Drama, Drama & More Drama!

Ok...hang with me...this is going to be a long one :)

So, we finally got our roof finished...what an ordeal that was! It took way too long and way too much arguing, but they finally made it right and we have a nice, pretty, brand new roof and gutters that will hopefully help sell our house.

We also sold Seth's truck. With the daily drive to Waco in the Dodge Ram, we were spending $700 a month on gas and we just couldn't afford it anymore. We put the truck up for sale and we honestly taken off guard with a full price offer from the first person to look at it. We had nothing in line and were in a bit of a rush trying to figure out a new (to us) vehicle for Seth. We looked at everything under the sun, but only a few things would really work for the job he does.

We needed something that would hold his latter and all his tools, that would be safe in freezing conditions and that would get better than the 14 miles per gallon we were getting before. The need for size and safety ruled out most cars and as we continued to look, we learned that a diesel truck just might be the answer. Seth has to do a lot of idling in his truck (since it's his office and it's 105+ outside) and since he drives almost all highway miles the 21 mpg (with the opportunity for more with a few modification) was looking pretty good. We were able to sell the Dodge for just a few hundred less than we had paid for it, but needed to purchase a new vehicle with only a portion of the sale, so we could pay our mortgage.

We found a couple viable options and Seth decided to make the drive to Dallas last weekend to look at a truck at a dealership. We got him a rental car and he left at 5:30 in the morning. Once in Dallas, he needed to cash the checks from the credit union the buyer had used, drop off the rental car, have the dealership pick him up, take the truck to be checked over by a mechanic and then head home. Once he got to the first bank, we realized that this was not going to go smoothly.

The credit union had assured us that since they were issuing cashiers checks that they would re readily available funds wherever we cashed them. Too bad that was false! Seth tried 3 banks in Dallas and not one would cash the checks. They would allow him to deposit them, with a 2 day hold, but that did not help with the money needed for the purchase of the new truck. Anyway, it all ended up being ok since the truck he was looking at wouldn't start anyway. After hours and hours of chaos, we ended up just renting another car (for a week this time) and Seth headed back to Austin.

We were back at square one and went to look at another truck on Sunday. It seemed to run well, was priced right and was honestly the only available option anywhere near us. We decided to just go ahead and get it. Since Seth drives so much, we wanted to have it checked out so we would be prepared for any upcoming needs it might have. What we discovered was not what we wanted to hear.

The truck needed an estimated $5000 worth of work...that is almost what we paid for it! We were frustrated, stressed and just plain mad. Seth called the previous owner and tried to get them to buy it back...no such luck! They said they had no idea (which is probably the case). The issues were with bad fuel injectors, but untreated at some point (they said it could be months or could be 100,000 miles) the engine would just blow up. If Seth were just driving locally, it wouldn't really be an issue but we can't really have him stranded out in Waco.

We decided to just go ahead and get it fixed. Seth had the rental car until Friday, so he could have the truck in the shop a few days and still get back and forth to work. We picked it up on Saturday and it is running great. With the cost of the repairs, we ended up paying about what Kelly Blue Book estimates it is worth...it could have been a lot worse! The truck has really low miles and should be a good truck for us. It just came with more drama and a higher price tag than we could really handle at the moment.

And since everyone keeps telling me that horrible things like this happen in 3's, I'll have to mention that Seth also got a speeding ticket in the old truck the day we sold it. He was going the speed limit, but they were about to do construction on that street in the afternoon and would be lowering the speed limit signs soon. Really?? They can ticket someone for this?? Seems wrong to me and after the fact Seth realized that he needed to have taken pictures of the missing speed limit signs (however, how is he supposed to know where they are going to put them up?). Anyway, now we have to pay the ticket and hope that he can take defensive driving so our insurance doesn't go up...uggh!

So we are done with the drama, hopefully! It has been a trying few weeks and we have continually been doing our best to focus on the positive. Remembering that God is in control and that He has a plan. We just keep learning, growing, praying and following. We'll follow wherever He leads, but were hoping the next turn in the road is a little less painful with a lot less drama...