When It Rains...It Pours...

I got a phone call from Troy just after 5am this morning.  The van had died on his way to work.  It had been running rough and randomly dying here lately...this time, however, it wouldn't start back.  Troy had called a guy he works with to come get him and take him on to work.  He managed to get the van rolled to the shoulder and further away from the intersection. Zack left for work at 7:20.  I got a call from him as he passed the van. I hadn't told him it was broke down.  He was convinced that it needed spark plugs.  After work, I made the trip for spark plugs and wires.  Zack stopped on his way home and bought a tow rope and picked Troy up from work.  They spent the evening working on the van.  After new spark plugs, the van ran better than it had for a long while.  Troy got in to take it for a drive.  He tried to pull out of the driveway with no luck.  Turns out, the transmission is out on it too....it goes in reverse, but not forward.  So...in about 4 days time, we have both our cars with the transmissions out...one goes forward, the other goes backwards.