No Whammys! No Whammys! ... ARGH!

My goal this year is to become debt-free. I could see it. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. There it is.... getting smaller, smaller.... oh, now it's a flicker at the end of the tunnel. But I can still see it!

Let me tell you what happened. ...

The Van
Wednesday, the first coldest day of 2008, I picked Alex up from the coffee shop, drove her home to get a change of clothes, drove her back to work and dropped her off. On my way home, my van died. I was five blocks from home, and it died. Completely. Would not start. Eventually, while trying to get it started, the battery went dead. Now, I'm not sure how flipping cold it actually was outside in NE Kansas that night, but I was COLD and SUPER WINDY.

I sat in the van for a good 20 minutes before someone pulled up beside me and asked if I had a cellphone. I shook my head "no" and they pulled over to let me make a call. I called a tow truck to come get me and the nice man with the phone left after that. There I sat, in the cold ass van. Did I mention that the heater wasn't working?? About 10 minutes later, a cop pulled up behind me, blinded me with the spot light, and came up to ask me if I needed help. I told him that I was waiting on a tow truck. The cop called the towing company from the warmth of his car, then came back to tell me they were about 3 minutes away. Again, there I sat, in my cold van, shaking from the chill of the night.

The tow truck arrived about 10 minutes later. I sat in the car while he hooked it up. When he started pulling it onto the bed of his truck, I got out. Standing in the very windy evening of the coldest day of the year (at the time) while traffic rushed past and the cop sat in his warm car.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I had plans for the evening! I was supposed to meet a friend of mine at 6pm at my house. Needless to say, I didn't make it.

All in all, I got the van towed ($80) to the shop. They did a diagnostic test on it ($80) and dropped a new battery in it ($89) and then called me to tell me what was wrong with it. Here it is:

1. Head Gasket w/ Bolt Set (1434.86)
2. Cam Position Sensor (193.78)
3. Water Pump Replacement and Heater Fitting (180.61)
4. Thermostat (176.39)
5. Master Cylinder (307.12)
6. Brake System Flush & Fill (71.99)
7. Collant System Flush & Fill (90.99)

For a GRAND TOTAL of parts & labor: 2665.56 (not including the battery & diagnostic test)

I told the shop to pull the new battery out, push it out of the shop and park it. If you remember, I paid close to that amount a year and a half ago at the same place for the same reason: it kept overheating.

This weekend, I am car buying. I'm going to find a POS that I can drive for year. I called about a couple of cars and I'm going to go check them out tomorrow. I sincerely believe I can still be debt-free by the end of the year. That's my goal. No whammys!