And the moral of the story is...

Ok, this is only tenuously related to education, but I have a strong need to share a car story with you! (Apologies for the randomness!)

My car is was (sadly now deceased) 13 years old. For some time the following had not worked: heating, air conditioning and hazard warning lights. A couple of months ago, one of the windows (passenger side) just disappeared into the door panel. My darling husband said, don’t worry, super repairman is here! He did indeed sort a permanent fix. He took off the door panel, pulled up the window and shoved a piece of wood underneath, so it could NEVER EVER  fall down again! (In the winter, an ice box and in summer, a sauna! Great!) In the process of the super repair, he broke the door handle and the central locking system! Did he think that maybe I might need to know this when parking in the middle of town to run errands with all my precious ‘stuff' strewn stored neatly in my car? No, such facts are obviously unimportant! Ok, I thought, worst case scenario, I never have to grocery shop again – yay!

Could it get any worse? Could my little blue baby survive any more trauma?

I had arranged to meet the school custodian one morning to get into my classroom. I was running slightly late and managed to get caught behind a learner driver. I spied a short-cut through some farmland and thought (smugly) – this will save me some time – and promptly got stuck behind a herd of cows! This is when I first noticed a burning smell, but didn't see anything untoward. I drove on (oblivious to danger) when suddenly a red flashing light appeared on my dashboard – screaming STOP!! I rang my husband (hands free, of course) and asked what this might be. Now he is screaming STOP at me! I was very close to school, so decided to drive on. I reached the car park, switched off the ignition and noticed the burning smell again! It was only as I was unloading my ‘stuff’ for my classroom, that I finally noticed smoke belching from the engine!! Now I understood the dashboard’s (and husband’s) urgency! I ran to find the custodian (as much as one can with a bad back) and he discovered I had not one drop of oil in the car! My dear hubs arrived, fed the thirsty beast and all was well.

Some hours later, as I was leaving, the custodian warned me that when slowing down, the car might cut out because the oil needed time to lubricate the engine (or whatever it’s supposed to do). Duly noted, I started off on my journey home. In the next village, the car cut out, but I got it started again. Just a mile to go and feeling a sense of relief, I was turning off in the direction of home when the car suddenly died! I couldn't get it started again AND the burning smell had returned! Rang hubs, hubs arrived, lifted the bonnet – this time the radiator had overheated – no water! He grabbed the nearest thing to hand – a can of diet coke - and poured it in. A kindly passer-by then gave us a bottle of water and it finally cooled down enough to start again. Eventually I arrived home safely and the engine was treated to the water hose. 

Anyway, the moral of this story is ALWAYS maintain your car or LEARN to maintain it. NEVER assume that your other half has been doing it for you and (bonus advice) open a store on TpT, because in times of dire need (school starts next week), the added income is such a blessing! Thanks to TpT I have been bailed out – this is my new ride and only 7 years old – yay!

 
The point of all this waffle is that not only have I learned a big (car) lesson, but I feel really blessed to have TpT in my life. In the midst of what has been one of the craziest years, some amazingly good things have happened. Not only have I found something that I enjoy immensely and helps me financially, but it has also brought many wonderful people into my life – ‘virtual’ friends that I hope to meet for ‘real’ someday soon.

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