So Mrs. Fear got a small raise, retroactive to October, so we got an unexpected bonus in her last paycheck. Whoopee!! We have been talking about what to do with it: take a vacation? throw it into savings? pay off debts? buy toys?
Well, life decided for us yesterday. Suddenly developed a noisy racket in my left front wheel, turns out the brakes are shot, needs a new rotor, caliper and shoe.
The pisser is I just had the brakes examined in January, and they still had 25% on the pads. I figured at least six months, but nooooo! They go 80k miles on the first 75%, but burn through the last 25% in 4 months? God is fucking with me again!
I got a 5% raise the first of the year. 5% isn’t much, but it’s better than nothing, and is 2-3% more than anyone else employed here received. So, while I’m tossing around in my mind just where I will spend my 5% (which I think evens out to about an extra $10-$15 after taxes per pay), my body begins to fall apart.
Seriously, in the past three years I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve been to the doctor. The past four months? Even if I used both hands, it wouldn’t be enough. My 5% raise? Being sucked up by doctor co-pays every single month.
:mad:
Ouch. I hear ya! Typo Knig got a very nice bonus back in 1998 - several months’ pay. Enough to pay off the large credit card balance we had been unable to reduce since Moon Unit’s birth. We were DEBT FREE.
For a week.
Then Typo Knig’s car was totalled in a 4-car pileup on a Beltway exit. The insurance company paid off nicely, but even a generous payoff on an 8 year old Honda Civic won’t buy too much. Made a nice down payment on a new Civic though.
The balance of the car loan on the new Civic? Almost exactly what the credit card bill had been :smack:
On the bright side:
[ul]
[li]We could have had the accident without the bonus - sticking us with both a credit card balance and a car loan[/li][li]Someone could have been hurt or killed in the car wreck (everyone walked away from it)[/li][li]H… nope, not even gonna go there :D[/li][/ul]
I filed my tax return last week for 1800 back; this week my tuneup turned in to 4 new tires (knew that part), $1000 for an intake manifold gasket, and 350 for a wheel bearing hub assembly. Eh, that’s life!
Jesus hates the little brake parts
All the brake parts of the world
Pads and rotors, caliper and shoe,
90 days and payment’s due,
Jesus hates the little brake parts of the world
As much as I hate paying bills, I’ve learned to be glad for the money to pay them. At least when I have to write the checks the money is there to do it.
And there’s my mom’s voice saying, “Well, hello there, Pollyanna.”
