1.  F O R D

2. I don't have a Ford but my car can be now Found On Road Dead!  It's kaput, I do believe.

3. We had thought it was the distributor acting up again but the cam, which turns the distributor and is a very active part of the engine, is not spinning at all.  I've pretty much given up on it. 

4. Becky shown here:

and read here has been my saving grace. Because we work close to the same hours, she has allowed me to drop her off at work and take her car to work all week.  A very grateful THANK YOU to Becky!  

5. Becky has also agreed to share in the experience of driving to Richmond to get Samantha to the Amtrak station for her Christmas trip to her Nana's house. 

6. We leave at 3 a.m. tonight (well actually tomorrow morning). Sami's train leaves at 8 a.m.  It's a good 3 1/2 hour trip and because she is an "unaccompanied minor" she has to be there an hour early to be interviewed, so they can be sure she is mentally "fit" to travel unaccompanied. 

7. Next year she will be considered an adult - 15 - for traveling purposes, which I won't like because I love the security required when she travels as a minor.

8. In addtion to being interviewed, any unaccompanied minor has to wear a special bracelet, sit in a special area near the conductor, must travel during daylight hours, can not take a train that requires a train change or a layover and the person picking the child up must be the person stated when the child was dropped off and an ID must be shown. Sami loves to travel on the train and I feel pretty secure letting her.

9. As for the car, or my lack thereof, Becky is off on Fridays and Saturdays, so this weekend I'm kind of at a loss as to how I am going to get back and forth. I might get a cheap motel and stay downtown or I might stay with a friend.  The motel would be much more comfortable - but obviously more costly... so I'm not quite sure which I will do yet. 

10. All I know for sure, at this point, is I have to be here at work Saturday morning and Sunday morning, so there isn't much sense in getting rides back and forth to home, which is about a 45 minute drive each way.

11. I own an Accura Legend, which has been parked at Becky's since I left her house a few years ago, but I don't have the title to it.  I do plan to try and get it road worthy though.  I don't have many other options at this point. 

12. I went to the DMV today and got paperwork to file the car as abandoned, which it kind of is, per say. It will also need some maintenance to get it up and running again, just due to the amount of time it has sat not being used.  It has flat tires (just a loss of air) and the battery is dead, so Monday I plan on doing some maintenance to it.  I hope everything pulls together as it should.  It's no fun being transportationless!  With Christmas on Tuesday, I obviously won't be messing with the car - so I guess I'll stay home and relax.

13. Not a very exciting Christmas, I must say, but with everything going on, I'm actually releaved that I have no commitments this year.