Work, School and Fuel Pumps

Today was not the best day for the Merrells. Last night, Chad and I were stuck on campus for 2 hours with a car, (a relatively newer car) that wouldn't start. Chad and I were so shocked that our frustration was defused by the disbelief of the whole situation! The car wouldn't even turn over, it wasn't the battery and everything else was working just fine! Normally we would laugh a little, tow it home and check it out in the morning, but this was different.

   Chad and I had a crazy Tuesday ahead of us! We both had exams to take....which almost always means that we both have exams to cram for. We also had our boss coming down the next day so the office needed to be cleaned and organized to perfection. We had to fix the car because lets be honest nothings going to stop me from going to AZ in a week. And we had to get to school.

We woke up on Tuesday morning with fear in our hearts that we might not see the end of the day. Chad skipped his first class and took the car in for a diagnostics test. It was a bad fuel pump and fuel filter...total damage $897.65

...plus tax. 

Not to mention the diagnostics test itself was $100. Dang mechanics, ripping off students because they can!

Goodbye AZ! Goodbye Christmas! Goodbye fleece lined legging I've been eyeing online for 3 months!

I had accepted the tragedy and began the coping process because....what else was there to do. I missed my first class so that i could hear about the car but I couldn't miss my second so I pulled out my bike and noticed that the gears had rusted! Chad oiled them for me and broke it in again. THEN I realized the bike seat had rusted ridiculously high! I couldn't even get on it! So Chad gets a hammer and adjusts the seat for me, just in time for me to pedal my heart out, in the attempt to bike 4 miles up hill in 5 minutes. I got to the 2 mile point when the chain popped off and the seat fell off

...yes.

 Fell. Off.

(Regardless of his failed attempts, please notice the trend of Chad fixing every wrong in my life...what a life saver!)

I walked home next to my half broken bike, just laughing at how horribly my day had gone! I had truly tried my hardest so I took a little comfort in that. 

I got home and headed over to the office a couple of hours early. I had people to contact, money to collect and an entire office to reorganize to get ready for our boss to come down and inspect the next two days.

To spare you the boring details, I spent 8 hours in the office and there was still work left over. I had to stop though, I had a good 6-7 hours of homework ahead of me, an election to follow, a husband to feed and a car to worry my hair gray about. 

I knew Chad had a very important test to take this weekend so I assumed he would be studying all day, but much to my surprise, he was outside tearing apart our car. While I was working he had been comparing prices and places to buy a fuel pump and filter. He had bought the most affordable one, $275ish dollars, and had been studying tutorial on how to make the repair himself.

I didn't know what to think! What if he couldn't fix it? Then did we just spend an extra 300 dollars on  a repair that might even make the issue worse!?

Well shame on me for lacking faith even for a second, in my husbands handy abilities. Honestly I can't think of a single time that he has not come through for me! He fixed the car in 30 minutes, it now runs better than ever! And I have to say, I have never been more impressed with his productivity and ingenuity! He has very worked on a Jetta before, yet alone a car made past 2001 so he had no idea what he was looking at but he figured it out and figured it out quick! 

Not gonna lie...it kinda turned me on! 

Here are some pictures of that handy man a mine!

Chad wouldn't completely approve if he knew i was posting stuff about him, despite his "confident" attitude, he is so bashful and reserved when it comes to his abilities. 

So maybe don't tell him I posted pictures of him? thanks.

 He saved us just over $500.00 and we were back in business two days earlier than we would have been if we would have gone with the mechanics plan. (which kind of makes you wonder what mechanics actually DO sometimes)

   

After the car was fixed the night went much better. We thanked Heavenly Father for helping us through the rough day. Sometimes I feel like our rough days are our best because we see the Lords hand with the most clarity on those days. 

Sweet Chad finished the rest of the office work for me and said he would study tomorrow for his test since I had some major research due in the morning. 

I love him.

SO much.

FUNNY TWIST, so we put everything we had into the office to prepare for our boss coming....yeah she called us the next day and said she'd come down in a few days instead....so funny... 

Another funny twist, one of my research reports, coincidentally the one that kept me up til 3, was postponed til Friday.....also, so funny....

God has humor, i don't care what you say!