Car Car Broken

It took three tries to get the car out of the underground garage. Apparently the incline of the driveway makes it impossible for even the smallest of the tow trucks to enter. Finally, on the third try, the driver and Joe managed to jump start the car the old fashioned way, pushing and releasing the clutch at just the right time. So, it's in the garage and won't come home until we pay them lots and lots and lots of money. It's a bad time for this to happen, but then, really, is there ever a good time.

Joe and I discussed about how much we could manage. I named a figure, Joe nodded. Then we spent the next several hours waiting until we heard from the garage exactly how much it was going to cost. We go to a place where we really trust that they are honest both with their estimates in with their prices. Mechanics and Doctors - the two professionals that we rely on and wish we didn't have to, the two professions in which trust is the primary ingredient. Both of us hoped, lottery ticket hoped, that the amount would be within the lower end of the range we had quoted. The call, of course, came telling us that it was about two hundred dollars more than the figure we had stated.

We agreed.

Then we reorganized how we were going to manage the cost.

Life is kind of like that isn't it. You figure you can handled just this much, and then life hands you more than you expect, and you manage. It's painful and it's bothersome but you manage. We won't have a car for the next several days, it means reorganizing a lot of things, but we managed. Christmas shopping isn't done, it means reorganizing what's on our lists, but we managed. We just do. We do because we have little choice. The problem with tomorrow, is that it comes. What the clock says and what time does are just not connected at all.

We ended the day sitting in the front room watching Jeopardy with only the tree lights on. Joe in his chair. Me snuggled into my corner of the couch. It was quiet. We'd made it through the day, stressors and all, without snipping or snapping at each other. He'd been considerate of me. I'd been considerate of him. Tomorrow is coming, and even with all the bother today, it's still welcome.

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PS

I'd like to invite you all to visit niece Shannon's blog Half Soled Boots to read her post for today. I read it after mine and almost erased what I had written. Mine thin soup. Her's thick stew. Take a look, I don't think you'll regret the time.