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Tomorrow, my last 80% week with my current employer starts. Yay! After that, I'll be cutting down to 60%.

And if all goes well, I shall be teaching for 12 consecutive weeks from mid-September, taking me to (*counts*) December.

And if all goes even better, I will get a new part-time job that should allow me to cut my hours at my present job to 20%.

And if everything goes really swimmingly, in November, I will do some work for them that requires me to work a five-day week,
including a weekend - which would mean that I would not have to go back there in December.

Oh, a girl can dream ...

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Our Car R.I.P

We've friends over to stay with us for a week - a friend of my husband's and his girlfriend. My husband and this guy practically grew up together and kept in touch. We wanted to take them to the Highlands as a special treat. Guess what - all the B&B's near Oban booked. Then, we hit on an idea: Let's drive to St. Andrews! 20 miles into that trip, my husband started having trouble braking. We were in a small town, and found a garage.

The hydraulic pump for the power steering is leaking badly and needs to be replaced. A new pump would cost as much as the car (a 1987 Audi 100 CC) is worth. A replacement pump might be obtainable from a scrap yard for 20-30 quid.

But:
- how can we be sure that the second-hand pump we get from a car there will fit?
- how can we be sure that this pump will last for another year or two?
- where can we find a garage that will exchange the pumps without charging a fortune?

Currently, the car is basically worth zilch anyway because there's a huge dent in the passenger seat door.

For ditching the car:
We don't really need a car. We live in the city, buses are frequent, we can walk everywhere. I also don't really see my husband and myself trawling the car scrap yards of Edinburgh for replacement parts. And I don't trust hubby to pick the right part when he sees it. Furthermore, the car is 16 years old. Today the pump, tomorrow something else? It would make sense for the car to start falling apart - especially since it's been parked outside for the last three years, without protection. Finally, we would save insurance and road tax.

For replacing the pump:
It's nice to have the flexibility to go on day trips. To catch an early plane from Glasgow Prestwick. And it was my parents' car. I always had fantasies of our baby being driven around in this car.

I'm inclined to let the car rest in peace and to rent a car when we need one. Buying a new car does not make sense at all - we use our car once a week and for holidays.

But even though I've more or less made up my mind, I'd be interested in hearing your opinions.