Right now I should be getting ready to go to Missy’s funeral, but we’re not going to make it.  Hubby headed to work this morning fully intending to work a few hours then come home for the memorial.  Instead he dropped everyone else off at work and headed back home because the Blazer started spewing coolant.

We’ve got a hole in the radiator.  We can buy a new radiator for $220 or we can have my cousin’s radiator shop fix it and flush the system for $75.  You don’t have to guess which option we’re choosing.  I’ll just have to put off buying the Christian books I was going to order for my Mom’s birthday until next week.

I don’t know the logistics of it since that’s Hubby’s domain, but I know there’s a hole to patch, there’s a missing plastic piece, and the plastic piece has to be ordered.  The piece will be in Monday, so we’ll be Blazer-less for the weekend.

We can get my Dad’s truck to use this weekend, but he’s working a 12 hour shift today.  I could probably track him down to get the truck keys if it were an emergency, but I’m not calling the nuclear plant and hunting him down because I want to make it to a funeral.  We’ll go to the memorial her family and friends are having to remember her later this week.

Just great. We’re about to experience our first major repair job on the Blazer. I guess I should consider us lucky that we haven’t had any major issues in the year and 1/2 we’ve owned it.

Now, we’ve got a problem that’s going to be pretty expensive.  The heat went out now when it’s freakin’ cold as hell.  The problem is the temperature control module in the dash, and not only is that apparently a common problem with Blazers, but it’s an expensive and aggravating fix.  I’ve been quoted prices ranging from $400-800 to fix it at a shop.

Thank god Hubby is the backyard mechanic type who does all that himself.  He’s aggravated that he’s got to take the dash apart, but he’s been needing to do that for awhile anyway so he can replace the leaking heater core and fix a speaker that’s loose.  He might as well do it all at once.

The part is a little less than $200 though, so now I’ve got the headache of figuring out where I’m going to find the $200.  I guess I need to go over our budget tonight and figure out where I can find the cash.  I just keep reminding myself it could definitely be much worse, so I should be happy it’s not that bad.

Hubby just came in here and asked me if I’d be willing to part with my 1993 Saturn sc2. Even though the car has been out of commission for about 3 years now, it’s my baby. I’ve held onto it hoping one day I could fix it up again and do the things I want to it. I’ve always wanted to throw a custom turbo system into it. Seriously, turbo Saturns are awesome, I fell in love with this one years ago, and I’d love to do that to mine.

Hubby knows I’ve held onto it, and in a way he has, too. We dropped so much cash in that car it’s ridiculous, but a lot of it was Hubby’s fault. He thought he was a race car driver in it, and because of that we went through 5 transmissions. He’d sling the pin through the bell housing, knock a hole in it, and we’d have to replace it. The last one we finally had the pin welded in place, and then we dumped a ton of cash into the car. We rebuilt the motor and the backup motor we had, beefed up the suspension (and the Saturn sc2s use coilovers), ripped out the interior and replaced it, and did a ton of other stuff. It didn’t matter though. The pin might have been welded in place, but Hubby still ended up breaking it. That’s when we parked it and decided it wasn’t worth fixing at the time, but I always had hopes we’d fix it again one day.

Now Hubby has a friend that wants to buy it as a parts car. He’s willing to give me $500 for it, and honestly, it’s not even worth that much. We’ve beat it black and blue, and if I do sell it to him I won’t allow him to pay me that much. See what a good person I am? *eye roll* But now, I have to convince myself to part with it. It’s going to be a really hard thing to do.

My little cousin is so excited about getting her first car. She finally found one her mom agreed on and they’ve been at the dealership all evening signing papers and finalizing the deal. She’s so excited she had to come over as soon as they got home to show it off to me. I remember those days!

It’s a 98 Honda Accord, and it’s going to be a great little car for her. She got a really good deal on it, it’s very low mileage, and the motor is in a very good condition. The only problem is that her ac doesn’t work. I remember those days, too. The ac compressor went out in my Saturn SC2 shortly after I got it. I was perfectly fine without ac until my sunroof stopped working at well, and then I decided it had to be fixed immediately. Hubby didn’t mind it, but he also doesn’t understand what it feels like when you’re sweating so hard your hair is sticking to your face and neck and your makeup is running everywhere. I hate that!

I promised her I’d get Hubby to look at it for her, and then we’ll buy the parts to fix it. I’m hoping hers is just the ac compressor as well, but I’ll have to see what Hubby says. He’s feeling so bad right now I didn’t want to drag him outside to deal with it tonight. She can’t drive to school until she gets a parking pass approved anyway, so she’ll have a few days before she really needs to worry about it.