GOING CRAZY!

Well, Friday was kinda the start of it - getting into my Impala, I usually use the arm rest/console to scoot myself into place. I heard "POW" and my heart sunk as I realized that I had placed my GPS there just minutes before! I now had a shattered screen! Ready to fall apart, I drove home still using it for the MP3 player - just couldn't see anything on the screen of course. E-mailing GARMIN; the response was that it's a flat rate of $99 + shipping to fix, and still you get a refurbished/new unit instead of your original. AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!

It worked out because it was just under the 90 days return policy at COSTCO...they took it back without question. YAY! - but then looking online for another GARMIN 755T, COSTCO is SOLD-OUT! (insert another AAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! here) So further searching found them on AMAZON cheaper than COSTCO (another YAY!) But they only use UPS shipping and the delivery absolutely has to be on a Monday or Tuesday or I will not get it. (do you see the roller coaster ride forming?) So I have to plan the purchase timing just-right.

OK, now I have had car issues since my August trip home from BODIE. So, having my kids here for the weekend the car seems totally normal Saturday.
Sunday morning, starting it up, it rumbled and idled extra rough like it was missing a cylinder (or two) - the 'Check Engine' light came on/stayed on and when warmed up it ran and drove just like normal.
Monday rolls around, and I need to take my kids to school. The car does the same thing starting it up, it rumbled and idled extra rough until it warmed up...but then a smell started to reek just like when we were in Calistoga that last time - very rank; almost like propane; exhaust smell that sticks in the back of your throat. YUCK! But the car was running okay and behaving normally after it warmed up. My buddy Danny has been saying that the cooling issues has been the need of a new radiator, but my instincts have been screaming that there are deeper issues to this. It pushes out all the coolant into the overflow bottle and doesn't pull it back in...hmmm...hoses collapsing? radiator cap? overflow tube having blocking debris? OR someone suggested the possibility of a small leak in the head-gasket small enough for air to trickle into the coolant, but not big enough to get coolant in the oil...THIS seemed more plausible to me, with all these symptoms accumulating.
SO, (Deep breath here) I went to another friend of ours who is the same car sales person we bought this Impala from, and we talked about how to get me out of this car into a new one. It seems that an American car with 106000 miles on it (and still 2 years more of payments) isn't worth as much as what I owed. This is called being "UPSIDE-DOWN"! :) After four hours of the usual car-trade tactics, FINALLY got a new/used car that should be good for 6 years of car payments and mileage. What I ended up with is a 2009 Chevy Malibu with 30,000 miles on it. It is a step-down from an Impala, but it has TWICE as many toys, bells & whistles!

YAY! (happy ending here) ;)