(Or how my car ruined six months of planning.)
So, I’m very lucky in that I get two weeks of paid vacation at my job. This is the first time I’ve ever had paid vacation, and when we scheduled our vacation at the beginning of the year, I lept at the chance to visit my friends in Montreal.
Two thirds of my vacation was set aside for that trip, and we saved money for months despite multiple set backs.
And then, four days before I was off, the car started acting funny. I hit the gas, and the engine revved, but I just slowed down… and then it recovered.
I told my husband, and he tested it – nothing.
It happened again on a short drive to my parents’, and recovered.
He tested. Nothing.
And then I went to work at one of my outreach locations, the furthest from my house at over an hour’s drive.
On the way home, I started up one of the hills… and slowed… and slowed… and barely made it onto a side street before I simply couldn’t move. Car revved, no problem. Wheels wouldn’t turn.
Turns out it was a slipping transmission.
Do you have an idea how much a transmission costs?!? That was the end of our vacation fund and nearly all of my emergency fund. We’re going to be eating ramen for months! (Figuratively. I’m allergic to wheat and my husband has Celiac’s. It will actually be rice and beans.)
So we didn’t get to go to Montreal to see one of my closest friends and my god kids. I won’t lie. I bawled when I got home that night and again when I got the estimate. I had been looking forward to this trip for six months, scrimping and saving for it. And it was just gone. Just *poof!* Like that.
So I sat at home for a week on the Internet. Fun vacation, that. Don’t get me wrong, I had a wonderful Father’s Day with my parents, brother, and husband, and we drank with my in laws a few times, and that was fun.
But I went from a week scheduled to the brim with fun things to waking up with no plans each day and no motivation to get out of bed.
In fact, I went back to work two days early. I figure I’ll save those days for later, when I’m doing poorly.
But I am seriously disappointed.
Have you ever had a long anticipated plan blow up on you last minute? How did you handle it? Hopefully you were more mature than me!
You have a subaru though. They are suppose to be super reliable. Though maybe its really old? That does suck though. I had a mini disappointment when I looked at hiking in some areas and its still snowy in some places. Not quite the same but a let down.
They are, but this one was used for towing by the previous owner, and the transmission has been acting up since we first got it. It’s also a 2001, so it’s not exactly a spring chicken. What’s wrong with hiking in the snow?