No good deed goes unpunished

Posted by Jim on April 22, 2006

The good deeds:

1. I let the family stay Thursday, which was our original day to leave and head up north
2. I let the family stay Friday for another day here before taking them up north
3. Anna came down sick, so I let her sleep late rather then wake her at 2AM
4. I took care of breakfast for everyone
5. On our way out, I pulled into Universal and gave the kids 4 extra hours of fun before getting on the road

The punishment:

In Georgia, we stopped for gas. I went inside to use the restroom and came out to Anna telling me the car will not start. The car starts but does not idle. I can drive it with my foot on the gas and accelerator but as soon as I let off the gas, the gar sputters out.

I have a monday morning flight to the west coast for business. Sweet that we would have this problem and get stuck now. I mean, the car could have I don’t know, caused us problems while sitting in the driveway for Easter dinner but no, it waited till we got on the road and managed to get a few hundred miles down the road. To far to go back, to short to get a ride up north or meet someone half way.

The damage:

Well I could take the train home tonight and leave them here which would cost $150 for the train and approximately $100 for the cab to the train station. Tomorrow I can take a flight home by myself and pay $400 - $500. Now if the car gets fixed, we can leave and drive 14-15 hours north and hope I make my flight. If I will not make my flight, a change from 7AM to 5 or 8 PM will cost $260 plus a $100 change fee for a $360 damage.

And this is why my wife is sitting in a chair behind me crying. But at least the kids had a few extra hours. Now to see how much those hours cost me once we tally in this hotel I am sitting in right now and all the repairs tomorrow.

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