Timing...It comes in threes.

Recently, my oldest daughter was doing some minor repairs on her car. Working with her uncle and aunt, she re-secured her radiator in her car(Cheap plastic radiator mounts). However, in the process, she left her lights on and ran her battery down, not discovering this until she was preparing to leave. I own a battery charger, and told her we could charge her battery quickly so she could leave. Her younger sister, who just purchased a nice car, offered to loan her the new vehicle, just to be safe. They switched vehicles, and my oldest drove safely home. The younger daughter, on the other hand, drove the older daughter's newly charged car that evening to go to a friend's house. She only made it about a mile uphill before the car overheated spraying steam and radiator fluid everywhere. It turns out that in the process of doing the repairs, a small plastic part of the cooling system had gotten cracked, and failed. Part ordered. Car repaired.

My youngest daughter has been driving my Ford Ranger. While the part was in transit for my oldest daughter's car, she drove the Ranger to school. When it came time to drive home, it wouldn't start. It seems that the starter motor is failing. We can roll start, but not turn a key and start. I have purchased the starter motor, and will install it soon.

In the meantime, the van that I drive has been squealing like a stuck pig for a few weeks. We looked at it over the weekend too, and discovered that I had a bad bearing in my alternator. Now this alternator was installed last January, and is under warranty, so I removed it from the vehicle, had it tested, and am ready to put the alternator back in the van.

Three breakdowns, out of four available vehicles that we drive every day.

Now for the timing. Just after I took out the alternator, it began to snow. The weather has been so awful, that I have not had a chance to get either the truck, or the van running again. Figures.

Hang in there. Stick.