In limbo.

I lied.

Apparently the next time I posted here won't be in South Carolina, thanks to what will be know as the Honda Debacle 2012.

(What is a 'debacle' you ask? Here is the definition, per Webster. n. 1. A sudden, disastrous collapse, downfall, or defeat; a rout. 2. A total, often ludicrous failure.)  

Definition two definitely is appropriate to yesterday's chain of events. 

It all started innocently enough. Trace's boss was super duper awesome and gave him a half day off so we could spend our last day together before I left for South Carolina. ♥ Awesome possum! So I drove the round-a-bout 20 minute drive to Trace's work, and just before I go there, a yellow ratcheting tie down thing-a-ma-jigger flew off the back of a truck, hit the road in front of me, and I hit it (it was totally unavoidable, and in lunch time traffic I couldn't swerve to either side to dodge it). It made direct contact with the left front wheel. Luckily, after careful inspection, no damage was done (thank goodness). So glad we got brand new tires put on two days ago, because if that had hit our old tires I'm pretty sure they would have popped like a helium balloon coming in contact with a cactus. 

So, I continued on, and picked Trace up from work. Cruised down the road, hit the entrance ramp to the highway to head home, and the car shut off. Just the engine went off. Radio was still playing, turn signal was still on, but no engine life. So, pulled off to the shoulder. Cranked it, after a few times turning over. Make it less than a mile on the highway before it shuts off again. I managed to get pulled off onto the shoulder without causing a big fiery crash, but the car refused to crank this time. So we waited, tried again. Nothing. 

So we called around, found a garage nearby that could fit us in, and called for a tow. And waited for a little over an hour on the side of the road for either the tow guy to show up, or Trace's brother to pick us up.

The wait honestly wasn't that bad, other than the lack of shade and water. And having a six year old who totally didn't appreciate the situation on bit. But we sat together and built a little stone house, with little stone tables and chairs, and little stone people. It was actually pretty nice.

Trace's brother arrived a few minutes before the tow guy, so we were able to sit in the air conditioning for a few minutes. Then we followed the tow guy to some shop in Kansas, where after the tow guy left I noticed our front bumper was falling off thanks to a shotty tow. :\ The mechanics tested the car, said it was the alternator, that it couldn't be anything else, that was the only problem, replacing the alternator would fix it and we would be road ready for me to drive to South Carolina, that the rest of the engine and wiring and everything looked fine. So, we paid them $460 and waited two hours for them to replace our alternator. The service was excellent, they were super duper awesome and friendly. 

But when we left in rush hour traffic through downtown Kansas City and the car shut off with a semi bearing down on us, I honestly didn't like them very much until I was off the highway and out of the way of angry rush hour drivers. 

The $460 repair didn't fix the problem. At all. It took us two hours to get home, with the car shutting down. It was a very nerve racking two hours, and we weren't even on a highway. But we made it home safely, and that's what is important. 

This morning Trace took the car to the Honda dealership. We have about 4 hours until they can even hook it up to the computer diagnostic machine and see what it pulls up as the problem, then they aren't even sure they can fix it before Monday if it needs a repair (which it obviously does). So, yeah. 

Just hanging out in limbo, not sure when I can leave for South Carolina. I am hoping against hope they are able to squeeze in the repair today and I'll be able to leave tomorrow morning, but if I can't I guess we'll just have to see what happens. Keep your fingers crossed for me! ♥ 

Since I am in Missouri for one more day, I am offering free shipping on all stuffed monsters in my shop! :)