Bad, Good, Worse, Better

Bad: The van couldn't pass inspection because its brake warning light wouldn't go off.

Good: The van could be fixed easily.

Bad: The van went in for repairs over the Fourth of July holiday, meaning it didn't get repaired until *after* the Fourth of July holiday.

Also Bad: Our other vehicle, Ferdinand, doesn't fit six people.

Worse: Darren left on Thursday for a weekend trip to California, taking Ferdinand to the airport. So we didn't have any vehicle AT ALL.

Also Worse: My old friend Debra ("old" as in "friend since sixth grade," not "aged") was in for an extremely rare, one-week visit. And we were housebound with no means to get anywhere.

Even Worse: After calling three rental agencies, we discovered that there were no minivans available.

Good: Darren works with very generous people.

Better: His co-worker, Tj, offered to let us borrow their second minivan for the weekend.

Even Better: He drove forty minutes to our house before work on morning and left it in our driveway, then carpooled with another co-worker.

* Let us pause for wild applause. *

Bad: The price to fix the electronic module in the van that controls the warning lights -- but doesn't in any way affect the actual operation and safety of the van, not that this fact bothers me in the slightest and certainly doesn't make me want to write blistering editorials about the inefficiency and stupidity of regulatory systems -- was beyond painful.

Good: Thanks to advice I found in the Dave Ramsey book I skimmed, we'd saved up an emergency fund so could pay for the repair without using credit.

Best: Debra and I had a great visit, Darren got home from California safely, the borrowed minivan was returned to Tj and Susan (applause, applause for Tj and Susan), and we got our own van back in good working condition.

Bad: Yesterday as Darren, Debra, and I were going out for a farewell Indian dinner, Ferdinand's battery was dead...