This post goes out to those of you that have grown weary of my seemingly endless capacity to brag about the pure awesomeness of my minivan. Yes, my 2003 Mazda MPV has finally let me down. Despite having only 31K miles, the check engine light came on and the temperature gage conked out on my commute in the Labs. Only because it is extremely convenient to the office, did I drop the car at the dealer.

What followed was a classic customer service cluster-fuck. They tried to convince me that I needed to replace the coils – no dice. Oh, right, sorry, it’s just the sensor, we’ll replace that and flush the system. Would you like to change the transmission oil? No? Oops, can’t get that done today. Should be done by Friday. That will be $400, please. Which would have pissed me off even if my wife hadn’t taken our other car and parked it at the airport while she jetted off to Manhattan for a conference leaving me with three kids and no car. Which was not a huge deal because Daddy Brad and I run down the same path to work and home, so I could catch a ride to and fro.

The problem dawned on me Friday when I remembered that my our elementary school’s Open House was that morning (what does it say about the biffy demographic of my school district that they have open house in the morning – not too many dual-income households).

So I rode the school bus.

My kids thought it was hilarious when I climbed aboard with my briefcase and plonked down behind the driver (totally the geek seat). Only when the school drew near did it dawn on them that they were going to climb off the school bus accompanied by their father that any nervousness creep in. I promised to humiliate them.

The best moment, for me, was being greeted by the principal as I disembarked. I shook his hand and told him I was “going for an immersion experience.” He smiled like it happened every day. Love that guy.