Buckhead Jeep called after having my car overnight and delivered the bad news: the clicking sound I heard in the engine was due to some sort of flakes of metal they found in the engine's oil, indicating that something inside the engine was falling apart. The good news, at least to them, was that they just happened to have a spare Jeep Cherokee engine around the shop that they could replace my engine with for about $6,000. While they were at it, there are leaks in the front axle and the pinion and other maladies that will bring the whole repair to about $8k.

I drive a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The book value of the car is only about $6,000, and even that assumes that it's in good working condition. It doesn't seem prudent to put an $8,000 repair into a $6,000 automobile.

I guess I'm in the market for a new car.

Meanwhile, I haven't had a working television since the end of August. To replace what broke down in kind (50-inch Magnavox projection) will cost about $2,000.

But I guess I'm in the market for a new t.v., too.

Further, I still haven't found a buyer or a renter for the Unsellable Condo in Vinings. But I'm still paying a second mortgage, monthly condo association fees and utilities for my former little corner of paradise.

Oh, yeah, and I'm waiting on a call back from the doctor after yesterday's test to find out whether or not I have prostate cancer.

But all that's looking at the glass as half-empty. Here's the positive outlook:

I get to have a new car! And a new t.v.! And I already have a second home that's just full of possibilities. And I'm going to get a phone call to confirm my good health.

Pick your medicine. It all tastes the same, but it's up to you whether or not you enjoy it.