winterbadger | OK, this bids fair to have been the worst days I've had in... well, at least weeks

I passed up on a last-minute birthday party for my best friend because I had already promised to help out at a local game con. Because of a variety of hitches and vexations, I wasn't able to do during the week the things I had thought I would, so I had to miss the beginning of the con to finish working on the stuff I said I would bring. And then the middle of the day, too. Good thing the event I had promised to support was in the evening!

Well, come time to leave and I still hadn't finished. I cobbled things together as best I could and set out. Traffic delays then made me almost certain to be late. And I hadn't had time to pick up any food or drink to contribute.

And then it happened. As I came up on the Interstate exit, something *broke* somewhere up front in the car, and it slowed dramatically. I started searching for a place to pull off and it *stopped*. I coaxed it a bit further, pulled off, and called for a tow. The company rep promised (I thought) that the tow would be there in 15 minutes.

About half an hour later, the tow called and got a fix on my position and told me they would be along in "seven or eight minutes". Fifteen minutes later, it showed up. The guy tossed out several possible diagnoses, including brake malfunction, while we were driving back to Takoma Park, but when we finally arrived and he took it off the truck, he said "No, that's definitely the axle broken again." Now, I still have the receipt from the first one, and that was 21 days ago they put it in, so they better fucking not charge me to replace it.

The tow guy dropped me home. I had planned to go grocery shopping in the morning; yeah, not so much now! Supposed to be going to the airport tomorrow night, too, but I am going to go check on my ticket and see if I got cancellation insurance. With my car not working and several problems with my mum and her house half-resolved, I am almost certainly going to cancel.