The worth of a car is great in the sight of One Man

Raising eight children in the manner to which they think they are entitled is a costly endeavor.  The price per child has only increased as they have grown and I don’t see any end in sight.  The world ‘College’ makes me break out in a cold sweat.

We have been living right on the edge of our income for so long that we don’t know any other way.  This would be just fine if there were never any accidents or any problems with the house that needed attention, but we live in a world where entropy is rampant.  I believe that could entropy be measured, we would discover that there is an entropy vortex centered on our house.  We are getting by, and we will continue to get by somehow.

This morning the 14 year old slipped on black ice and fell.  He did not hurt himself but he did a number on the school cello that he had with him.  It is probably a good thing that the cello broke his fall, but we have insurance for the boy in case of breakage.  It is another unexpected expense that we don’t have a budget for but can’t wait to resolve.  We have lots of these.

I have been slowly preparing to sell my ’65 Mustang to help offset some of these expenses.  Yesterday I took in the carburetor for a rebuild and last night I began in earnest to research a price at which I would be willing to part with it.  This research included finding the packet that came with the car.  This includes the original plates from California where it was registered from 1965 until 1984, the original order sheet from the dealer itemizing the options selected and the cost.  The paperwork for the loan that was taken out, and many of the service records from the ‘70s and ‘80s was all there.  The car was a find when I bought it in 1996 and I will never have a chance to own another like it.

I tossed and turned last night to the point that I eventually went to go sleep on the couch so I would not disturb the sleep of my wife.  When I did sleep, my dreams were vivid and enlightening.  I dreamed of reattaching the carburetor – and magically, like a Cinderella story, the car was transformed with new paint gleaming.  It was in every detail what I have dreamed of the car becoming.  The car is so close already that it would not take much money to get it there, but it is money I can’t find.

My second dream, equally as vivid as the first, was of me mining for gold.  Although I did not find any gold in my dream, I did discover an abandoned store with relics from the 1800s.  All of these seemed in pristine condition as they were still in the glass display case at the counter.  I could not tell you what these relics were used for, but they were potentially valuable and finding them raised my level of excitement. 

My excitement peaked when I looked beyond the display case to the fireplace and the shelf above it where a row of ancient books was laid.  Most of these books were in poor shape and were the trashy novels of the day that would have appealed to a bunch of stinky miners far from home but there was one beautiful book that appeared to have never been opened.  It was of gilded leather and had stones set in the binding as well.  When I opened it to find it was an 1880 publication of “Alice in Wonderland” I knew all my financial problems were solved.

The fallout from my restless, sleepless night is twofold:  One, I am sleep-deprived sick.  The second is that I am not selling the Mustang until I have exhausted all my other options including selling my collection of books.

I don’t know why the thought of getting rid of a hunk of metal taking up garage space has such a powerful negative effect on me.  It is frightening because irrational behavior toward a chunk of steel such as this can strain a marriage.  It is good that my wife’s understanding has not been stretched to its limit in this.  At least, not yet.

 

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   One Man