If it isn't one thing, it's something else

*Owning an older used car has it's up and downs. There are no payments on it so you can just run it til it dies, but you've got to deal with the repairs as they come more often. This story was just funny, and so full of irony, that I just had to get it written down for laughs later on.

Derek was heading home from work one day and saw a woman stranded next to the highway. She had run out of gas. He found a place to turn around and headed back to see if he could help.

I got a call from him while he was driving her to the next exit to get a gas can and fill it up; he was just letting me know he'd be a little late for supper. I hung up feeling thankful for a sweet husband and hoping more people are out there like that so if I ran into trouble I'd have help too (although I hope I'd watch my gas gauge better than that!).

As he filled her tank up cars and semi whizzed inches by him doing 75 mph. He said he was glad to be back in his car after that!

A few minutes later I received another call from him. He had driven away, passed that exit that he'd just been to get gas, and his car overheated. That was the last exit before home, but he had 13 miles to go and didn't want to risk damaging the engine. He was going to wait for a tow truck.

Derek got right to work on fixing the problem. It was either the thermostat or the water pump. It ended up being a broken water pump so he drained the antifreeze, replaced the parts, and filled it up with water to run it for the recommended 2-6 hours.

We decided to go for a family drive to get some miles/time on the new pump before putting the antifreeze in it. We were gone for about 20 minutes and stopped home to quick grab something. As I ran into the house Derek and Abigail waited in the driveway. Our driveway is sloped so he pulled the emergency brake... and something snapped. The e-brake was stuck on.

The night temperatures were getting below freezing that week and with his engine full of water he didn't want to risk having it sit outside at the auto repair place, but he didn't want to flush it yet and replace it with antifreeze because we had hardly driven it, let alone reached the recommended 2-6 hours.

He mulled over it for a few days (thanks for the loaner cars from both our parents!). He finally decided to park it sideways in our lawn (so it wouldn't roll anywhere!) and let it run for awhile. Then he changed the antifreeze and brought it to the auto repair shop.

The car is finally home and working again. Let's just say there was a big sigh of relief when all the car issues were over (for now anyway). he he he