More Vehicular Drama

OK, so one month ago (15 June or thereabouts) my Isuzu Trooper broke down on the last leg of the Great Western Family Vacation of 2006 (16 days, from Kentucky to California and back.) It made the first 5,200 miles of the trip, but couldn't make the last 400 or so.

We had to replace the vehicle. And we had to borrow some money from the bank, in addition to the car loan, for the down payment, because we were upside down on the vehicle that broke down. (BTW, NEVER take a 72 month note on a vehicle, you'll NEVER be right-side up on it.)

We got it done, right? An almost-new Chevy Trailblazer for my wife to drive, and I'll drive the 1999 Ford Escort until the tax return comes in. At that time, I'll get a pickup and my daughter will get the Escort. Good plan.

And we're paying more each month, but only a little. It's tight, but doable. Right?

That was the state of our vehicular lives on Friday morning, 14 July.

That Friday afternoon, less than a month after my beloved Isuzu Trooper died a painful death, the timing belt on the Escort slipped a cog, which tore up the engine in the Escort. (Techno-geek talk: I need a new cylinder head, because the slipped cog caused the valves to drop onto the pistons, which just tears everything to heck.)

So here's where we are:

1. We spent a lot of money on the Great Western Family Vacation of 2006. We made some GREAT memories for the kids, and some wonderful and beautiful time together as a family.
2. Then we spent all the money we could borrow on getting out of the broken down Isuzu Trooper and into the shiny new Trailblazer.
3. And now I have to repair or replace the Escort. It'll cost more to fix the engine than it will to replace the engine, or just get a different car.
4. We can't sell the Escort for salvage, we have to hang on to it because there's a lien against it.

I think that's everything.

God has a really weird sense of humor, doesn't he? I gotta say, right now I question his timing.

I know he'll get us through this, he's gotten us through worse. And I'm sure I'll see a reason for this someday. But this is SO not fun.