My car is sick.....

I was finally able to get my flu shot on Monday. The Health Dept. and all the drug stores and senior centers and other places that were giving the shots were out of them completely. I managed to find a doctor's office that still had some. I'm not going to get the H1N1 unless my doctor specifically tells me I have to have it. I'm just glad that I was able to get one. I've had a flu shot every year for over 30 years and have rarely had the flu and even when I did have it, it was a very mild case. So I do believe that the shots help a lot.

The other day my car stalled while I was driving down the highway. Not cool to be driving along at about 45 mph and suddenly your car quits. Its never done that before and it was pretty unnerving to say the least. Since then its been doing it a couple times on the way to and from work....and its only a 6 mile drive one way. I figured that maybe I got some bad gasoline or worse yet....maybe my fuel pump is going. As much as I hate to part with the money, I need my car and have to keep it healthy so I decided that on my day off (today) I would take it in to see what's causing this.

I had my daughter follow me so I could leave my car there. I took it to the dealership for the repairs. I've always used the dealership unless its something small like an oil change. I trust the mechanics there. I told them to winterize it and change the oil too. Also I told them to check the brakes because they still don't feel right to me. I had them checked a couple months ago because they felt "spongy" to me but the place I took it to (not the dealership) stated that the brakes were fine. I was beginning to feel like I'd lost my mind. I figured they were right and I was wrong.

Now I want to tell you all something that just proves beyond any doubt that I have some powerful guardian angels looking after me. I've learned to listen to their whispers. See, I've been driving my car even though I felt something was wrong with the brakes.....but I was driving it because people who are supposedly professionals told me there was nothing wrong. I probably would have continued to drive it even though I still felt that the brakes didn't feel right. That is until this new thing happened with the stalling. Having a car that stalls out in heavy traffic is extremely stressful and only a fool would put up with that. So that made me go and have my car looked at and while there, I felt a nudge at my shoulder and a whisper in my ear.... I heard myself saying, .....'oh yes, would you check the brakes while its here....they feel spongy to me but no one seems to think I know what I'm talking about'. Yes ma'm....we'll check them out for you.

They found the reason why my car is stalling....some sort of electrical problem that can be fixed without much trouble. But.....the brakes.....the brakes, the brakes. Seems as though my rear brakes have been leaking brake fluid for quite some time and the brake pads are soaked and the master cylinder has to be replaced. Dangerous? You bet! They will be repaired and yes, its going to cost more than $600 for everything to be repaired....the stalling plus the brakes, plus a tune-up. I'm going to do it even though my car is old. I'm going to do it because I've taken very good care of my car since I bought it new and it has low mileage and I can't afford to replace it right now. I'm going to do it because my car has always been dependable and has never caused me any trouble. I'm going to do it because my guardian angels have gone to a lot of trouble to make sure I knew about those brakes. Somebody up there loves me.