Not long ago we learned the car needed a new transmission. Cheaper than a new car if not as exciting, so into the shop it went. Our car is discontinued so they had to order a used transmission, which turned out to be junk. So we were car free while they ordered another. I was in Phoenix during this for 2 weeks on business. My husband & daughter got by ok. The grocery store is a half-mile walk and she bikes to school. Then the shifter on her bike broke. Our mechanic makes house calls...he ordered another shifter for her, and adjusted my bike for her. He also put the new wheel on my bike (I got it shortly before my trip and hadn't had time to put it on. The rim on the old wheel was worn through, after 10K miles!)

The next day she rode my bike, and complained about the "thump thump" sound the rear wheel made. I figured he needed adjust the brakes so we called him back. She had a flat tire! I guess I keep our bikes in such good repair she's never had a flat tire...clearly she didn't do her ABC Quick Check that day though. They found a patched tube I'd left in the shed, and put that on. That worked for a day. It was flat by the end of the day. (That is my experience with 100% of the tubes I have ever patched. This one was patched with supervision and I thought it might be different.)

Fortunately that was the same day the car was done. So we were back to 1 operational vehicle. I got home and put the other spare tube on my bike. She was driven to school; I biked to work Tuesday evening. Her shifter arrived yesterday and he put it on last night.

So now we are back to 3 operational vehicles, 2 bikes and a car.

Actually we have one other bike, my husband's that he doesn't use, which we can use in a pinch. I should probably get it out, air up the tires, take it for a spin, and do that once a month, so that it'll be ready when we need it, no surprises.

The bike repairs cost 2% of the car repair. The car repair cost 2% of a new car. The car repair also means I'm not getting a tandem which I had been hoping for. But overall I'm happy with the outcome because a car means we can visit our family and it really is more important than a tandem. Probably.