Randy, the country/western song version

My weekend thus far sounds like a c&w song in which one thing after another goes wrong in a downward-spiraling tale of woe. Yesterday, I fetched Toby for a weekend at home. After being held up by traffic in Baton Rouge, I had a flat tire. I stepped in a fire-ant pile when I was changing the tire. Yippee! Then I had an inspiration to get off at the next exit and have the local WalMart put a new tire on the car. There was a tantrum until we got into the main part of the store with a shopping cart, and Toby was concerned when he saw the mechanic get into the car and back it out of the garage. He seemed to think the guy was stealing the car. So we got home after dark, too late to visit some of T's favorite places. This morning, the car was dead as a doornail when I tried to start it. Nothing. So we called for a tow truck and lined up a rental car. The tow truck driver knew what the problem was from personal experience and got our car started again. However, after cancelling the rental car, I discovered that whether the car will continue to start is an iffy proposition. That might not be so bad, except we have to drive 500 miles in it tomorrow.

Update--things ended up just fine. Toby hasn't laughed as much in a long time as he did yesterday and today. We played lots of tickle and chase games, and I had him and another kid we didn't know shouting and laughing loudly for me to push them on their swings at the park. Toby woke me up at 3:30 a.m. today to search for the one computer game we seem to have lost. Damn! He and I drew little pictures in the back seat of the car all the way to Alexandria this morning. Adam was much happier during our visit with him this afternoon than he was last weekend. The car problem cropped up again in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, but I fiddled with things like the tow truck driver advised and we were back in business again. I'll get the damn thing fixed tomorrow.