Tuesday, February 19, 2013

What's Up With Me and Cars?

The kids cleaning out our car after receiving the bad news
that it would not be fixed

So the Prager's have been seriously cursed with car issues recently. How is that so many bad things have happened in the last month? First in mid January, I got into an accident with a Chevy Tahoe on my way to school with all three kids in tow. My poor 2008 Ford Taurus X AWD wagon was totaled. Yup, totaled on a neighborhood street going about 20 - 25 mph. My friends who live in Laramie will attest that the roads are crap all winter long. The city plows a couple of main streets and doesn't bother with the rest! The back streets are a perpetual sheet of ice for months and the conditions didn't work in my favor the day of my accident. At least nobody was hurt.
 
The back of my car

As luck would have it, I just bought my car in August and had only been driving it a few months. It was a total find and a great deal. The car is no longer made, so finding a replacement car just like it didn't work out. So after two weeks of stress, I broke down and bought a new Honda Pilot. I have to say it is a pretty nice car. Of course, I never planned on buying a new car and financially, now was not a good time given the fact that we made two very expensive trips to Ethiopia in November and December.

My new car

Just when I thought the car drama was over, the weekend before last, our Nissan Xterra slid down the driveway while in park (yup, it was on ice/snow). Steve had just returned from a movie with Kibrom. Long story short, the front driver's side door was open and in the mayhem of Steve trying not to have his foot run over or Kibrom run over, the door met the giant bush next the driveway. The encounter left the door in very bad shape - bent the entire door. The metal is all peeled back and the door barely closes. When it does, it makes this G-d awful sound. In fact, you kind of have to lift the door up to actually close it all the way. So the Xterra will need body work. With our recent insurance claim and $1,000 deductible, we will be paying for it ourselves. I am guessing this will cost a grand to fix. And it just has to be fixed. Steve hasn't taken it in for an estimate, but it is on our list of things to do.
  
Poor "Big White" - our Xterra.

This brings me to last week. On Thursday, I picked up the kids and drove home like any other day. Pulled into the garage like normal. Started unloading the car. The kids had a lot of crap so I had to make two trips into the house. The back door of the car was open. Somehow in a matter of minutes of me going into the house with the first load, Kibrom decided to close the garage door....yes, on my brand new car! The back door of the car did not block the garage door sensors so the garage door did close. Only the garage door took the car door down with it, jamming the back door of the car onto a piece of metal on the back of the garage door. I came unglued! I was a crazy lady. I thought the automatic lift was broken when I saw the car door wedged part-way open.

Turns out the lift is fine, but the back door is all scratched up below the license plate and on the bottom edge of the door. I swear, I can't keep anything nice. Not even for a month! To say the car thing has been frustrating is an understatement. After the last incident, I hit my mental limit. All I could do was flop on my bed and cry. So I did.

It's been a few days now and I am almost over it. I still hate seeing those scratches. But my new car will be well worn soon. I transport three kids around all day. Say no more. We will drive the Xterra for a while with its door problem until we can scratch together the funds to fix it. As for Kibrom, I don't think he will ever touch the garage door again. I think my crazy mental state that night made a lasting impression on him.

In the meantime, I hope we took care of all things bad for 2013. It's gotta be good from here! Speaking of good...at least my often-times crazy children were their somewhat charming selves this weekend. Amen to that!

Semira and Kibrom doing a puppet show at the library this weekend.
Semira and Kibrom eating shiro and injera yesterday. 

2 comments:

  1. Oh man!! I am so sorry to hear about your car "troubles". Preston accidently shut the garage door on my Mazda, but it was in the front. It stinks especially when it is a new car. Which, I think you are going to just absolutly LOVE!! I still miss my Pilot. In fact (not knowing we were moving here) I traded in the Mazda for an Odyssey. :-) I pray that your car "troubles" are done as it sounds like it has come in three. :-) Glad that the kids were happy this weekend. I'm sure that helped.

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  2. Sorry to hear about your car troubles. I hope it's less stressful for you lately. Things will get better. Hopefully you got a good dealer for your cars, so you have less hassle for repairs and maintenance.

    Infiniti of Ann Arbor

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