Road Trip from Heck

On Thursday of last week, Melinda and a friend got in Michael's car and headed to New Mexico for a conference. Melinda was presenting a paper. The paper part went well. The rest of it was a non-stop fiasco.

Thursday:
The car broke down in Flagstaff. They got towed to a shop, took a taxi to the airport, rented a car and finished the outbound leg of the trip.

Friday:
Kat and I - as planned - leave at 6 AM to join her. But instead of taking the short route, we head to Flagstaff. The mechanic tells us, "The car works for me," followed by "I can look at it sometime next week." Not an option, so we have to find a place to park it until the return trip. A local LDS chapel, in the far corner of the lot.
Arrive in Albuquerque late and drop to sleep.

Saturday:
Conference. Four papers presented in the session. A dozen people listening. Papers were 1) Jews and pressures to convert and/or assimilate into medieval xtian culture, 2) A comparison of the Maleus to the Demonology by King James, in light of the case of Anne [can't remember last name], 3) The Maleus Malificarum and the Making of a Witch (Melinda), and 4) Martin Luther labeling the Pope as the Anti-Christ.
After conference the girls set sights on spending money and eating too much food. I broke off halfway through this quest and stayed on the Hotel, listening to the Hour of Slack, reading and swilling mediocre wine.

Sunday:
Travel home. Meteor Crater. Return rental. Broken car works fine until just north of Flag. Tow back to town. Rent U-Haul truck and tow dollie. Drive through snow until on far side of the San Fransisco peaks. Hit snow again south of Cedar City. Park it all in the Wally World lot and spend night at Melinda's place.

Monday:
Get car to mechanic. Return rental truck. Go home. Drive Kate to Ogden. Drive back home. Collapse.

The total money damage from the freaking car thing is about an even thousand dollars. That is without the repair bill that will hit us in about a week. I'm pretty pissed off. I voted for Michael to buy the Camry. But no! He wanted the HONDA. Oooohh. Honda. ...that cost 600 in repairs within a week of purchase. Happy, happy. Joy, Joy.

I'm pretty disgusted because so much of what went wrong would NOT have happened if Andy hadn't been ignored or bypassed. Melinda took Michael's car because she didn't know if hers would make it. Was my opinion sought? No. Michael's car was the one I voted NOT to buy, and that has been a pain in the ass from day one. I'm further disgusted because I am the one who had to make the choices on how to dig out of it, who bore the brunt of the extra work, and who will end up having to pay for it all.

End of rant. My next post will ignore this and speak of Existential Angst Tour 2008.