Going in Reverse

And only reverse.  In my car.  That might make it difficult to get around.  Right?

A small, seemingly insignificant piece of plastic in my car broke a few months ago.  A piece called the gear shift protector.  A small piece of plastic that keeps things from falling into your gear shift:

Little did I know, the broken piece of plastic was slowly working it's way into the gears as the months were ticking away.  That piece of plastic kept settling into the perfect spot even as my car warranty ticked away just a few short months ago.  It would then decide to settle right into a gear and lock up my shifter as I was backing out of the driveway.  As I go to put the car in drive - nadda. Nothing.  It won't move out of reverse. DARN.

But good news.  The replacement gear shift protector was only $40.  BUT WAIT.

Since the car was stuck in reverse - I couldn't drive it to the repair shop - or get the keys out of the ignition.  So add a tow truck bill to that.  BUT WAIT AGAIN.

In order to dig the broken piece of plastic out of the gears, the entire middle console had to be disassembled.  Which means many many expensive hours of labor.

$40 quickly exploded to something much more than $40.  Of all things....stuck in reverse.

On the bright side - since I was stuck in the middle of the street for an hour or so, it was a great way to meet our neighbors!