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Monday, December 31, 2007

Last Day of 2007

Well, today hasn't EXACTLY gone as planned.

Yesterday I had a feeling that I should not go to work today, and got permission not to show up.

No wonder I had that "feeling" that I should take the day off. Now everything has been revealed. At least, I hope this is "everything."

There is currently a rental car parked outside my house. You may be asking yourself, "Now, why does Adoro have a rental car? Where's her own car?"

Well, that's a funny story.

You see, today I had only a couple very important errands to run....only a couple. The bank, the vet to pick up some important stuff for my dog, and an oil change. Adn the grocery store and wine shop. If I'd had to work today, I still would have run these errands, and it would have caused me to come in later and a bit frazzled.. Or not at all, as it turns out.

You see, first I went to the bank, and when I left the bank, I realized I'd forgtten the Jiffy Lube coupon for a $10.00 oil change. So I returned home to pick up the coupon. Then I drove to Jiffy Lube...except that it wasn't there anymore.

So instead of doing the oil change first, I ran to the vet to pick up the stuff from the vet, planning to ask them if they knew of a Jiffy Lube near them. I forgot to ask, but found the info in a phone book in my car. I found the place and with great relief, drove my car in and went to the waiting room.

Well, they came in and asked me if there's a "trick" to starting my car. Uh....no. It just starts when I turn the key. That's how must cars work.

Then the other guy came in and explained that they believe my starter is out. No, they can't fix it because that particular operation requires a full service shop. I asked him if he knew if starters were covered by warranty (lots of people in the car biz do know about warranty coverage, through experience and their networking). He thought it was. They got my car started manually, and suggested I drive straight to the dealership to avoid being stranded.

I have roadside assistance, but who wants to be stranded on New Years' Eve, the day before a holiday when the whole world is closed?

* sigh *


So I drove to the dealership, and of course they ask me if I have an appointment. Uh, no. My car didn't send me a memo ahead of time to let me know she was planning to break down today. Otherwise I would have been sure to call ahead for her spa appointment for New Year's Eve.

Right.

Well, he checked my warranty and confirmed that IF it is the starter, it would be covered under warranty, which means my rental will also be covered. I did get my car started with no problem while at the dealer, but given it had died when in another shop and they COULDN'T start it, obviously something quirky is happening. It shouldn't be driven.

So I opted to leave the car there an pay for a rental out of pocket, hoping for the best. I didn't want that cost, but it would be a lot worse to not get my errands run (I still had to hit the grocery store and wine shop), and then get stranded in the middle of trying to complete them.

So the dealer called Enterprise for me, they came to pick me up. (As an aside...when my Mom cautioned me never to ride with strangers, she hadn't told me about car problems and rental companies.) Of course, as I used to work for an insurance company and was familiar with the process at the rental company, it was interesting going through it this time as a customer.

So, anyway, after I'd gotten the rental and was almost home, stuck behind an Uncle Ike - type of girl driver in a big boat of a car, I realized I'd forgotten my garage door opener. Turn around and return to the dealership? NOPE! I'm goin' home!

In fact, I had to make a stop at home before I finished my errands. Then I got to the store, and realized I had left my purse at home. I almost went into the store anyway, then realized that the $30.00 in cash that HAD been in my jacket pocket had been transferred to my purse earlier in the day. D'OH!

So I went back home, got my purse, confused the dog again, and left for the store. I ran around grabbing my couple items (most importantly - ricotta cheese for tomorro's menu of stuffed shells...mmmm). Then I got in line. It didn't look so bad. There was a couple in front of me with also only a few items, behind a woman who looked nearly done with a truckload of stuff. Then came the coupons, discussion about the coupons, court held over the coupons, verification of amounts on the product and the coupons, and whatever other problem ultra-frugal people invent as they go through checkout on especially-busy shopping days. The couple ahead of me and I waited patiently, realizing that this sucks for all of us.

Finally, I came home. * sigh *

Right now, I'm sitting down with a glass of wine and will continue hilighting John Paul II's encyclical on the dignity of women. I've been reading it while waiting all day long. And I need to remember dignity again...I'm not sure there's much left based on today's escapades.

Praise God I'm home, though, and not stranded in some odd place.

9 comments:

Anna B. said...

I found your blog through A-R and AM. Sorry for your car problems,

CHEERS!! To a Great New Year!!..

Adoro said...

Hi, Anna B. Happy New Year!

Uh...what is A-R and AM?

uncle jim said...

Guardian angels - 24/7

and Happy New Year!

we were out of town [only 4 hours away] and were almost going to stay another night when the weather forecast this morning said they were to get 7 - 9" during the night.

so we came home - we'll celebrate together, here, just the two of us...we're only supposed to get 3 - 5 " ... much more manageable.

Elisabeth said...

Hugs to you, Adoro, Dear - somehow car trouble is exponentially worse for women... and we're never quite sure the repairmen are being quite fully honest with us, either.
Prayers, Dear One.

Anonymous said...

Uncle Jim ~ It's good you're staying in, in that weather! I have 2 parties to attend...one about 15 miles away that is inviting people to stay if they wish. The other is about 6 blocks away, and I know I could stay there, too, if necessary.

It won't be necessary at either. I have decided to forego the 1st party, because I have a dog to take care of and I plan to go to Mass at 8:45 tomorrow morning. I'd stay there just to NOT be on the road tonight. But I WILL go to the latter party, the closer one. I was there last year, and had only 1 drink the entire evening...a wine cooler. And we prayed the rosary. Both parties are groups of great people, so it's not a drunkfest in any case. I love it!

I just don't like to be out and about on nights like this.

Laura ~ I HATE car problems, but I'm not like other women in this regard. One day I must do a post on what I learned; repair shops aren't as shady as we've all been led to believe. Are shady shops out there? Yes. But they're not stupid and they are aware that the internet is a huge resource for everyone. People can be more knowledgeable about everything, including car repairs.

When I was in insurance I used to look up on my work computer, the diagrams for my car while discussing parts with the shop. They didn't know what I knew or what was in front of me, and they NEVER steered me wrong. If I did happen to reveal in the conversatio what I do and say I'm looking it up right now so I can see what he's seeing, he never had a problem with it. In fact, it was an aid in our conversation, between shop/customer just a it was in a conversation if it was shop/adjuster.

Shops like it when people can understand them.

The first shop had no interest in misleading me; their diagnosis, while informal, was sincere and wished for me the best. They don't get any monetary value from a proper or improper but expensive diagnosis. The dealership is also trustworthy.

The good thing is that my years as an insurance adjuster, especially as an investigator handling very difficult and specialized damages, included mechanical issues, so I learned a great deal. And when things happened to go wrong with my own car, my co-workers knew a lot and educated me on those things as well.

So as a woman, don't put yourself down; the shop has no interest in doing this. MOST are very good; they know that if they mess with one woman, they will go out of business. Because all it takes is for them to mess with one intelligent, knowledgable woman, and they will be DONE. :-)

Anna B. said...

oops

A-R Abbey-Roads Blog
AM Angela Messnger Blog

Take Care
Anna B.

Adrienne said...

Well, this is toooooooo weird. Here it is my birthday, all excited to run to Costco to get Photoshop and do a few other errands and.........my car had been acting strange yesterday so I decided we needed to take hubbies van.

It became clear when one of the back wheeels wouldn't turn we wern't going anywhere in the van. My poor hubby kept saying, "I think it's just cold." Right, honey, everyone knows that the wheels don't turn on cold cars.

Ok, lets give the Chrysler a second chance. Half way down our road, with all the lights on the dash going bat-shit crazy it decided it preferred low gear to drive - thank you very much.

My husband was all for just blowing off the errands and I threw a fit and called a rental company. $29.95 for the whole day but.....they closed early and won't be open tomorrow so we get to keep the car till Wed. morning for the same price.

Other than that is was a super fun day.

Melody K said...

Happy New Year, Adoro! Hope you had a nice party last night. There must be some kind of "car flu" going around. Sunday we couldn't shift one of our cars out of "park". Later on, in the afternoon, after the sun had shined on it for quite a while, it worked fine. Now I don't trust it, I think we'd better have it looked at.
I agree with you, most repair shops are honest, otherwise they won't stay in business. They depend on repeat business and referals.

Cathy_of_Alex said...

Good grief, sweetie. Tikaani's confused? I'm confused.

Through all this drama I'm glad you are safe.

I had a good laugh over the oil change guys asking if there is a secret way to start your car!ROFL! The coupon inquisition scene was funny too! LOL!

Really, I'm glad you are ok. I hope it is nothing too expensive with the car.