The weather and car shopping

The winter storm that came through last weekend was definitely not overestimated!  We received about 9" of snow from Sunday morning through Monday afternoon.  There seemed to be some bursts where some areas received more than others, and we were one of those areas.  We spent hours shoveling ourselves out Monday afternoon.  None of us had to work those two days, although I was required (and did) work from home on Monday.

Tuesday things were clear enough that although there was no school, we were able to head to Thomas and go to an appointment with him.  His work had asked him if he could go into work after his appointment, and he agreed, but first it meant we had to dig his car out.  The neighborhood where he lives had not been touched by a plow or salt truck and it was another area that had received 9" of snow.  On our way home, Andrew and I decided it was our best chance to car shop, but first I need to explain how we got to that point.

Back in early September, my car wouldn't start one morning.  I was able to have Catherine take me to work as it was during the time she was working with me.  I realized something was amiss, at least a bit when it became evident that the interior lights were on, even though they weren't in the "on" position.  Things seemed to be fine though, until a couple of weeks later when the the car wouldn't start again.  This time Catherine wasn't here, and I went to my neighbors and begged for a ride to work (their youngest attends our school but goes in early for extended care).  That was the beginning of it starting to happen more frequently.  It got to the point that I couldn't even trickle charge it and it had to be jumped, and when we would jump it the vehicle would start honking and it was clearly quite a problem.  We finally got it jumped and started and drove it directly to the mechanic.  At first, they had trouble replicating the problem.  Once they were able to do so, they couldn't figure out what the problem was.  All-in-all, they ended up having my vehicle for seven weeks, and because the repair was electrical, it cost thousands of dollars.  Because we hoped to get another two years (at least) out of the vehicle, we agreed it was worth it.  I was thrilled to finally get my vehicle back the week before Thanksgiving.  Fortunately, with both Andrew and I working in town, and with Catherine around during the week, we were able to make things work each day.

You can imagine my irritation when, on the Sunday before Christmas, the vehicle wouldn't start as we were headed to church.  The situation was very similar to the way it went before, and we knew it was time to trade in the vehicle.  I had done some research, and we got a very fair deal.  I was able to get a 2022 black CR-V with low mileage.  Hopefully I will have this car for many, many years.  It's all been some chaos and a bit of stress, but I feel like things have worked out!