Well, the final blows (I hope) were delivered yesterday when Travis discovered that our little VW wouldn't start due to an abundance of air bubbles in the fuel line, likely the cause of a cracked fuel line, and, he didn't get to work yesterday either due to an abundance of snow. Here we are, for the first time in our lives, wishing it would stop snowing, and also, for the first time in our relationship, completely vehicleless. The Quantum was our remaining legal vehicle, and of course, Marmie still sits in her snow trench, with tags that expired in March of 2009, nearly flat tires, and probably not enough gas to even make it to the street. And she certainly isn't going to climb out of that snow without a huge amount of help anyways. So, yesterday morning started with such delightful discoveries, and I knew right then that we were either due for a turn in luck, or our house would likely burn down. Well, around noon, our very good friends whose dog we had been sitting for the past week came home and collected the little menace, which was good news in itself, but also, they offered us the use of their second car for a few days to buy us some time. This is the kind of friendship that I value so much. Because our families are all mostly so far away, having friends who are like family is invaluable. Anyhow, now we get to drive around in a Mercedes for a little while, which brings back fond memories of my good ole 1969 Mercedes I had many years ago. What a fun car to drive! The major differences are about 15 years in age, and of course, this Mercedes starts reliably, where as my old Olaf might consider starting every other day or so. With much gratitude, I can say that we are not entirely stranded now, and Travis has a way to get to work, should he ever get to work again!