More transportation follies

Okay, so the center u-joint got fixed up. Pretty basic. But the ball joints are screwed up too. New appointment scheduled for next Monday, but on the way into work this morning, the car is making such scary noises that Hans drops me off and heads to a third handy car repair shop, where they tell him that it's the entire drive train that needs fixing, to the tune of $1,500. Fix one part and it will get munched by the others, so we have to do it all at once.

We just can't do that right now, what with the new heater and the previous car repairs and the cord of wood and tank of water and the 150 gallons of oil and the impending pumping of the septic tank which I don't know how we're going to afford anyway...

GAHHH!