Ever notice how when shit hits the fan… it really hits where it hurts? Seriously…. Now I know my problems could be much worse.. but damn.

So Hubby has a 1998 Chevy S-10 pickup. Standard cab, no bells or whistles. He bought it fresh out of boot camp back in 1997. It was his first new car. Awesome. Well, his first duty station was in Twentynine Palms, CA… I was living in Sacramento, CA at the time, and he came up to visit every time they had an extended weekend. One year later. we married and I moved down to the desert. Over the next 2 years, we put some miles on that truck visiting family and enjoying the area. His next duty station was Okinawa, Japan, and we put the vehicle in storage… well sorta. It went to his parents’ house for the 3 years we were in Okinawa. Fast forward to 2004, we got back from Japan, had to take the truck for new tires, oil change, tune up, etc. It ran pretty well for the 5 years we were in CA.

(– i know get on with the story.. just giving you a little background on the truck)

Now, we’re in NC. We have a major loan payment since we had to pay for our move over here. We have our bills, etc… who doesn’t… but since moving here, we’ve had to fix so many things on this truck. Emergency brake, lights, etc. Well, the other night, hubby was driving home from work. We were talking like we normally do, and next thing I hear was

“Oh shit, my truck just died.”

“What do you mean it just died?”

“Um. It just died, and I’m in traffic”

He jumped out and pushed the truck to the median, and sat there trying to start it back up. No go. When he tried to push it over to the dealership, which was miraculously 2 lanes over from where his truck was sitting, a couple of guys stopped to help him push it across the road… Hubby later told me that the guys got the truck moving fast enough to coast in and took off without him even getting a chance to say “Thank you”… So guys, if you happen to see my blog, Thank you so much!

Of course, it was late, so service wasn’t going to be able to look at it that evening. No big deal. He called me to pick him up. While he was waiting, a vulture car salesman stops to talk to hubby. He explains how we would love to get even a used vehicle, but there’s no way at this point that we could afford the monthly payment… at least, not until we pay off that stupid loan we had to get. The guy tells hubby that it’s probably just the O2 sensor. It sounds like it, and it would make sense since we just moved from CA where fuel is different, etc. It was probably going to be $100… no big deal… We had to wait till the next morning to find out for sure though. I figure it could be that or the fuel pump. I’ve changed those before.. .so it probably wasn’t going to cost too much if it was that either. Boy was I wrong.

The next morning, hubby calls me and tells me that it is indeed the fuel pump. Oh, and it’s going to cost $1000. No, I didn’t add an extra “0″ there… They quoted him One Thousand Dollars. I thought he was joking. Then I realized he wasn’t and I just wanted to cry. I immediately got on the phone calling local shops, parts stores, and looking up in the repair manual to see if it was something we could do at home. When I saw it involved removing the entire fuel tank, etc, there was no way we could do that. We had to take it somewhere.

I found the part for just under $300, got a labor quote for $222, and arranged towing from the dealership to the new shop via our roadside assistance, and it was going to be covered. Phew. Saved some money… Now for coordinating the whole pickup and delivery of parts and vehicle, along with grabbing lunch for the girls. We were given 90 minutes.

We changed, drove to the parts store, picked up the massive fuel pump assembly, drove to Sonic (totally not healthy, but I was in a hurry) and got lunch, drove to the dealership to pay for the diagnostic tests ($88) and get the keys so I could give it to the Tow People.

I pay, then we wait. They couldn’t find the truck for about 30 mins. Seriously.. It doesn’t run. How far did you actually push it? Then the tow company was late. Later found out they had the wrong address to pick up the truck… oh well.. Someone was dropping off another vehicle, so he was able to pick our up when he was done. I helped him push the truck out of the parking spot… and then followed him over to the repair shop… I checked in the truck with the fuel pump was told it should be done by noon the next day and headed home.  PHEW! 4 hours out… and I didn’t even think about dinner. Oh well… The important stuff was done. Now we just sit and wait for the bill.

Today, around noon, the phone rang. I was super excited I was going to be able to call hubby and tell him to pick up his truck on the way home from work…. Nope… The fuel pump was in, and it was good, but it wasn’t pumping. Now there was an electrical problem, and he was calling to ask me if I’d authorize another 30 minutes of diagnostics. Sure. We have to get this truck fixed otherwise Hubby has no way to get to work… I waited. Nothing. Finally, at 3pm, I called. They still didn’t know what was wrong. I called again at 5pm. Still nothing. But the guy says they’re still running on that original request for 30 minutes. God if it gets any more expensive, I’m going to have to sell a kidney or something…

This piece of shit wonderful truck, that has lasted 11 years now, that’s really only worth $2500, if we’re lucky,and has decided to go kaput HAS to last us till spring! Hopefully we can have the loan paid off by then, and can them afford to get him a new/used vehicle. I’m mad because we totally missed out on Cash 4 Clunkers… only because we were trying to be responsible and not add on yet another bill on top of what we already have. Now I’m sorta wishing we would’ve just done it and figured out the bills later… GAAAH!

Anyway… Now we won’t know until tomorrow (hopefully) what it’s going to cost. Pray for us.. I just really needed to vent… It’s keeping me from crying.. Oh, did I mention MIL is coming for the holiday weekend? Who knows what we’ll be able to do with her now… SHIT!