Running on empty

So, we bought another car. Note I did not say we bought a "new" car, since new it most definitely is not. Kind of the opposite. In fact, in car years, it's more toward the geriatic end of the spectrum.  Perhaps a slightly odd choice, all things considered, but the price of a newer model was pretty much out of the question and despite the age and slightly funny smell in the interior, it ticked a lot of boxes.

E was a bit worried though, about the fact that the car has a gajillion miles on it, so before buying, he very prudently arranged for an RAC inspection (sort of like the equivalent of the AAA, for those of you Stateside). This was not cheap, but the report included a road test, and carried with something of a peace of mind factor, considering we ourselves had not driven the thing.  (Why hadn't we driven it, you ask?  Well, because the seller of the vehicle in question was over 50 miles away, and being without transport, it wasn't exactly trivial to just pop over there to take it for a spin.)

The report came back with all sorts of ominous mutterings about a few things, but all fixable and nothing we couldn't live with. And apparently the car ran well "despite the high mileage".  Ack. With a bit more fretting and teeth gnashing, E. decided to go ahead and buy the damn thing. So we schlepped ourselves over there (a bus, a train, another train and a taxi ride), me with one of those passport holder things around my neck carrying a ridiculous amount of cash from the sale of our car. I guess I looked less muggable than E.

Blahblahblah a bit of tyre kicking later and some paperwork, off we drove in our "new-to-us" car. We ran a few errands, stopped off en route to see a couple people, and then hit the motor way.

Ten miles out of town, the fuel gauge plummted abruptly into the red, lights began blinking on the dash board, a claxon sounded somewhere in the distance. The car juddered, its eyes rolling up in to the back of its metal head, and then it died. Fortunately, E. had promptly heeded by screams to pull! the! fuck! over! immediately and we slid to a tidy stop on the hard shoulder.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to convince the company with whom you purchased roadside assistance breakdown cover a mere two hours earlier that day that said breakdown cover is actually in place, valid and pleeeease send somebody out right way?  Well, I can tell you.  It's tricky.  Involves a lot of shouting down the phone to a call centre in India.

The rest of story is too boring to go into- a long spell sitting by the motor way playing "I Spy" with E. and getting zapped by stinging nettles, the tedium of waiting for the car to be ratcheted up onto the tow truck, the attempt to solve the problem at a roadside service station, by simply putting some fuel in, the apparent failure of that solution, the endless telephone calls back to the guy who sold it to us trying to figure out what to do, the towing all the way back home, only to discover that when it was taken down off the tow, it started up and was absolutely fine. Fuel gauge is a bit fucked, it seems, and what happened is we simply...ran out of gas.

So that's the car story. E. remarked on how calm I seemed about the whole thing, and indeed, I was. I'm not saying that doing IVF turns you into some sort of stalwart soldier for every other life crisis, but it certainly does teach you that if you can get through that, something like running out of gas actually is not such a big deal. Even if you don't know that is what happened, and instead are faced with the prospect that you have just forked over silly amounts of money for a lemon.  An old lemon.

Oh, and speaking of IVF, E. says he is willing to now try it again, maybe in the autumn. I on the other hand, am not so keen to wake the sleeping dragon- for a whole lot of complicated reasons, which I may or may not be able to even articulate.  But watch this space.   

Comments

[DD]

"Oh, and speaking of IVF," she nonchalantly adds...

I will try to contain myself and hope for whatever makes you most at peace.

[Lut C.]

The moral of the story is that IVF makes you immune to gambling with lots of money? Well at least that's something. ;-)

E is considering doing IVF again? But now you don't want to? Well, if that isn't an interesting turn of events. I'll be watching, you bet.

[Mellie]

Glad to hear that the wheels are turning again - and can't wait to see where you end up.

[Georgia]

Well, I like the idea of you having options, and I imagine that E knows what he's getting into by this point, and if it's a genuine offer to try again...wow. Thinking of you.

[patricia]

Good times.

I must say I do so understand your hesitation. Perhaps it's a bit soon to rock the boat? Or not. Maybe it's the perfect time. Or... oh forget it.

[Jill]

This is some journey you're on. Wishing only the best for you.

[Donna]

If it were my husband we would have promptly asked for all our money back and left the car by the roadside! I'm glad it was an easy problem to fix and you didn't also have a breakdown.

[isabel]

Hoping things continue go well for you, car snafus notwithstanding.

[thalia]

I hope that's the last of the tricks this car plays on you. As for the other news...after all that time on the raft, I'm not surprised that the shore looks a little weird. Let's see what it looks like when you get a bit closer.

[millie]

My car broke down recently, rather suspiciously in fact, after we'd foolishly held discussions about buying a new car while driving.

So glad to her you just ran out of gas.

[Amyesq]

Oh my God! Really?! Trying to stay calm here...

[-Blue]

Oh dear! As a person who's ONLY ever driven old motors, I can really empathize. One of my current vehicles (my farm truck to be precise) has a petrol gauge that doesn't work at all. We simply have to fill it up and trust our luck!

May this be the only bad thing that happens to this car!

Best of luck on that, erm ... other thing. Anxiously awaiting updates.

-Blue

[Schnozz]

More important than whatever IVF decision you end up making is that you really seem in control again. You sound less like "I'm lost and just don't know how to move anywhere" and more like "I've got both hands on this goddamn steering wheel, thanks." And I think that's great, and I'm very happy for you, no matter what you end up deciding!

[Toni]

It's amazing how men and women react to things so differently. You are the calm one in the situation - E seems to need more time to 'digest' what's going on.

I hope you come to a mutual agreement on the 'other thing' (my hope is for another round...but that's just me!).

[govokinolij]

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