Goodbye, gentle steed

I've sold our Freestar.  It was a pain in the butt at times,  but it took us to Ohio,  Chicago,  House on the Rock, Cave of the Mounds, work, school, and a thousand dr visits/Scout events/dance classes.  And while it didn't save the hip,  two tons of Ford steel made sure that's all that was lost.  Go in peace my van, and thanks for your service.

The Van is Back

My van is back. The serpentine belt, tensioner, and something vitally important and impressive (but illegible on the receipt) were replaced. All things being relative, it wasn't that awful in overall price, coming in at just about 2x the cost of LuLu's teeth - and those things were just useless chunks of calcium. All kidding aside, I could use a nice bandage to stop the financial bleeding, but the important thing is we're back on the road and I've helped our moribund economy.

More Car Repairs

Very bummed. Van went down with what sounded/acted like a broken belt early this afternoon, but upon inspection the belt is intact and all the pulleys are working . . . it's now at the shop and it'll certainly cost me more than I want to spend. Damn. And I just filled up the tank too, which part of me always views as a jinx. D'oh!