The Easter that Didn't Happen for Me

I really was looking forward to seeing my family, and getting out of Madison for a little while. Unfortunately, the level of anticipation doesn't appear to correlate to success. My brother and I left Madison on time, in the normally reliable Ford Tempo. We got onto I-90 and things were going smooth for awhile. I was in the center lane, doing about 70 and noticed that the transmission appeared to be strained, shifting into higher gears. I didn't think much of it...until the engine killed completely in the middle of the freeway.

I was unable to restart in neutral, and had to hit the hazards and quickly move over to the right. I was doing about 25 m.p.h. by the time I finally got all the way over. I checked the gauges: check engine, oil, and check electronics all shone. The temperature and oil were fine. I tried the gas cap trick for vapor lock, and that was a no go. Neither were any of my attempts to restart.

Thankfully, I have a AAA card, and got a free tow back to Madison. The fucking crooks that run the auto shop they dropped my car at demanded $140 simply to look at the car. There goes a month worth of groceries. Honestly, I have a feeling that whatever is wrong will cost too much to justify repairing.

The thought of being without a car panics me to no end. I need it for some very fundamental parts of my life: getting to NLP, getting groceries, getting home. Not to mention, I'll need a car every work day this summer back in Hudson. I can't afford another vehicle and I'm not about to ask my family for help on this one, so it appears that I'm fucked. The real cock in the ass is the fact that I had just put $30 worth of gas in. I'm definitely going to siphon it out.

I haven't seen my family now for over three months, and I miss them and my dog more than ever. I know they're going to be very disappointed by this and it's painful to even think about how my little sister will react. Happy Easter.