booked an appointment for the middle of the day on Tuesday, which I just this second realized needs to be cancelled) but it died on us early Friday morning, parked on a major street a couple of blocks from home.
BCAA came and jumped it and my son-in-law got it home while I took everyone to work and school in the van instead. Then it stopped again at the house and couldn't be restarted. BCAA had to come back to take it to a shop to be worked on. The dealership that I'd made the appointment with was too far away but they took it to another place that was quite close. Interestingly, they didn't tow it but showed up with a flatbed truck and loaded it onto there.
The small shop it went to replaced the battery and some clamps that attach the battery to the car. It turns out that the battery was oozing sulphuric acid and the positive terminal was corroded through. The final bill was $238, less than a third of what it would have been for a new alternator. That's something to be thankful for at least.
Of course, all of this took most of the day and caused endless stress on the shortest Shabbos of the year. We did get it back before Shabbos, but we were cutting it pretty fine. I never got to Safeway since I didn't have a vehicle and that meant we were out of a couple of things we really needed. Milk, for instance.
I can hear someone saying, "But you drove the van". Well, yes. But my son-in-law needed that back when preschool let out at 11:30 am. That's when he took his 2 girls and drove them to Hope. His folks live up north and met him there because they're taking the girls for 10 days or so. So I didn't have a vehicle and my Hubby had to borrow the van from work to pick me up so we could play musical cars when the thing was finally ready.
In all of this mess Dear Child ended up not going to school for the last day before winter break, mostly because I had no way to know if I would be able to pick her up! However, I had to go to her school anyway in the morning because I had all the notes for all the teachers and all the gifts for them for Hanukkah/winter break and they had to be given to them that day. Then Dear Child hung out with her big sister, who had a dentist appointment at the mall while I worked and waited for the saga of the car to unfold.
It was a horrible day and I was very tempted to take the car and have it crushed into a large paperweight but I resisted the temptation and am now able to drive again. This makes over $2,800 in repairs these past few months, $2,000 a year ago and 3 pairs of rear tires (roughly $600) in the past 8 or 10 months (due to the bent axle). Actually, the final pair of tires (winter ones) are supposed to be bought tomorrow so we can put the other winter tires on too. Then we'll be able to drive to the house at some point during winter break. We hope.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Miscellaneous Day Here at the Blog
Wow, has it really been over a week since I posted? I've been commenting here and there on other people's blogs but I keep falling asleep about the time I usually start writing my own posts. I also had a flareup of a chronic back problem on Tuesday. I ended up taking a T3 around 11 pm, which meant there was definitely no blogging that night! I'm the sort of person that, if drowsiness is a possible side effect of a drug, I'll be out cold. It was still acting up in the morning, so I took 2 Advil at that point. Luckily, it's better now.
I do have a variety of things to mention. First of all, another one of my comments was featured in this week's Monday Mailbag on The Simple Dollar!
I've won a Starbucks card from Betty at Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy and I'm thrilled about that! I can already taste my decaf white chocolate mocha with extra whip!
And I commented on Give Me Back My Five Bucks that Krystal should do one of her December Goals (to come up with her goals for 2010) as one of her famous challenges since all of us PF bloggers are probably planning a similar post sometime between now and New Years. She said it was a great idea and that the post would go up soon but the post that appeared was her 2010 goals! Now she's off to Vegas and I'm not sure if she's planning to do a challenge post or if I should do one. I certainly can't post my goals for next year yet because I'm still working on them.
The next little while is going to be very busy. I have lots of evenings coming up with parties or other events I need to attend. I don't normally go out much in the evenings, unless I have to go back to the office or occasionally to attend a class for an hour or so, once a week. And, a couple of times when I'm not going out, I'll be babysitting my granddaughters because Eldest Daughter also has parties to go to.
We have to seriously think about whether we're going to go to the house during winter break but we have to co-ordinate dates with ED, S-in-L and the girls too. They'll be away or off part of the time but there are also days when people have to work. Plus, going is contingent on getting 2 new winter tires because winter tires (and carrying chains) is mandatory through the Hope-Princeton all winter. I'm still not quite sure how all the money is working out. We did get the fuel oil delivered yesterday and I paid them via telephone banking this morning, once I'd confirmed the exact amount. So, that's a relief. I've also called and left a message for my next-door neighbour, asking him to check to make sure the furnace is going on. If we had already run dry the reset button has to be hit in order to get the furnace running again. And it would probably also mean another clogged sensor (with the gunk from the bottom of the tank) and another furnace servicing. I really hope it's okay but I'm trying to focus on the fact that we have a year's supply of fuel oil now. If we have to service the furnace I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Actually, in the last couple of days I've started to worry about the car again. It's been making a kind of groaning noise when you back out of a parking spot and it's progressed to sometimes making a noise as you start or stop. It sort of sounds like a transmission issue and I'm so not dying to have to drop more money on the car at this point. I'm still pretty touchy about the $2,600 or so we've spent over the past couple of months. Son-in-Law will probably take it in to the place he goes to one of the days that he drives it next week.
Too tired to write any more now. Goodnight!
I do have a variety of things to mention. First of all, another one of my comments was featured in this week's Monday Mailbag on The Simple Dollar!
I've won a Starbucks card from Betty at Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy and I'm thrilled about that! I can already taste my decaf white chocolate mocha with extra whip!
And I commented on Give Me Back My Five Bucks that Krystal should do one of her December Goals (to come up with her goals for 2010) as one of her famous challenges since all of us PF bloggers are probably planning a similar post sometime between now and New Years. She said it was a great idea and that the post would go up soon but the post that appeared was her 2010 goals! Now she's off to Vegas and I'm not sure if she's planning to do a challenge post or if I should do one. I certainly can't post my goals for next year yet because I'm still working on them.
The next little while is going to be very busy. I have lots of evenings coming up with parties or other events I need to attend. I don't normally go out much in the evenings, unless I have to go back to the office or occasionally to attend a class for an hour or so, once a week. And, a couple of times when I'm not going out, I'll be babysitting my granddaughters because Eldest Daughter also has parties to go to.
We have to seriously think about whether we're going to go to the house during winter break but we have to co-ordinate dates with ED, S-in-L and the girls too. They'll be away or off part of the time but there are also days when people have to work. Plus, going is contingent on getting 2 new winter tires because winter tires (and carrying chains) is mandatory through the Hope-Princeton all winter. I'm still not quite sure how all the money is working out. We did get the fuel oil delivered yesterday and I paid them via telephone banking this morning, once I'd confirmed the exact amount. So, that's a relief. I've also called and left a message for my next-door neighbour, asking him to check to make sure the furnace is going on. If we had already run dry the reset button has to be hit in order to get the furnace running again. And it would probably also mean another clogged sensor (with the gunk from the bottom of the tank) and another furnace servicing. I really hope it's okay but I'm trying to focus on the fact that we have a year's supply of fuel oil now. If we have to service the furnace I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Actually, in the last couple of days I've started to worry about the car again. It's been making a kind of groaning noise when you back out of a parking spot and it's progressed to sometimes making a noise as you start or stop. It sort of sounds like a transmission issue and I'm so not dying to have to drop more money on the car at this point. I'm still pretty touchy about the $2,600 or so we've spent over the past couple of months. Son-in-Law will probably take it in to the place he goes to one of the days that he drives it next week.
Too tired to write any more now. Goodnight!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Shana Tova
I won't be posting again before Rosh Hashana, nor during the holiday, so don't expect to see me posting before Sunday night at the very earliest. I just wanted to give a quick update.
The car is still in progress. We may get it back tomorrow. If not, we'll have to pick it up on Monday. No biggie. It's not like we'll be driving it on the weekend!
I have everything I need for the cooking tomorrow but was out for an hour or more with my Eldest Daughter this evening, so didn't really get the kitchen ready.
I have to do some banking tomorrow morning (if I don't want to bounce a cheque I wrote on the account I don't use regularly anymore) and I have to work until noon. But nobody is going to school, so I don't have to get anybody else anywhere. That makes it easier for me to get to work early in the morning.
Going to bed now. Shana Tova to everybody!
The car is still in progress. We may get it back tomorrow. If not, we'll have to pick it up on Monday. No biggie. It's not like we'll be driving it on the weekend!
I have everything I need for the cooking tomorrow but was out for an hour or more with my Eldest Daughter this evening, so didn't really get the kitchen ready.
I have to do some banking tomorrow morning (if I don't want to bounce a cheque I wrote on the account I don't use regularly anymore) and I have to work until noon. But nobody is going to school, so I don't have to get anybody else anywhere. That makes it easier for me to get to work early in the morning.
Going to bed now. Shana Tova to everybody!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
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!
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!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Over the Mountains and Far Away
I was going to post last night, but I was just too tired. I took Dear Child and Dog and went to the house on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, Hubby has been too busy to come, so we went by ourselves again.
I really didn't mean for 5 weeks to go by without making the trip but every weekend there has been some reason why we couldn't go. Since 3 out of the next 4 weekends are religious holidays when I can't drive or do anything (and when I want to be able to go to shul) I was determined to go this time.
DC had a wonderful time playing with her friend. On Sunday, starting at about 9 am, I mowed the back, front and both side yards (with the push mower), pulled weeds in about half the front garden and around my grapevine, did 2 loads of laundry, loaded up the sukkah into the van and then drove home Sunday evening.
Gee, I wonder why I was tired....
We didn't even drive into town. The furthest we got from home was on Shabbos afternoon, when we went for a long walk with Dog. I'd like to go back either the weekend after Rosh Hashana (although that's tricky because Sunday night is the beginning of Yom Kippur and I'd have to be back in time for Kol Nidre services) or the weekend after Sukkot. Heck, I'd even consider going out the night of Sunday, October 11th and return the following night (since the 12th is Canadian Thanksgiving). Later than mid-October, and we'll be running into the possibility of snow in the mountain passes.
In fact, I think that unless I go just before Yom Kippur, I have to buy 2 new snow tires first. I don't believe I blogged about it but we spent almost $700 on the car 2 weeks ago (including 2 new all season tires for the rear) and have to spend maybe $600 on it this week. So, I'm just dying to buy some snow tires but you have to have both snow tires on the vehicle and carry chains from the beginning of October until something like the end of April in order to go through Manning Park.
What happened to our previous snow tires? The same thing that happened to our last pair of all weather tires on the rear. The tread just gets worn right off in about 4 months. Clearly, there must be some kind of alignment problem (the back end of the car seems to shimmy a little) and yes, we need to get bushings done, hence the $600 this week. That should at least help although it's been pointed out to me that there may be some kind of rear suspension issue too. I hope not, but we'll see.
The only bright spot in all this is that Hubby finally got the commission from a big job and we paid cash for car repairs this time! So much better than borrowing from family, putting it on the card or other things we've had to do in the past.
Anyway, I want to go back at least once more before the snow flies to do more yard work and put together that IKEA bookshelf I took there when we went out on the August Long Weekend. I'd love to spend Sukkot there the way we usually do, but that's just not happening this year.
Last winter we didn't go there for about 5 months. That was awful. I mean, the drive is no picnic when the snow is bad but I miss the house and I'd like to go at least somewhat more regularly this year. Even every 6 weeks would be okay.
All of a sudden I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, so maybe I'd better quit for the night.
I really didn't mean for 5 weeks to go by without making the trip but every weekend there has been some reason why we couldn't go. Since 3 out of the next 4 weekends are religious holidays when I can't drive or do anything (and when I want to be able to go to shul) I was determined to go this time.
DC had a wonderful time playing with her friend. On Sunday, starting at about 9 am, I mowed the back, front and both side yards (with the push mower), pulled weeds in about half the front garden and around my grapevine, did 2 loads of laundry, loaded up the sukkah into the van and then drove home Sunday evening.
Gee, I wonder why I was tired....
We didn't even drive into town. The furthest we got from home was on Shabbos afternoon, when we went for a long walk with Dog. I'd like to go back either the weekend after Rosh Hashana (although that's tricky because Sunday night is the beginning of Yom Kippur and I'd have to be back in time for Kol Nidre services) or the weekend after Sukkot. Heck, I'd even consider going out the night of Sunday, October 11th and return the following night (since the 12th is Canadian Thanksgiving). Later than mid-October, and we'll be running into the possibility of snow in the mountain passes.
In fact, I think that unless I go just before Yom Kippur, I have to buy 2 new snow tires first. I don't believe I blogged about it but we spent almost $700 on the car 2 weeks ago (including 2 new all season tires for the rear) and have to spend maybe $600 on it this week. So, I'm just dying to buy some snow tires but you have to have both snow tires on the vehicle and carry chains from the beginning of October until something like the end of April in order to go through Manning Park.
What happened to our previous snow tires? The same thing that happened to our last pair of all weather tires on the rear. The tread just gets worn right off in about 4 months. Clearly, there must be some kind of alignment problem (the back end of the car seems to shimmy a little) and yes, we need to get bushings done, hence the $600 this week. That should at least help although it's been pointed out to me that there may be some kind of rear suspension issue too. I hope not, but we'll see.
The only bright spot in all this is that Hubby finally got the commission from a big job and we paid cash for car repairs this time! So much better than borrowing from family, putting it on the card or other things we've had to do in the past.
Anyway, I want to go back at least once more before the snow flies to do more yard work and put together that IKEA bookshelf I took there when we went out on the August Long Weekend. I'd love to spend Sukkot there the way we usually do, but that's just not happening this year.
Last winter we didn't go there for about 5 months. That was awful. I mean, the drive is no picnic when the snow is bad but I miss the house and I'd like to go at least somewhat more regularly this year. Even every 6 weeks would be okay.
All of a sudden I'm falling asleep at the keyboard, so maybe I'd better quit for the night.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Tradition!
I didn't do a lot today other than to go with my Eldest Daughter, Dear Child and the 4 yo granddaughter to see Fiddler on the Roof (the 1971 film version) at a local theatre. It was an event put on by our local Jewish High School to raise money for a class trip and it was fun but looonnng. We were there for over 3 hours but the girls enjoyed it. DC liked it enough that she asked if we could see it another time, although that was before the scary graveyard scene. Afterwards she said something like "You know, I remember these things forever." But she still enjoyed the rest of it. I had a nostalgic time, especially watching a very young Paul Michael Glaser as Perchik.
In other news, our 2 rear snow tires seem to be practically bald while the front ones are fine. This was only their 2nd winter but there was an incredible amount of snow this year (considering that we normally get little or none) and we got stuck on a number of side streets and in lanes. There was only one time it was really bad, when I spent a couple of hours digging the car out (it had bottomed out on the snow in the lane!) but there was a fair bit of rocking back and forth and spinning of wheels at various times. We should have taken them off before this but we've been busy. Hubby tried to get it done this morning, but nobody was open. It looks like I may have to do it on Thursday or Friday when I'll have our car during the day. We won't buy them now, of course, but it's going to mean buying 2 new snow tires in the fall. I should try to find out how much they are so we can start putting money away.
In other news, our 2 rear snow tires seem to be practically bald while the front ones are fine. This was only their 2nd winter but there was an incredible amount of snow this year (considering that we normally get little or none) and we got stuck on a number of side streets and in lanes. There was only one time it was really bad, when I spent a couple of hours digging the car out (it had bottomed out on the snow in the lane!) but there was a fair bit of rocking back and forth and spinning of wheels at various times. We should have taken them off before this but we've been busy. Hubby tried to get it done this morning, but nobody was open. It looks like I may have to do it on Thursday or Friday when I'll have our car during the day. We won't buy them now, of course, but it's going to mean buying 2 new snow tires in the fall. I should try to find out how much they are so we can start putting money away.
Monday, November 17, 2008
I Smell a Rat
Hubby took the car in and asked the dealership to put the belt back on. They hoisted the car up and then came to get Hubby, wanting him to see what they found.
A rat. A dead rat.
The mechanic said that it probably crawled up into the engine at night when the car was warm and caused the belt to come off when it tried to escape when the car was started again.
They said they usually charge about $50 to replace a belt like this, but did it for free given the $2,000 we recently dropped there. How kind of them.
And speaking of rats and things that smell, the dental lab tried to tell my husband today that his plate came in like that. They said, or inferred, that he'd broken it off himself! I don't think so!! If they don't fix it, we're prepared to sue them. This is just ridiculous. Somebody there did something to it and they're trying to cover their rear ends. Not going to work.
On the up side, Hubby picked up his repaired bike today and rode it home. Kudos to him for being able to get "back into the saddle" and ride through rush hour traffic.
A rat. A dead rat.
The mechanic said that it probably crawled up into the engine at night when the car was warm and caused the belt to come off when it tried to escape when the car was started again.
They said they usually charge about $50 to replace a belt like this, but did it for free given the $2,000 we recently dropped there. How kind of them.
And speaking of rats and things that smell, the dental lab tried to tell my husband today that his plate came in like that. They said, or inferred, that he'd broken it off himself! I don't think so!! If they don't fix it, we're prepared to sue them. This is just ridiculous. Somebody there did something to it and they're trying to cover their rear ends. Not going to work.
On the up side, Hubby picked up his repaired bike today and rode it home. Kudos to him for being able to get "back into the saddle" and ride through rush hour traffic.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Shevy, Rationalizing
Okay, you remember when I said I wasn't going to charge anything this month? You know, what I really meant to say was that I wasn't going to charge anything on either of my credit cards (MasterCard and IKEA). I wasn't establishing this as a goal for my hubby to refrain from charging, mostly because he has at least one automatic charge to his Visa card that happens monthly.
But we actually charged our new bathroom on his Home Depot card this evening. You see, it's like this. I may have mentioned that we've been waiting for our bathroom reno since about the fifth of forever. Some of it is to be paid for and done by us; some by Eldest Daughter, our son-in-law and his dad.
It got started once, when we first moved in very early this year but got hung up and has been on hold for something like 9 or 10 months. This has left us with a barely usable washroom and required us to go upstairs for baths and showers. Let's just say it has been inconvenient for everybody.
This weekend Home Depot had one of their occasional "do not pay for a year" events ending tonight, so we went and bought a new bathtub, tub surround, toilet and vanity top (which includes the sink). All of that cost $538 and isn't due until January 2010 (with no interest so long as we pay by the due date). Months ago we already bought new tub and sink faucets, a light fixture and a vent, as well as floor tile, thinset, grout and Ditra. My son-in-law and his dad have bought cement board, drywall and insulation and will do all the work at the same time as they install the new laundry room on the opposite side of our bathroom wall. Well, I'm doing the bathroom floor but they're doing the rest.
I'm not thrilled that either of us charged anything but the reality is that the bathroom isn't getting done otherwise and we are really, really ready to have a functional bathroom! And this wasn't a spur of the moment decision. We've been waiting for one of these year-long events and just didn't know when it would happen.
Remember I mentioned a new car problem last night? The problem is pretty simple. The brand new power steering belt has come off! It's in perfect condition, so Hubby will take it in along with the car tomorrow and get the dealership to fix it for free.
On a totally different topic, Hubby and I went out to the Giants game tonight and watched the Giants beat Portland 5 to 2! We haven't been out on any kind of date night for ages and the best part of this was that the evening was totally free. He was given the tickets, we parked on the street several blocks from the Coliseum and didn't buy anything there (although he looked at hats and jerseys). It was a lot of fun!
But we actually charged our new bathroom on his Home Depot card this evening. You see, it's like this. I may have mentioned that we've been waiting for our bathroom reno since about the fifth of forever. Some of it is to be paid for and done by us; some by Eldest Daughter, our son-in-law and his dad.
It got started once, when we first moved in very early this year but got hung up and has been on hold for something like 9 or 10 months. This has left us with a barely usable washroom and required us to go upstairs for baths and showers. Let's just say it has been inconvenient for everybody.
This weekend Home Depot had one of their occasional "do not pay for a year" events ending tonight, so we went and bought a new bathtub, tub surround, toilet and vanity top (which includes the sink). All of that cost $538 and isn't due until January 2010 (with no interest so long as we pay by the due date). Months ago we already bought new tub and sink faucets, a light fixture and a vent, as well as floor tile, thinset, grout and Ditra. My son-in-law and his dad have bought cement board, drywall and insulation and will do all the work at the same time as they install the new laundry room on the opposite side of our bathroom wall. Well, I'm doing the bathroom floor but they're doing the rest.
I'm not thrilled that either of us charged anything but the reality is that the bathroom isn't getting done otherwise and we are really, really ready to have a functional bathroom! And this wasn't a spur of the moment decision. We've been waiting for one of these year-long events and just didn't know when it would happen.
Remember I mentioned a new car problem last night? The problem is pretty simple. The brand new power steering belt has come off! It's in perfect condition, so Hubby will take it in along with the car tomorrow and get the dealership to fix it for free.
On a totally different topic, Hubby and I went out to the Giants game tonight and watched the Giants beat Portland 5 to 2! We haven't been out on any kind of date night for ages and the best part of this was that the evening was totally free. He was given the tickets, we parked on the street several blocks from the Coliseum and didn't buy anything there (although he looked at hats and jerseys). It was a lot of fun!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Could We Stop the Bad News, Please?
Posted Motzai Shabbos [after Shabbat].
So, Hubby went to pick up his repaired partial plate on Friday. The repaired part seemed okay but one third of the plate, including a tooth, had been cut off! Hello? Why would you take an undamaged part and slice it off?
Of course, "nobody" knows who did it and the guy in charge wasn't there. Hubby will have to go back to talk to him on Monday. He'll have to have new impressions now and either have the entire plate redone or just that part done and reattached to the main part of it (if they can do that). But we are absolutely not willing to pay a penny towards it. It's their fault; they need to deal with it.
And my hubby says there seems to be some problem with the power steering on the newly repaired car! Does the nightmare ever end? I know, gam zu le tova [this too will be for good]. Please just tell me how.
I keep trying so hard to keep things going in the right direction and it just keeps getting tougher and tougher. I'm still not feeling great. We all just stayed home today and tried to catch up on sleep and get better, rather than walk an hour and 20 minutes to shul. I'm not aching any more, Baruch Hashem [Thank G-d], but I'm still coughing really badly and that's not good news with my history of asthma and pneumonia. Things tend to settle in my chest and just stay there.
It's shaping up to be a very busy day tomorrow, so I'm posting this before midnight and trying to get some rest.
So, Hubby went to pick up his repaired partial plate on Friday. The repaired part seemed okay but one third of the plate, including a tooth, had been cut off! Hello? Why would you take an undamaged part and slice it off?
Of course, "nobody" knows who did it and the guy in charge wasn't there. Hubby will have to go back to talk to him on Monday. He'll have to have new impressions now and either have the entire plate redone or just that part done and reattached to the main part of it (if they can do that). But we are absolutely not willing to pay a penny towards it. It's their fault; they need to deal with it.
And my hubby says there seems to be some problem with the power steering on the newly repaired car! Does the nightmare ever end? I know, gam zu le tova [this too will be for good]. Please just tell me how.
I keep trying so hard to keep things going in the right direction and it just keeps getting tougher and tougher. I'm still not feeling great. We all just stayed home today and tried to catch up on sleep and get better, rather than walk an hour and 20 minutes to shul. I'm not aching any more, Baruch Hashem [Thank G-d], but I'm still coughing really badly and that's not good news with my history of asthma and pneumonia. Things tend to settle in my chest and just stay there.
It's shaping up to be a very busy day tomorrow, so I'm posting this before midnight and trying to get some rest.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
A Busy Week & Some November Goals
School starts again tomorrow (for Dear Child) and I'm also going to be working full-time for the week, while my co-worker is off. My third payday of the month will be Wednesday and I plan to do a little catching up on paying bills. Then my payday 2 weeks after that will be an extra-large one, so I'll do a little more catching up.
I really want to get things back under control after our expensive car repair. Things have all been piling up for a while and now I finally feel that I can get us back on track. As I mentioned the other day, gas prices have been coming down somewhat and that, combined with not going to our rural home between now and Hanukkah (late December), will mean some reduction in our spending.
One of the ways things have been piling up is that we've been using our credit cards (we each have one major card, plus Home Depot and IKEA) far too much and for some troubling items. When the economic climate is tight and you find you're charging gas and groceries that should be a wake-up call. Last month I charged $230.95 in groceries (for the various holidays, including our family Rosh Hashana dinner) and $155.60 in gas for a trip to the house, which includes filling the tank on the way back (leaving 3/4 of a tank to drive on for the following week). We have no more holidays until December and no long car trips until then, so I don't expect to need to charge anything over the next while.
That's good, because putting half of the car repair on my hubby's card was very upsetting. My financial goals for November are:
1. Not to charge anything during the month.
2. To pay off IKEA.
3. To start paying down my MasterCard.
I really want to get things back under control after our expensive car repair. Things have all been piling up for a while and now I finally feel that I can get us back on track. As I mentioned the other day, gas prices have been coming down somewhat and that, combined with not going to our rural home between now and Hanukkah (late December), will mean some reduction in our spending.
One of the ways things have been piling up is that we've been using our credit cards (we each have one major card, plus Home Depot and IKEA) far too much and for some troubling items. When the economic climate is tight and you find you're charging gas and groceries that should be a wake-up call. Last month I charged $230.95 in groceries (for the various holidays, including our family Rosh Hashana dinner) and $155.60 in gas for a trip to the house, which includes filling the tank on the way back (leaving 3/4 of a tank to drive on for the following week). We have no more holidays until December and no long car trips until then, so I don't expect to need to charge anything over the next while.
That's good, because putting half of the car repair on my hubby's card was very upsetting. My financial goals for November are:
1. Not to charge anything during the month.
2. To pay off IKEA.
3. To start paying down my MasterCard.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Car Problems Cost Big Money
I mentioned the other day that I was having a problem with the car. What happened is that I drove to the deli, to Safeway, to the liquor store (all within half a dozen blocks of each other and about 10 minutes from home) and started to drive home when I heard a bubbling noise. I looked at the dashboard and the temperature gauge was just about to redline! Hello!? I drive to our rural home through 2 mountain passes and the car never even tries to overheat. How can it be overheating doing the drive I do pretty well every day (all this was just a few blocks from work)?
I turned off the air conditioning and turned on the heater and kept driving home, while keeping an eagle eye on the temperature. (This pulls heat from the engine away from the core and into the interior of the car, reducing the load on the cooling system.) I made it without boiling over but I was pretty freaked out. We didn't use the car over Rosh Hashana of course, but I was determined that it had to go in today.
The news is not good. There are 2 leaks (water pump and thermostat), it needs new timing, alternator and a/c belts and there's a loose tie rod end. That's the stuff we're actually having done now because it's either a safety issue or the car won't keep working without it. There's another job we're going to hold off on for now because all that I already mentioned, plus an oil change and winter check up is going to cost in excess of $1,600! It'll be ready on Monday, so that's how long we have to pull the money together.
Bottom line. We don't have it and we don't have enough room on our credit cards to charge it all. This is a real wake up call. I knew the cards had been creeping up (mostly for things like food, gas, DC's school clothes and rain gear for my hubby so he could cycle to work in the rain) but it hadn't really clicked as to how serious it was getting. It's one thing to say that you need gas but payday isn't for a few days, so you charge the gas and tell yourself you'll make a payment on the card that covers that fillup when you get paid, but what happens when payday rolls around and there are 4 or 5 other things more "urgent" than paying back that $30 to $100? Right. You know what they say about good intentions.
We have a couple of options that don't involve hitting up family for money or selling our possessions. One, my hubby can get an advance on commissions that will be coming to him at the end of October or, two, he could request an increase in his card limit (an option I'm not crazy about but he does have a lower limit than I do). I have some money in ING, but it's pretty well all already accounted for. I'll use the money in our emergency fund either towards the car or towards paying the plumber for fixing the leak at our rural home (we finally got the bill last time we were there and it was just under $300).
But, beyond paying for the repairs and the rental car the dealership arranged, what do I need to do? I have to get back into entering everything in Excel. I need to see exactly where a bunch of the money is going because we should be roughly breaking even on a month to month basis and it doesn't look like we are. Once I do that, we have to really sit down and talk about where the leaks are and how to handle them. Then we have to start working hard to get the debt back down. At the very least, we have to be vigilant about not increasing it.
But we can't stop spending money either. I'm not going to get caught being penny wise and pound foolish. We need to get a programmable thermostat and to have the furnace at our rural place serviced before winter because we aren't going to be there much once the snow starts in the mountains and I don't want to have the pipes freeze or some such nonsense just because we didn't spend a couple of hundred dollars on preventative maintenance. Also, last year we spent about $600 to $700 in fuel oil to heat the place over the winter and we should be able to save about 2/3 or more of that if we spend $100 on the programmable thermostat. So, yes, we're going to have to spend some money in the short term but it will save us money over the next 6 months or so.
I turned off the air conditioning and turned on the heater and kept driving home, while keeping an eagle eye on the temperature. (This pulls heat from the engine away from the core and into the interior of the car, reducing the load on the cooling system.) I made it without boiling over but I was pretty freaked out. We didn't use the car over Rosh Hashana of course, but I was determined that it had to go in today.
The news is not good. There are 2 leaks (water pump and thermostat), it needs new timing, alternator and a/c belts and there's a loose tie rod end. That's the stuff we're actually having done now because it's either a safety issue or the car won't keep working without it. There's another job we're going to hold off on for now because all that I already mentioned, plus an oil change and winter check up is going to cost in excess of $1,600! It'll be ready on Monday, so that's how long we have to pull the money together.
Bottom line. We don't have it and we don't have enough room on our credit cards to charge it all. This is a real wake up call. I knew the cards had been creeping up (mostly for things like food, gas, DC's school clothes and rain gear for my hubby so he could cycle to work in the rain) but it hadn't really clicked as to how serious it was getting. It's one thing to say that you need gas but payday isn't for a few days, so you charge the gas and tell yourself you'll make a payment on the card that covers that fillup when you get paid, but what happens when payday rolls around and there are 4 or 5 other things more "urgent" than paying back that $30 to $100? Right. You know what they say about good intentions.
We have a couple of options that don't involve hitting up family for money or selling our possessions. One, my hubby can get an advance on commissions that will be coming to him at the end of October or, two, he could request an increase in his card limit (an option I'm not crazy about but he does have a lower limit than I do). I have some money in ING, but it's pretty well all already accounted for. I'll use the money in our emergency fund either towards the car or towards paying the plumber for fixing the leak at our rural home (we finally got the bill last time we were there and it was just under $300).
But, beyond paying for the repairs and the rental car the dealership arranged, what do I need to do? I have to get back into entering everything in Excel. I need to see exactly where a bunch of the money is going because we should be roughly breaking even on a month to month basis and it doesn't look like we are. Once I do that, we have to really sit down and talk about where the leaks are and how to handle them. Then we have to start working hard to get the debt back down. At the very least, we have to be vigilant about not increasing it.
But we can't stop spending money either. I'm not going to get caught being penny wise and pound foolish. We need to get a programmable thermostat and to have the furnace at our rural place serviced before winter because we aren't going to be there much once the snow starts in the mountains and I don't want to have the pipes freeze or some such nonsense just because we didn't spend a couple of hundred dollars on preventative maintenance. Also, last year we spent about $600 to $700 in fuel oil to heat the place over the winter and we should be able to save about 2/3 or more of that if we spend $100 on the programmable thermostat. So, yes, we're going to have to spend some money in the short term but it will save us money over the next 6 months or so.
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