i need an extra thumb...

...as i may need to start hitchhiking everywhere.

last summer we had some problems with the good car, forcing me to somehow through a series of miracles get our non-running car to run- after 2 years of sitting still. turned out to be a short in the radio, which i remedied with a screwdriver, a pair of pliers and a case of the pissed-off-angrys that would make the incredible hulk hide in fear.

we scraped together enough to get the good car out of the shop ($1,300 surprise + $400 money-saving maneuver) and then had another unrelated problem occur. we decided to  use the junk car and wait on fixing the other problem. we drove the beater all summer, not a single problem.

two weeks ago i got up and went to the post office-  i had to pay the fee to avoid having to get it rekeyed and causing a lot of problems and  expense. i did that and the car started knocking on the way home. i had to call bobo NINE times to wake him up. he diagnosed it as NO OIL (he's checked it several time at my urging- fine each  time ....his task no more!!!) and pushed it home. so the beater is fucked. i expect to scrap it soon.

luckily we have a second car.

a few days later, we were going to go grocery shopping. but it was too icy for our raggedy tires and we turned around to go home before we even hit the corner. bobo was pulling in our driveway and slid on a patch of ice. we hit the mailbox and busted the radiator. lots of steam!

i bought some $7 glue to try to fix the cracked radiator enough to get it to the shop but we found out our insurance company would pay for the tow.

so we called the insurance company and they towed it to the shop. our deductible is $250, so we were pleasantly surprised when they dropped the $125 town off our deductible (half!). It was only 4 miles and we met him at the driveway bottom. that's over $25 a mile. we were thankful for the break. plus the other problem seemed to have corrected itself (however, we did find grease in a few odd place in the interior!)

but yesterday we went grocery shipping. we spent a little bit more money than usual because it seemed like all the meat was on clearance and we got more to restock the freezer. after all, he gets more money monday and we can eat at home all week-end. so we are money poor but meat rich.

then it happened.

the mystery problem decided to reappear.

so the $125 discount is now going to have to go into solving the mystery problem. i've found some videos on utube and we can fix it. the part is like $100, which means that the labor bill will be high. which means we will have to do it ourselves, since our back-up car is now a hunk of junk! good thing i saved the ceceipt for the $7 glue

we have to figure out how to do this ourselves. looks like we will be spending the week-end watching utube and trying to match the parts and the video with the parts on the car.

oh course, bobo found a job he had planned on applying for today. so we also spent $20 for a good-luck hair cut. we had the kids this week-end and itchy drew a picture of bobo ad  titled it "bobo moe hock" and drew him a headful of wild hair. so it was time for much more than a trim. we did fin d the cheaper salon though, big as life in from of wal-mart. i've only been looking for it over 2 years!

of course, this is a dream job for bobo. when he first got laid off eons ago, he said he wished he could get a job like the one that is available now. here it is and everything is conspiring against him. little work, lots of money, great benefits. AND NO CAR!

i've mentioned some MAJOR money we are waiting on, relating to our old house we lost due to foreclosure. i have found the right person to deal with, but no one is answering me when i call. she is supposed to be getting out info together for the claim and she isn't calling me. i've been waiting since before christmas to get this done. i'm sure there's some reason i'm not getting a call back. they may have to wait until next fiscal quarter so that america doesn't realize this bank is quietly and quickly going bust.

when the money does come through, it should be a LARGE amount. but we need to get a house with the money. i have the perfect house for the right price, they may even go lower. but it will be gone by the time we can afford it. it always happens that way. before we got this place, i found the perfect house, but i couldn't get approved for financing. we  wanted to rent until our credit cleared up and use this money to buy it outright.but they chose not to do that. they ended up renting it to some of their family members with  6 kids. it's up for sale but i don't want it now. before, it had been newly refurbished. but after 2 years with 6 kids in it, i'm sure it's not quite as shiny and pristine. if i DID buy it, i would constantly look at it and say, "WHAT IF?" there was even a nice twig fence around the front yard. now it's just littered wuth twigs, not a trace of the fence.

i've been clearing out more, getting ready so i can move at the drop of a hat. i'm purging and packing. i'm giving some things away if i can think of the right person at that moment or else i am packing it in the "for sale" boxes i'm sure i will be dragging out at least once again before we move. we are planning a big $1 only yard sale the first pretty week-end. this group of woman have sales where it doesn't matter what it is, it's $1. if you don't need it, it's clutter. on the other hand, dollar bills are never clutter. if it's not worth $1, they just keep shopping until the tally hits $1. it eliminates the need for coin change entirely. they also have a great location, location, location.

i have a special purse i always use for yard sales. i keep quarters in one zipper part, nickles and dimes in another. then i have a space for $1 bills, and a special zip section for anything larger than $1 or to stash extra $1 bills. i've had it forever but it's perfect. i bought it for a vacation we went on years ago. it's useless for trips but perfect for yard sales. the strap is adjustable, so it can be a fanny pack (SUX!) all the way up to a longer cross body bag.

i could write all day but i am just delaying cleaning. so i better hop off for now, before cps comes and takes my hubby away and puts him in a foster home due to negligence.