If It Ain't Broke, It Ain't Mine

Anybody got a screwdriver? A lathe? A Swiss bank account?
First the good news! Following the three leaks that afflicted our house last spring, our living room and foyer have brand new carpeting. And there is nothing like brand new carpeting adjacent to old carpeting to emphasize just how dirty and faded the old carpeting is.
And once the carpeting was installed by the poor workman who had to do it all himself because his partner didn't show, we realized how much we liked our living room sparely appointed. So being pack rats, we either have to toss away what's now in boxes or throw away stuff in storage to make room for the new stuff.
I took a four-day weekend last week and as part of that, I took in my 1999 Honda Accord for maintenance. It was about to roll over 100,000 miles, so it needed a new timing belt. And while it was in, it needed an ignition switch recall repaired.
I got it back and it drove a lot better...until the next day, when it stopped moving. It stalled out at a traffic light and refused to budge. I was on my way to taking Rachel to preschool when it happened. And had it happened five minutes later, we would have stalled out on the freeway and who knows what would have happened to us. Or had it happened the night before, it would have died on the freeway with Rebecca behind the wheel, on her way to or from choir practice. So I'm glad it happened where it did, though not happening at all would have been a far better option.
Anyway, I had Rachel with me, so five different people stopped offering us either cell phones or saying they'd stay with us until police and/or a tow truck arrived. That's probably five more than would have stopped for me alone. Rachel ratchets up the adorability factor significantly.
Rebecca came by to take Rachel to preschool and I went back to the Honda place with the wrecker. Here is what happened, though I can't quite believe they admitted it. One of their workers torqued a bolt too tightly near my cam shaft. Before you knew it, it was all torque and no action. The bolt broke the cam shaft and a valve on my engine. One week later, my car is still in the shop. I have a free loaner and they're having to fix the damage for free.
Rebecca's car has a leak that has required a replenishment of water every day. So T.C. (teal car) is going into the shop today, though not at the Honda dealer. So we'll both be driving loaners. That's us...loaners....keeping to ourselves...kinda quiet...never bothering anyone.
Now, when we cleared out the living room for the new carpeting, something broke off on our very old tv and we now watch cable through the snowy screen. This was a point of great consternation last night when Julian McMahon was on the Tonight Show. Rebecca tried to watch through the snow and was beside herself when Leno showed a clip from McMahon's first movie when he apparently stripped down to his skivvies. I think the remark was something like, "Man, they show Julian's butt and all I see is rice cakes!"
By the way, the new tv is on order. And the property tax and auto insurance bills are due next month.
Still, we can't complain. We could be in Louisiana trying to put our lives back together. And if you haven't contributed anything, give whatever you can. I've been listening to New Orleans Radio Station WWL at night and I can't imagine how I could get through what is their reality these days.
So scratch the idea of the Swiss Bank Account. That needs to go to hurricane victims. The screwdriver and the lathe are still acceptable, however.