You know you spend too much on your car when....

The other day Doug overheard Evelynn playing with a friend in the backyard. Evelynn began the make-believe by saying "Ok, I'll be the mechanic and you bring me your car and I'll fix it so it's all better." This is when you know that you take your car to the mechanic WAY too often. Not only does Evelynn know the word "mechanic" but she also knows what they do and can recognize them when we pass by. Sometimes on our walks we pass by a mechanic shop (for example, the one on 700 E on the way up to campus). She pipes up "Look! A mechanic! People are getting their cars fixed so they aren't broken anymore!" Yes, that is what happens to cars. They break, and you pay lots of money to fix them.... again, and again, and again. If you haven't figured it out by now, we've recently run into some bad luck with car problems, and I'm a little bit bitter. Word of advice to all you out there that are thinking of or ever will buy a used car. DO NOT BUY A CAR THAT IS FROM THE NORTHEAST!!!! No matter how new it is, or how good the deal is, if it has spend more than 3 winters in the north eastern United States, DO NOT BUY IT! Anyway, the point of this is that when your child's chosen form of imaginary game is "Let's pretend to be a mechanic," things have just gone too far.