Just when I thought things were good

I went for a drive today, thought I'd take some pictures because it was a really nice day. I almost got where I was heading when I shifted gears and the clutch pedal didn't come back up. I was lucky that there was a place right there to pull over on the windy road I was on. So I checked to see if I had lost enough fluid to be pulling air into the lines, and I hadn't. So I'm thinking, that's strange. I then tried pumping the clutch pedal by hand and saw hydraulic fluid running down the pedal inside the car, not something I wanted to see or expected to see. So I called my dad who said it's most likely the master cylinder for the clutch. So the good news is that I was only about 15 miles away from where I had my clutch work done last summer and I could drive there by starting in second and driving the whole way there in second. Lucky for me, I managed to get into 3rd so I wouldn't be holding up all sorts of traffic, but I got so excited to get into 3rd that I accidentally stepped all the way down on the clutch. I managed to take off my seatbelt and reach down and pull it back up without having to pull over or anything.
So, the car is in the shop and I have another crappy rental car (a Chevy Aveo or something... I don't even really know, I just know it's total crap) for the next few days. In other news, I was offered a sizeable raise to stay on with my current job rather than go to Taiwan. I of course turned it down as I've made a commitment to go, and I really don't want to be doing this job anymore. I'd already had the conversation with my boss about whether or not more money would make a difference in me staying longer or not and I told him then that no it really didn't make a difference. It just feels like salt in the wound to have my car break down an hour after turning down a raise. Oh well, things could be worse! I could have had to pay the $400 the mechanic's supplier quoted us for the master cylinder, he agreed to let me buy the part else-where (www.bavauto.com) for $55 instead.