Further Frustration! 17.10.07

AOL seems to be suffering from disappearing posts, the post I left yesterday and the message left on a previous post mysteriously vanished. My post yesterday was about my frustration with my car. As most readers will know by now my Ford Galaxy is the curse of my life. It is only four years old but in that time I have practically rebuilt it, in fact I have almost spent the equivalent of the purchase price on repairs to the car. This time it was at the garage because of a horrible vibrating noise when making sharp turns (especially when reversing on to the drive). Having already spent a fortune replacing everything related to the power steering, I was disappointed that the problem still persisted. On close investigation the garage found a problem with the only original bit of the drive shaft, as well as several other problems. After a week at the garage the drive shaft was done and the car should have been ready to collect on Monday, but a rusted bolt got stuck half in and half out and it had gone smooth so that the allen key could not grasp it. It was in such an awkward position and so badly designed that everyone was stumped; after sleeping on the problem the mechanic felt a drastic, destructive and dangerous solution seemed the only way forward and by the end of Tuesday the car was finally ready. I was full of hope and felt sure that after this much time and expense (it cost £700 this time) the car would be perfect. I drove home, reversed on to the drive and there was the same horrible noise, every bit as bad as before. I feel totally defeated by it.

Too Hot to Handle 02.10.07

Robbie had a disastrous morning. His very last job before leaving the house is to make a big travel mug full of steaming latte. He has often told me in excruciating detail exactly how much the travel mug holds, but for ordinary people like me it is sufficient to say that it holds the equivalent of two normal mugs. He left the house armed with the travel mug, but he was so distracted by the few words of greeting that he exchanged with our very attractive neighbour that disaster was only seconds away. I am still so cross about it that I will not dwell on the details, but due to his lack of attention he managed to drop the cup and scald his legs very badly. He yelled because the pain was so bad, the milk in the latte made it cling and his trousers stuck to his legs. He was hardly in the house before tearing his trousers off and dancing around in his pants. I made him stand in the shower and run cold water over his legs, but he didn't do it for long enough. He was so worried about getting to work because he had important meetings. I'm afraid it will blister and I know he is in agony, but he has gone to work anyway. I am not sure what the others at the meeting will make of him because he his struggling to walk and has a gait reminiscent of John Wayne. I am starting to think that Robbie's trousers are jinxed!