{must.have.new.car}

Have you ever tried to drive with ONE of your windshield wipers (the RIGHT one - NOT the one on the driver's side). And, at best, that windshield wiper is working at, oh, say, 20 percent capacity. That's what I just did. And, though I tried to be brave (and praise God for his infinite strength and calmness that is SO not in my nature), it was not a pretty sight. Here's what happened. It is POURING down rain here today, and so, as we hopped into our beloved blue van, soaking wet because Delaney sees no need to hurry regardless of the weather, I crank up the car and begin to turn on my windshield wipers. Within a millisecond, the windshield wipers literally start to explode. I don't know how else to desribe it. The wipers started crashing together, rubber starts flying and before I know it, the windshield wiper on my side has clearly lost the battle, and the other windshield wiper is down for the count. At this point, I CANNOT SEE ANYTHING. Given my stellar driving skills, this is NOT GOOD. NOT GOOD AT ALL. I am now scooting over as far as I can to the right so I can see out of a tiny, tiny circle where the windshield wiper (WIPER, yes, not WIPERSSSS) is being halfway effective. My girls have never been so good and quiet. I am seriously praying outloud the whole way home and, praise God, He led us all the way to our driveway so I could breathe again. Passing out was going to occur in the next five minutes otherwise. This wouldn't be so bad except that this isn't the only thing that has gone wrong lately . . . See list below.
*My gas gauge hasn't worked for quite some time. One minute my tank is full and the next minute, it's way past the E. It goes up and down and up and down CONSTANTLY, dinging and dinging. It's enough to wear on your nerves, as if two preschoolers in the back didn't do it for ya.
*My car leaks severely any time it rains. The moment you back up after it's been raining, you are hit with an avalanche of water. It's quite delightful and refreshing, except that it's not.
*Sometimes one of the side doors work and somtimes not. You just never know. And sometimes, you'll close it, and it reopens. Just because it has an attitude.
*There is a large, lovely rust polka dot on the front of my car, where it looks like someone torched it. A lot. Unsuccessfully.
*The right turn signal no longer works when your lights are on. Go figure that one out. Not cool, especially when you're talking to someone who makes it a point to only make right turns. (That's another post for another time. Sadly, I'm not done with this list yet.)
*The emergency blinkers come on at random times. You know, just whenever. Although, tha tmay not be a bad thing. I should really probably ride with them on all of the time anyway.

*The horn has been known to go off just because. Nobody hit it. It just beeps. It clearly needs to be in New York City or something. Not freaking out Sun Cityers.

*The cruise control will cut off anytime you turn on the left blinker. It's fabulous on the Interstate. You should try it.

*Every time we've tried to replace a tire on the van, there is at least one lug nut (sp?) that won't budge. At all. And then we have to call somebody. Like we did just before Christmas as we're freezing to death on the side of 95.

*Sometimes the back up sensors work and sometimes they don't. Not super helpful if you're the neighbor's cat.

That's all I can think of for now. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for a vehicle. But when safety is jeopardized and your windshield wiper is whipping in the wind and barely making a visible hole, I have to draw the line. So I'm drawing it. It's time for a new-to-you car to make an appearance at the Powell home. Any ideas?