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.

Good times and mildly broke

Things have been busy, but pretty good. Sadimac's been working on about five different things, and I'm still doing well at BLB01. Our only boondoggle is our bank accounts.

Through a combination of some vet bills, my brief unemployment, then part time employment and other factors have left us kind of broke. With the economy as it is, we're far from alone in this, but it still makes me cringe when I have to pay the bills every month.

In the spirit of this, I would like to get a different car. The Volvo, while safe and mostly dependable, is a bit of a gas hog. This clashes both with my environmental concerns, and my desire to spend less money on gas. We're getting about 18 to 22 mpg right now, and that burns to much dinosaur and money for my taste.

Since we're broke, does anybody have a gas efficient four door they want get rid of?