When Entropy Attacks, Part the First

So, Dad is home from Guatemala. This is a good thing. Mostly because he almost couldn't go.

Imagine you are asked to go on a trip to another country. You say, "Yes, of course, I would love to go!"

Then what do you do? FIRST. The first thing. Before you pack your bags, before you buy your airline ticket...what do you do?

I'll give you a minute...

If you answered, "Get a passport" or "Check to see if my passport is valid," give yourself 100 points. You win at life.*

Guess what Dad forgot to do?

Yeah.

So two weeks before Dad was set to leave for Guatemala, he finally pulled out his passport, only to discover that baby was Ex-pi-red. Gone. Done. Finite. History.

Which would have been funny exce--No. It was really just funny.

After the resulting temper-splosion and storm of rage (during which I arrived home from work, gave up because no one in their right mind would have wanted to be in our house just then, got ice cream, and came home) Dad called the State Department.

Because his passport was oh-so-very-expired and he was leaving so soon, he had to go to Chicago to the federal building there and obtain a new one. The following Thursday, he went, obtained his passport, and came home.

Then we were in a car accident.

Then Dad went to Guatemala.

And now he is home. But he isn't supposed to be.

Remember the part about me totaling my car? Yeah, it is super-duper totaled. No more car. Car all gone. And I have a check waiting for me at my insurance agent's office, which is a shockingly sizable one, given my car's age and mileage. So I am happy. But I don't have a new car yet because I was doing research and figuring out which sort of car I want.** And crying. I was doing that, too. So we are down to three cars, which isn't so much a problem, because Mom doesn't need hers all the time. She has kindly lent it to me. Because she is awesome.

Dad arrived home from Guatemala on Wednesday evening. He came home. He spent Thursday at home, and then on Friday, Mum and Dad were set to leave for Charlotte, NC, where they would attend our church's annual conference. And hopefully drink sweet tea and eat good barbecue.

Except no.

Friday, Mum and Dad hopped in Dad's new-ish car (a little red Kia) and set off for I69, only to return a mere 10 minutes after their departure.

Something had Gone Wrong.

The little Kia has lived for many years in the garage of my grandpa. He decided he didn't want to keep it anymore, so he had it checked over and sold it to my parents. The guy who checked it over clearly did a fantastic job, because when I was driving it after Dad went to Guatemala, I discovered that there was no brake fluid. So either it all poured out or Mr. Car Checker failed to look at the brake fluid. I'm not sure which scenario is the most likely...

As Mum drove, she discovered that the car was choking. Dad thought it was something called vapor lock. (When he got home, I explained to him that vapor lock is nearly unheard of in modern cars. He was surprised. Dad knows a lot about cars.***)

Long story short (too late), Dad called our Car Fixer Man, and he said he could only get to the car after the 4th of July. Then he called another guy, same story. Then he called another car place, and they could fix the car on Monday.

While he did this, I checked airline prices. [Insert laughter here]

So Mom and Dad had to cancel their trip (neither of them are terribly upset to miss annual conference). And on top of that for the next few days to a week, I am really carless. I must be chauffeured around by various family members. Today, Dad drove me to work, for example.

Let's see how long it takes for me to become stir-crazy, shall we? I'm guessing not long.

* Some of you may have said, "I'd check to see if I have the money to go," which is also a good answer.
** A Ford Focus, gently used.
*** This is called sarcasm.