Ugh. Money, money, money.

So the 1997 Saturn died.  At 100,000 miles.  It was my goal to drive it into the ground, but I didn't think that would happen so literally or that it would be at 100K. 

Wednesday, fresh from picking Max up from school, my car died at the stop sign on the way out.  The engine ran fine, but the car suddenly starting shuddering madly when I tried to turn and accelerate.  

Can I say total mortification?  This is an old car and it had been in two accidents.  The front end was fixed with duct tape.  But generally, it ran and it felt safe to drive.  And now is not the best time for us to buy a new(er) car.  We have savings, yes, but with jobs draining or evaporating from Michigan in record numbers, I'd prefer that savings stayed saved.  So, though the car was a bit of an embarrassment, I held my chin up and kept driving it.  Until Wednesday when the frame holding the engine up rusted through on one side and the engine hit the ground.  

Fortunately, two nice men stopped and helped push it back to where I could park it, and then one of them took Max, the two dogs, and me home again.  I called the tow truck who took it to our local mechanic.  At this point I was hoping it was fixable, but when he got it elevated, he told me he couldn't.  That, yes, technically, a new frame could be put in, but with such an old and problematic (the engine crapped out at 65K) car, it wasn't worth it.  So the Saturn is going to be sold for scrap when the price of scrap goes up.

Since we got the red Tacoma, our plan had been to sell the 1997 Escort J. had been driving.   We figured we might get a thousand for it.  Now the Escort is our only remaining vehicle and will be what I'm driving.  But it needs at least $500 - 1000 worth of repairs to make it fully safe to drive.  So that's in the shop now.  The mechanic told me that if I repaired the wheel bearings, replaced the timing belt, fixed the back struts (apparently notoriously bad on 1997 Escorts) and got a new front wheel rim, it should be a decent car to drive.  For the next week or so, that is what I'll be doing with my spare time.  

Other news: Max broke his glasses again and now, after this most recent repair, they are crooked on his face.  Discouraged about that.  Ruby met a skunk the other night and the result was smelly.  I managed to get some of the stink out of her using a mixture of baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap, but her face still kind of stinks.  

I've also been trying to come back from a sinus infection with the help of many drugs.  I'm still pretty exhausted, but I'm working on recovering.  

Finally, does this scenario seem familiar?

A mom gives her two children Easter baskets.  One child hogs up all the candy in a day or so with relish, egging his sibling on to do the same.  But the other child decides to dole his candy out so that he can enjoy it longer.  After awhile, the mom realizes that one of her kids still has candy, which the other doesn't, decides that's not fair, and gives the first child new candy to right the "wrong."  

This is what the Stimulus Package seems to do, in my eyes.  I realize that something has to be done with our Post-Blow Out economy, but refinancing or forgiving everyone else's party expenses is kind of a slap in the face to those of us who carefully managed our Easter Candy.  As is clear from the above 1997 vehicle tale of woe above, I never partied in the 90's.  I didn't mortgage 100K more than we could afford, I never bought an SUV, and we never went on a Hawaiian vacation or had lavish holidays.   I just watched lots of people do this and now will be paying for their bailouts with the tax dollars I contribute to pay the interest on the gazillion dollar loans the government is now taking out to finance them.  

Addendum:  I'd like to clarify - I'm fine with people who choose to do fun things with their money as long as they can really afford to do them with their money.