Money syphon god

This is rather a long story, but here goes. Every year, in Arizona, we are required to have cars emissions tested based on age of auto etc. Well, my cadillac is nine years old with a hundred fifty five thousand miles to its credit. And I am happy to say, we(my husband and I) put those miles on it over the years. There are too many trips to name them all, but included a trip from coast to coast and enumerable trips to Nebraska (home state). In the past few months there has been two trips, Nebraska in May and Vegas the end of June. The engine still hummms, great mileage on the road, all in all exceptional condition for it's age, much like me, ha, ha! Couldn't help myself.



Just before leaving for Vegas I received registration information and wouldn't you know, it had to be tested again. It passed a year ago, so shouldn't be a problem. Much to my chagrin, as I read through it, at the bottom it stated, "If the engine light is on, the car will fail the test." The engine light has been on for more than six months. When it first came on, I had taken it to the dealership for service and they told me to buy a new car!



Knowing this, I was still required to take the car for testing anyway, so they could tell me what to do next! After which, they gave me paper work as to what the problem was. It had to do with PO741 Torque Converter Clutch performance, it could mean it was stuck off! Whatever: It certainly does not affect the operation of the car, not in my opion anyway. They gave me sixty days in which to have the car repaired and then retested. I've been two days without a car(it's in the shop)my savings account is dwindling. Did I say I just purchased new appliances before this happened? Well, I did.



My dishwasher has been out for about a year, but then there is only me, so not a big deal, and then the day before leaving for Vegas my washing machine began gushing water out on the floor. For the past couple of years, you could only use one setting without this happening. Yes, I procrastinated and paid the price, so to speak! Because the washer and dryer had been purchased at the same time, I decided on replacing both. My timing could not have been worse. Had this all happened a month ago, I could have received tax credit or whatever the government was offering for replacing with energy saving appliances. And would you believe, the very same day after purchasing three new appliances, I returned home only to find my microwave oven would not heat?! It is still waiting for replacement.



A few years ago barrowing a topic by Andy Rooney on Sixty Minutes, I wrote a piece about the god of dents, dings and money syphons. Well, this is a prime example. How is it, when one thing goes wrong, or falls apart, there becomes an entire series? I can tell you, it's the money syphon god, and he is drinking me dry! I give up. . .



Wilma Shirey Dutton