I couldn’t have that, so I hung up my phone and shifted the car back to Park, and then to Drive again, hoping that would do the trick.  No dice.  At this point, traffic was moving all around me, but I wasn’t, so I turned on my hazard blinkers and stuck my little leg out the door of my flailing car and rowed my little boat off the street.

I may be the luckiest gal in town, however, because I happened to pull halfway into the driveway of the only auto mechanic in that part of town.  The nice guy took one look at my car, which was parked diagonally across his driveway since I lacked enough oomph in my left leg to get it all the way into the parking lot, and said, “Car trouble?”

He peeked under the car and said, “Uh oh.”  After helping me push Kermit into a parking spot, I saw what made his Uh go Oh.  A giant puddle of bubbly brown liquid, which he handily identified as transmission fluid.

Now, I’m no car expert but I reckon “Transmission trouble” is secret mechanic code for “You won’t be eating for a month.”  Wes being in school, I did what any self-respecting girl does: I called my Dad.  He recommended that I call our local Kia dealership to see whether the repair was likely to be covered under Kia’s famous 10 Year 100,000 Mile Warranty.

We’ll see.  Wes’ mother, who was kind enough to drop everything and come pick me up and also take me out to dinner and drive me back to her house because I forgot my keys because oh my gosh my mother-in-law is a saint, is going to let us use her AAA membership to tow Kermit to the Kia dealership so we can have the repairs covered under warranty.  If they apply.  If the repairs don’t apply, we may be selling a 2003 Kia Spectra soon!  Any takers?

Surprisingly, I’m not upset.  My feathers remain unruffled, my brow is uncreased, and I’m not even worried about it.  I’m not worried about much of anything right now, actually, and that has only a little to do with the scrumptious beef burrito I just ate.  Why, might you ask?

Because I just got back from the doctor.  Who confirmed what this test told us three weeks ago: