Bad Car, Ma
The automobile accident I mentioned in an earlier post has produced a cascade of related failures, all costly, and at least one them was potentially very dangerous for my wife on her long commute to work:
1) Original repair: I had the cracked aluminum rim and damaged left-front tire replaced for $250.
2) Next, I took the car in on Tuesday to have the front and rear end re-aligned for $60. The mechanic warned me to listen for the wheel bearing going out, which often results from these kinds of accidents.
3) Then, Mrs. Bali Hai had a tire blowout on the way to work yesterday. Fortunately, she was able to get the car under control and pull off the road. Road service installed her spare, and she drove to a tire store. Since it's a bad idea to have different kinds of tires on an all-wheel drive, we decide to replace all 4 at a cost of $350.
4) Today, Mrs. Bali Hai heard a humming noise from the left-front wheel on the way to work and took it into the shop. Diagnosis: bad wheel bearing. Shop can't replace it until Monday. Cost as yet unknown.
I'd try to predict what's going to happen next, but I don't want to jinx it. All I can say is that Son of Mr. Bali Hai is going to have a large percentage of his allowance garnisheed to pay for this over the next couple of years.
Comments
I don't know how much you give Nathan for an allowance, but I think garnishment is not going to be enough to repay the costs of the accident, in repairs or in aggravation. I say that you should make him work at Target or Dairy Queen or some such and pocket the proceeds in their entirety.
Posted by: jkcohen | February 9, 2007 5:05 PM
He's been looking for a part-time job since last summer, but hasn't found anything yet. We want him to focus on his schoolwork, so we're not pushing the issue too much (yet).
Posted by: MrBaliHai | February 9, 2007 5:49 PM
.......Rock n' Roll! Wooo! Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Woo!..........or not, really
Posted by: Lex10 | February 9, 2007 6:57 PM
It's a pity I can't send the open positions in my supermarket's deli section halfway across the continent. Even with the terrible contract foisted on supermarket workers after the last strike, Son of Bali Hai could be pulling in $13.50/hour.
Posted by: jkcohen | February 9, 2007 7:55 PM
father balihai knows best!
Posted by: mod*mom | February 10, 2007 6:47 PM
Ha, that's not what Mother BaliHai sez.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | February 10, 2007 6:54 PM
hmm, this must be one of those joys of fatherhood that I'm missing out on.
a couple of months back I gave my sister-in-law a ten-year-old Saturn with 150k mi on the original clutch, since I wasn't using it. My thinking was that with three kids hitting driving age, she might need an extra car or two.
Turned out to be a damn good thing, because kid #1 crunched *her* Saturn (with the automatic transmission) a few weeks later, leaving her with the five-speed I gave her, and what appears to be a thirty-year-old Chevy pickup.
I hope she's got the kids using the pickup now, and not trying to come up the manual transmission learning curve, because I don't have any more cars to spare.
Posted by: xfrosch | February 12, 2007 9:51 PM
You wouldn't believe how many "kid totaled the car" stories I've heard since my son started driving.
I had my share of accidents when I was his age too.
Posted by: MrBaliHai | February 13, 2007 6:08 AM