Our godsend of an auto mechanic, who’s taken care of our vehicles for over 25 years, just helped Craig’s 1996 truck stay out of the Intensive Care repair bay for maybe another year. As long as the repairs cost less than one or two months of a car payment, we tell him “go ahead.” This time a new gasket or something is all it needed. One day at a time.

And today, I called Sears because the fridge seems to be running a lot. (It’s a Kenmore from when we remodeled back … when?) Wonderful guy showed up, took a look at the tags on it and said “1999. You guys don’t throw anything away, do you?” He said any fridge we buy now might last 7 to 10 years, so of course we said “go ahead,” fix the compressor and fan. “They’re carrying us outta this house feet first,” I told him. “Probably in this refrigerator,” Craig added.