From Bad to Worse, but a Good Day...

[Elspode]

Well, I haven't bitched much lately about my current status since you are all so nice and I so hate looking pathetic so often, but I thought I could share this much.

Ever since I lost my job back at the end of May, things have been breaking right and left. As soon as the temp went over 90, our central air went out (which we had just spent $500 on six weeks earlier...compressor shot craps). We lucked out and found someone to purchase a new, commercial grade unit at cost and install it for free...so we came out like bandits on that, although it was still a $400 bite we had to scrape up.

My router shot craps about a week later, and then the transmission started to go out in my high-mileage Windstar van. Having no other recourse, I closed out my IRA, taking a 20% tax bite in the ass, and started to get the van serviced. On my way home from getting an estiamte on the tranny, and some other stuff, the engine shelled...totally. As in, probabay threw a rod through the inside of the cylinder wall. A replacement engine would have cost $4,500, and I would have still had to have tranny work done, and probably a new tranny. Final total? Would have been $6,500, for a vehicle with a $3k book value. So I scrapped it, and proceeded to look for a replacement vehicle.

After a week of research, I decided I probably wanted a Ford Explorer. We have a camper trailer to tow, and musical gear to be hauled around, etc. A car just wouldn't cut it. It looked like I was going to have to spend $7k to get a six or seven year old vehicle with 140k on it, but I lucked into a 1999 with 106k for $7,250 today. I therefore am the proud owner of a very tight, very good condition Explorer 4x4 which needs only a new light hookup for me to be off and camping next weekend.

I feel better, if pretty damn broke.