Cars

Not that many years ago we had the year of the car. At the start of the year we owned four cars, during the course of the year we bought six more cars,  yet at the end of the year still had only four working automobiles. We are now in the month of the car and it is not yet half over.

To start the month my daughter was in a seemingly minor collision. With older cars you never know what will be repaired and when the insurance company will total it. While the car was (is) drivable, the radiator is leaking and the hood doesn’t open. More specifically if it is opened, it will not close again. So this vehicle has been sidelined, until we hear from the insurance company.

Next my truck has been acting up, not wanting to go into reverse. A useful feature when driving around town, or parking at home (the driveway is not circular.) So before I left town last Thursday I dropped at at my favorite mechanic, to have a them look at it. It doesn’t take much to realize that the transmission was the likely cause of the problem. So now we have a fourteen year old truck that needs a new transmission.

So, it would seem that it is time to explore the options for acquiring a new vehicle. Now things get interesting. Mary was at her mother’s for the weekend, about 250 miles from here. It seems a cousin of her brother has an older van that he wants to sell. He is a mechanic, the van seems well cared for and the price is reasonable; so we buy it. After all trying to get three people to jobs in Gwinnett County requires a vehicle for each or a taxi service.

Well our convenient purchase was not such a good thing, as it turns out. The newly purchased van had only been on short trips in the recent past and the 3 hour drive back home was just too much for it. About an hour from home it stopped and had to be towed in to our favorite mechanic, joining my truck. I have reserved parking at the garage, with a fleet of four we are frequent visitors.

So Monday afternoon I go over the options with the mechanic. The truck needs a transmission, about $3,000 (four wheel drive.) The van it turns out, needs a new engine, cost $4,300 or so. This requires a little thought but after a good nights sleep, it seems that both vehicles are headed for that big garage in the sky. So this morning I go by the garage to pick up any valuables and have the radios removed (they are the best part of each  vehicle.) Well the van is out front, and doesn’t have anything in it. And the truck?

The mechanics give me a rather blank look. When they saw the van on Monday they assumed I had limped home in the truck. No, it seems that over the weekend, most likely on Saturday, someone took a liking to my truck and drove off in it. There was some broken glass on the ground but otherwise, there is no sign of it. So now I am out a truck, a set of jumper cables, an ice chest, some bungy cords and a pretty nice radio.

Not that I am feeling sorry for myself, it is only stuff, but I really do wish that Gwinnett County had mass transit.