Not long after I last posted, I went out in the heat, and a few blocks from my destination, my brakes failed. Not only that, but my car bonnet was jammed and wouldn't open, my mobile battery was flat, and when I finally rang the NRMA from somebody else's phone, I found I was lapsed because they had sent the renewal notice to my old address (despite my telling them the new address when I renewed last year), so I had to pay up with my card on the phone before they would do anything.

They took an hour to come, told me the master cylinder had failed (serious and expensive) and that I would need it towed. Then I had to wait another hour and a half for a tow truck to come. When it finally did, I had to go with them, while they took it to the garage where I usually get my car fixed. It took more than another hour through the heat and peak-hour traffic to get there, $15.40 for extra kilometres, and then I had to get a cab home - another $20. The whole exercise took nearly 5 hours from start to finish, and I arrived home about quarter to 8.

There was my SO, cooking birthday dinner for his daughter, not expecting me (I was supposed to be going to a session tonight), looking grumpy, and before I even had a chance to finish telling him what happened, she arrived, and he disappeared into the kitchen, so I couldn't even rant properly when I got home.

They tell me they should be able to fix it in the morning, so I will have it back in the afternoon, but it's not a cheap fix. And of course there will be another $20 taxi fare to go and pick it up. Bugger bugger bugger!