In limbo...

Well, I heard from the car storage guy yesterday afternoon.

Seems we're kind of stuck for the next couple of days. Let me explain the whole story...

When we stored the car here in Ottawa last October, we were under the impression that we were going to be going back to the same campground that we worked at last summer. They had a pickup truck there that we were able to use, so we didn't need our little blue car.

So we had told the storage place that we didn't know when we were going to use the little blue car again. It was one of the first cars put in, which means it also would be one of the last ones out. At the time, that was fine.

But then, due to poor communication from our last place of work, we ended up with a new job for this summer. One that requires our own set of wheels!

So we came back to Ottawa in order to pick up the little blue car and drive it to Saskatchewan. We need to be there before May 1st.

I assumed that many people would have been picking up their cars this past weekend. It was a nice long weekend, and the snow is pretty much gone. But then I couldn't get any answer from the people who run the storage place. I finally got a call back yesterday afternoon. Seems that because it was a harsh winter they are a little delayed. I guess the ground outside the garage (it's an old building out in the country) is still a little soft, and people simply haven't been in a rush to get their cars out.

So, the owner is making some calls to see what he can do to help us out. Essentially, other people need to come and get their cars out before we can get our car out. Not their fault, so we just have to bear with it. At this point, he can't even guarantee that we can get the car out next weekend. That would present a problem.

So, where we stand right now is that he will call Wednesday evening and see how many people he has talked to and what the schedule looks like. If it looks like we can get the car out between then and Sunday, we will simply wait and leave a little later than planned.

If he says we won't be able to get the car out next weekend, we will buy a cheap used car and drive it out west! Not what we wanted to do, but we don't see another option.

The little blue car in July 2006 when he was brand new!

So I've been watching the ads for cheap used cars. In Ontario, in order to get it licensed, a used car must pass a safety inspection and an emissions test. Back when I was in the car business, anything that would pass these two tests was worth at least $1,000. Seems that figure is now up around $1,500, so that's about what we're going to have to spend if it comes down to it.

It's always an adventure, isn't it? It would be just like us to buy a junker used car, hop in it, and expect to drive it 3,000 kms (1,800 miles) across the country!

I guess we'll see what happens!