Serenity Now

Do you remember that Seinfeld episode where George's father tries to master his stress by chanting the words, "Serenity Now?" 

I think I'm there.

Over the past couple of weeks, my son's car has been acting up.  He is at school, so my daughter and I have been driving it in his absence.  Sometimes it will not move when you put it in drive, sometimes  all the dashboard warning lights go on all at once, and sometimes it just plain won't start.  It's a six-year-old Honda Accord that we bought secondhand because of Honda's reputation for reliability.  It only has 25,000 miles on it, but because it is six years old it is no longer under warranty, and we're still paying it off.

Serenity Now.

Our neighborhood mechanic thinks it needs a new transmission.  Honda had some problems with transmissions in the early 2000 models, and has extended the warranty on those cars to 8 years/80,000 miles.  Unfortunately, our car is not covered by this extended warranty.

Serenity Now.

We have read online that Honda has given some models not covered by the extended warranty a "good faith repair."  However, the car must first be given a diagnostic test by a certified Honda service provider.  Our car will be getting that test this morning.  Because the problems have been intermittent, we are  worried that the  test might not indicate a problem.  Then we will be stuck with a car that we cannot trust, but are still paying for.

Serenity Now.

We have also been having some trouble with our three-year- old KitchenAid refrigerator.  We have already had to replace the icemaker.  Now it seems to be "overheating," -- the body where the doors close sometimes gets so hot that it hurts when you touch it.  Of course, it is no longer under warranty.

Serenity Now.

The repairman said to try cleaning the coil first.  How embarrassing is that?  Well, we did vacuum the coil, and it seemed to remedy the problem for awhile.  But this weekend, it started again, and the freezer would not stay cold enough to keep the food inside frozen.  All my sugar free fudgicles melted.

Serenity Now!!!

So last night I was reduced to eating semisweet chocolate chips straight from the bag to calm my nerves. (I'm sorry, but it was an emergency.)   And this morning I am just going  to chant "Serenity Now"  until my blood pressure goes down, and I hear from the Honda dealer and the KitchenAid repairman. 

 And I may have a few more chocolate chips.