The Machine Jihad

Our machines have turned against us.

You all know our tale of major appliance woe from the last couple of months, but now there is more.

It started a few days ago when the lawn mower just up and died. No warning, just stopped. No big deal, we just borrowed the neighbor's for the time being and moved on with our lives.

Today, the car died, and not just the little deaths that cars sometimes have and recover from, but a big scary death with gushing oil, smoke and what is most likely a cracked block. We can not afford to buy a car, but we must have a car. It is a conundrum, to say the least.

We do have temporary transportation for a couple of days (thank you, thank you, thank you Erich & Sara), but we need to figure out what's next beyond that.

This many things going belly up in the last two months can only mean one thing: Jihad.

The mower was only two years old and showed no hint that it was about to fail. The car, while a bit past it's prime, has given us no trouble. It was a bit overdue for an oil change, it's true, but no lights came on, no warning was issued, it just blew. Thankfully we where pulling up to a friend's house when it went south so we were in no real danger, but that doesn't change the fact that we now have no car.

The machines are out to get us in some Matrix/Terminatoresque fashion. Fear for us, and for yourselves, for they will strike when you least expect it.