A month of silence rewarded with laughter

Oh, how silent I've been!

The last y'all heard, I was whining about our truck. Well, the truck got fixed and worked fine for a while. Got stuck again yesterday, but it didn't stay stuck this time, so I am not sure what to think.

But...I decided to see what's been going on in Google Analytics since my last post. And I got a good hearty laugh. It was amusing to me when I saw that Obama scary frightening Halloween actually brought someone to my blog. But the gut busting laughter came with dancing monkey basketballs brain.

WHAT THE HECK??? Dancing monkey basketballs brain. That is so incredibly nutzoid that I can't even imagine what would have possessed someone to type that into Google. What's worse is that there are over 1.2 MILLION search results for that!!! And...of ALL THINGS...I am search result NUMBER TWO. That is just freaking awesome!!!

So what has the last month held for me? Well, mostly work and Chiropractic care. I have been visiting my Chiropractor (also my wife's uncle...so since my back cracker is my wife's uncle, I affectionately refer to him as Uncle Cracker) on a regular basis trying to get some relief from my ever-persistent, never ending sciatic nerve pain and back spasms. The good news is I have been feeling a little better. I have actually had some good days in the past month (by good days I mean days where I didn't necessarily feel like I was in pain all day long). The bad news is that there may not be much more relief than that for me.

You see, another MRI was ordered for me. Turns out my back is getting worse. I guess I am not as closely related to Superman as I'd like to think. All the bending, heavy lifting, and other stupid crap that I think I can somehow do without making my back worse (despite the fact that it DOES put me in excruciating pain) is actually making my back worse (DUH!). So I have to start being a whole lot more careful. Dr Uncle Cracker said I need to avoid lifting things that are over 25 lbs (the computers I order from Dell for our new stores are 25.04 lbs in shipping!!!) I need to avoid doing the things that cause me pain.

It is tough to do that. It's hard to avoid doing things that cause you pain when just about everything you do causes you pain. It's also frustrating to know that you SHOULD be able to do certain things (like help carry some heavy stuff), but you can't because it causes you pain. Right now I am having to do some travelling for work, and it's difficult because the road trips are hard on my back and so are the hotel beds. But...gotta do what I gotta do. I'm going to try to find some good lumbar support for the car and a good mattress topper of some kind for the hotel beds.

So anywho...I just thought I'd post a quick note to let y'all know how I'm doing. I know I've been pretty quiet lately, and it's been mostly because I've been so busy during work that when I get home, I just want to veg out. I haven't had much motivation to blog lately. But, we'll see if I can get back on track.

I'll leave you with this...I found this to be particularly hilarious. I'm not even going to give it an intro other than that...just visit this site.

What The...

TRUCK!!!

Saturday started off semi-normally (except for the fact that I can't seem to sleep past 5:30 after getting up at 3:00 all week long.) I am overall pretty well exhausted and just trying to let myself relax after a very grueling work-week. I just played around on my laptop for most of the morning knowing that I should be doing something productive but just too tired to care.

Crystal's dad shows up to begin helping us work on getting the trim back in place (because we tore it all up when we put down the new laminate flooring). Pretty close to this juncture, Crystal reminds me that I need to take the dogs to the groomer. I don't particularly care to pay someone to groom my dogs, but neither of us is up to doing it, so the appointment was made. I'm gathering my wits and preparing to head out and Crystal is gathering the dogs to prepare them to go out, and Crystal's dad is hauling trim out the the back yard to begin cleaning it off and pulling the nails out. My friend calls me to let me know he's just about ready to come paint the nursery for us...

All seemed to be going ok...

I get in the truck. I turn it on...are you ready for this? Our new (used) Mazda Tribute decided it didn't want to leave the house yesterday. It started just fine, but when I put it in reverse, it would not move. One wheel...ONE WHEEL...would not turn. My first thought was "did I leave my laptop bag under the wheel?"

No wait...that's what I thought LAST time...

THIS time, my first thought was "Oh no...not again!"

And, just for the record...it's the SAME WHEEL.

I called the dealership and, long story short, they said they'd tow it in, give us a vehicle to drive until they figure out what's going on with what they already supposedly fixed.

So...right now we have a brand new 2008 Ford Explorer with Sirius Satellite Radio and Microsoft Sync sitting right in our driveway. It's temporary...and if it weren't for the fact that the only reason it's there is because our truck is in the emergency room, I might be happier about it.

But...it is what it is...

And I think we're going to get a new license plate...

I'll let y'all know all about that if/when we get the new plates in!

It's Good to Know When to Fold

It's time for yet another (and final!) truck update!

I was having kind of a long day today. All in all, it wasn't horrible, but long nonetheless. At about 4:00, my cell phone rang. It was a number that wasn't in my contact list, but I recognized it all too well.

It was the dealership.

In the two seconds or so that it took for me to recognize and subsequently answer the phone, I had several thoughts go through my mind. "Is it actually ready? Will there be another delay? If so, what will it be this time? Can I ever be patient with these people again? How many sentences are going to go through my head before I answer this dang phone?"

So, I answered. I half expected it to be the service manager or sales manager. It was neither. It was the service guy that I started dealing with from the very beginning. I did a pretty good job at not sounding irritated when I answered. I figured, it's a new day, a new week....let's see if I can cut them some slack.

Well, the guy was calling to tell me that my truck is ready. I light-heartedly asked him if he was sure. He said yes. I thanked him and told him I'd be by to pick it up this evening. I also asked him what my total was going to be (I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to get charged for that airbag).

You might want to make that you're seated for the next little bit. No, seriously...sit down! Ok, I know most of you probably are sitting down, but if you happen to be reading my blog post on your phone or something while walking then sit! If you happen to be reading my blog post on a phone or laptop while you're driving, then put it away and come back to it later...THAT'S NOT SAFE!!!

Ok, anyway, so I asked him for the total.

"Well, as far as I understand...we're taking care of it for you."

HUH? That was unexpected!

I wasn't sure what to say. For a moment, I was actually speechless. I stammered for a second and then said, "Well, I didn't expect that!" and he said "Well, I'm sure this has been a frustrating experience for you, so we're just going to go ahead and cover it for you."

I was a little shocked. A lot shocked. I got off the phone and called Crystal to tell her about it. I suddenly didn't feel quite right about it. I felt like either the guy misunderstood what he was told or that I needed to at least call back and offer to pay for the brakes - since that part was my fault to begin with (at least I think it was).

For the record, let's cover what was being done and roughly the cost:
Initial reason for going in:
Wheel wouldn't turn and airbag light was on - Estimated cost of repairs $550.
Eventually, they found the front rotors needed to be replaced. Add $200
They forgot to add in the key I needed to buy (outrageous cost for a key!) $150
New airbag when the original fix for the airbag light didn't work $300

If you do the math there, that comes out $1200! So...$1200 for brakes that got screwed up (likely my fault from driving in salt water), a key I SHOULD have gotten when I bought the thing, and airbag stuff that (if you ask me) should be covered by the warranty I purchased.

Relatively speaking, I'm sure this was a small write-off for them. But it was a big deal to me.

So I called back and asked to speak to the sales manager or the service manager. Both were busy and couldn't come to the phone. I spoke with dude again to make sure he was relaying the information to me correctly. I asked him if there was some mix-up or confusion because it was only the airbag I wasn't supposed to be paying for. He assured me that the whole bill would be covered. I asked him to have the service manager call me back when he could.

So the service manager called me a short while later and I said something to the effect of "Look, I appreciate what you're doing here, and if you REALLY want to do it that way, then great, and thanks! But I'm not trying to get something from you for free. I want to make sure we're doing this fair."

He basically said, "I don't see it that way at all. We really dropped the ball on this from the very beginning and every step of the way. It's been nothing but a nightmare and a headache for you and I think that you shouldn't have to pay for it. You just bought the car from us, and already had to have service for something that shouldn't have even come up. Hopefully, we'll be able to earn the right to do business with you again in the future."

Wow. I really was stunned. For the record, I really DID feel that I shouldn't have to pay for any of this. I never would have said that to him, though (unless he directly asked me). I really wasn't trying to worm a free repair here. I had just had it with their lack of customer service. But - my opinion has changed now.

Not that he bought me off or anything like that. I mean, it may sound that way, but to me it's been all about customer service from the beginning. I have a motto about customer service and that is "Always treat your customers like you'd want someone to treat your grandmother." It works for people who don't hate their grandmother...LOL. To me, good customer service means doing EVERYTHING you can do to satisfy your customer, even if it ends up costing you money.

If you had asked me last week, there is NO WAY I would have said I was satisfied. However, the gesture they offered today was significant. The fact that they decided to do that without any prompting from me, in my opinion, is stellar. I wouldn't say I'm satisfied with their service department in general, but I would definitely say that their service manager will do what it takes to fix the situation.

So, the experience as a whole may have been nothing but an absolute nightmare, but in the end, they did what they had to do and, I have to say, have earned a chance to do business with me again in the future. Not without caution, mind you - but they have definitely earned one more shot.

I guess it pays to voice your opinion!

Everything is Perfect!

No, not really.

I got the phone call yesterday morning from the dealership. Apparently the passenger's side airbag needed to be replaced for some reason. They he told me that there IS a safety warranty, but it's only up to 60,000 miles. Which our truck is way past (just a little under 80,000). SOOOO, it is going to cost $265 to replace that airbag (no charge for labor) and $23 for freight and because airbags are considered hazmat, they wouldn't be able to get it there any sooner than next Monday.

NEXT MONDAY!!!

Uncool. Very very uncool.

I got off the phone and boiled for a bit. I called the dealership and asked to speak to the sales manager who was trying to help me get through all this. He was on the phone, so I didn't get to speak to him. I left a message to have him call me back.

A few minutes later, the service manager called me. He said "What can I do to make this right?"

I told him, "I'm not sure there is anything you can do at this point! I'm so sick and tired of this crap. You guys can't get my truck done, you keep charging me more money. I'm not saying you're doing anything dishonest but this is the stereotypical auto shop horror story!"

He then tells me that he's going to see what he can do to get me a discount on the airbag. This offers me little consolation.

"Discount?? You know what? I hesitate to say this because this is NOT how I am. I DO NOT believe it trying to get things out of people for free. I am NOT about shorting you money. BUT, if I have to pay for that airbag, then forget it! Give me my truck and we'll call it done. I'll take my truck AND MY BUSINESS elsewhere!"

He tells me that he'll look into it and see what he can do and call me back.

Then I ask about the sales manager. I figured that since it was the sales manager I had called for, that I ought to get to speak to him. Apparently he's sitting across from the service manager for this call. I ask to speak to him.

I basically repeat everything I said to the service manager. I let him have it about how frustrated I am and how I just can't fathom the fact that they put this vehicle through all kinds of tests to make sure it was safe for the road and that I haven't even had the truck for 3 months and the airbag needs to be replaced. I exclaim how furious I am that the extended warranty I purchased since this vehicle was sold to me "as is" didn't cover something as critical as airbags. It's not as if the vehicle was in an accident...THEY JUST STOPPED BEING OK!

I repeated my comment about taking my truck elsewhere. I told him to figure out what he had to figure out, but that if I have to pay for the airbags then I'm done. I have absolutely had it and I would rather take my business elsewhere.

"Woah, wait a minute," he says, "You don't have to pay for the airbag. It's covered by your warranty."

I told him that's not what the person told me earlier. I told him he'd better get his story straight because I was specifically told that it was NOT covered and that I was going to have to pay an additional $300 to get it done.

He says he'll look into it and call me back.

Apparently, I finally got their attention.

I got a call less than 5 minutes later. The service manager called and simply said, "Your airbag is NOT covered under the warranty, but don't worry about it. We'll take care of it for you at no charge."

I thank him. I apologize for getting rude and explain that I'd just been pushed beyond my limits. He says he understands and can't blame me. He then says, "Well, I hope this doesn't ruin our chances of doing business together again in the future."

I told him, "To be perfectly honest with you, IT DOES! BUT because you're taking care of me now, MAYBE there's still a chance we'll do business again in the future.

So, there you have it. I had to blow up at them to get their attention. It's sad, really, because I hate being that way.

So Frustrated...

...I really don't even want to post about it. But I'm going to because, well, I've come this far with the story, you may as well know the current status.

Still. No. Truck.

You read it right. In The Rock Chick's most recent blog post "Listen Up", Rock Chick talks about the incredible frustrations she is having with the people who won't listen to her when it comes to her daughters battle with an eating disorder and, as was recently diagnosed, bipolar disorder. While the issue with my truck is nowhere near the magnitude of what's going on in her life, there were two sentences in succession that, at this point in my truck story, I feel I can really relate to.

She said, "When I spoke calmly, my words were tossed aside by the supposed experts. If I yelled and screamed (because nobody seems to listen when one speaks in a calm tone), clearly I was the dominatrix of a mother trying to control every aspect about my daughter’s life."

Ok - so I can relate to it except the part about being a dominatrix of a mother...

They say (and for the most part I truly believe) that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. However, when I called (they did not call me!) the dealership this afternoon to find out the status on my truck, they told me that they found (surprise!) another problem. Apparently the thing they did to "clear the code" on the airbag system only cleared one code, it did not clear the other - so the light is still on.

First of all, when were they planning on telling me? Why did I have to call an hour before their service department closed in order to get this information when they had known for 3 hours already. Secondly WHY IS THIS SO FRIGGIN' HARD???

I understand that things don't go as expected; I understand that there are unforeseen issues that come up. I do. I really do. But they KEEP telling me that my truck will be ready "tomorrow" and it keeps getting put off and I keep having to probe to get that information. It's RIDICULOUS.

I have been very patient so far and very calm and very collected, but they are coming dangerously close from going from "not-so-happy" Dustin to "I'd-rather-jump-off-a-sky-scraper-and-get-my-eyelid-caught-on-a-rusty-nail-than-to-piss-him-off-again" Dustin. I admit, in the privacy of my own home, I probably do not exhibit the highest levels of patience, but when I am dealing with people out in the world, I try to be as patient as I can. But these people are wearing me very thin. I even reminded them that I have been very patient up to this point and that I am trying my best to remain patient, but that my patience is running out.

They've had my truck for a week and a half and they can't get it finished. I came real close to telling them just to forget the rest of it, to close the work order and give me my darn truck - that I would take my business elsewhere to get the rest of the work done and send them the bill.

*Sigh* I guess life happens sometimes. I guess I ought to feel fortunate that I can even afford to have a truck, or a roof over my head, or two dogs that are absolutely nuts. I ought to feel fortunate that I have a wife who loves me and a steady (although sometimes frustrating) job and food to eat every day. And I am thankful for all of these things. Thankful for these things and so much more...

...but this dealership is making my blood boil...

oh, and P.S. - Rock Chick, I will continue to keep you and your family in my prayers!

SURPRISE!

NO TRUCK!!!

*Sigh* well, I feel like being nice about it because the guy sounded so apologetic when I called for an update, but apparently getting the brakes fixed on our truck was so time consuming that they couldn't find time to finish the whole airbag light problem. According to the manager, the part for the airbag light thing came in, but not until later in the afternoon. They got whatever needed disassembling disassembled, but they're not quite ready to put it all back together yet. Perhaps they really just forgot how...

So, we will supposedly get the truck back tomorrow. I know they're doing me a favor by fixing my truck, but why do they have to forget that I'm doing them a favor by giving them my business? It's just so frustrating.

On a much less serious note:

I'm not sure how many of my readers are also readers of my wife's blog, but I know there's at least a couple of you out there. For those of you who are NOT my wife's readers, it might behoove you (did I really just use that word?) to check out her post about the 11 boxes of the same thing and get a laugh when she talks about her paranoia of clicking submit incorrectly. She said in her post:

"Pushing that submit button, you must understand, sends a jolt of panic up and down my spine and I click it as quickly and as lightly as I possibly can so as to not awake the multiple-click-submit-button-dragon, angering him and causing him to charge my credit card multiple times."

Well, we were talking about that post today. Of course, knowing my wife, I knew she was being silly and creative and funny. What I DIDN'T know was that she actually is a little paranoid about that submit button! The sites always say "CLICK SUBMIT ONLY ONCE" in big bold letters and it makes her nervous that she's going to do it wrong. She literally clicks it as quickly and as lightly as she possibly can to avoid being misinterpreted by the submit button!

I thought that was funny. So I said, "you seriously do that?"

As if to justify her neurosis, she goes on to say, "well, you have to be careful because what if you lose control of your finger..." I REALLY don't know what she said after that because I was lost in a fit of uncontrollable laughter! I could not stop laughing at the image of someone losing control of that blasted finger that clicks the mouse!

Crystal, I love you with all of my heart...but you need help! Especially if you are having problems with occasionally losing control of your fingers!

I admit there's a chance that you "had to be there" in order for that to be as funny as it really was...but what's worse is as I'm posting this, she's STILL trying to justify that you just never know...it COULD happen!

Row Row Row Your Truck Gently Through the Gulf...

Well, we heard from the dealership what was wrong with our truck.

Apparently the brake rotor rusted and locked. Bad mojo. To make matters worse, the front to rotors were rusted as well and were in danger of having the same happen. They needed to be resurfaced.

Ok - we agreed to have it done.

I was thinking about what on earth could have caused that to happen. We've only had the truck for about 3 months and out of nowhere the brakes rust up on us? What gives?

The Gulf of Mexico - that's what!

Hurricane Ike missed us by a long shot, but we still saw a storm surge in the Gulf which resulted in some flooding on the northern edges of town. In fact, we went driving around to see what the beaches looked like and ended up driving through some of the flooding that occurred. I was so proud of our 4WD truck that wasn't gonna get stuck in the water! (no cars were stuck in the water...)

Well anyway, after that we went home, parked the truck and left it there for about a week. (I drive a company vehicle for work and Crystal was working hard at home on her jewelry that week). As it turns out...salt water and metal don't mix too good! I'm pretty sure that the fact that we drove through the salt water and didn't rinse the truck off before parkin' it was the cause of the problems.

So 3 rotors needed to be resurfaced. Oh - and we needed to have the little sensor for our airbags or something replaced because the airbag light had been coming on and staying on for about the last 2 weeks. Worst of all, none of this is covered by the warranty we purchased with our truck. All in all - it was gonna cost around $500.

Now let's recap what we learned so far - "unlucky" license plates: bad. Salty brakes: bad. Local dealership: loses trucks and doesn't call back: BAD!

I fear I'm going to sound like Paul Harvey...

And now for the rest of the story...

It was Monday when we found out about the actual cause of the wheel being so stubborn. They said that the truck would be ready to go Tuesday afternoon. Not so bad I guess considering all that's happened so far.

We got on with our busy lives and realized on Thursday that they still hadn't called. WHAT FREAKIN' GIVES?

Thursday they tell us it'll for sure be ready on Friday by 2:00. I have my doubts, but plan to actually show up at 2 and have a little one-on-one with the service manager about the severe lack of "service" we'd seen thus far.

Friday at 1:00 I get a call. "Mr. Braindungeon Dude, [not really what he said, in case you didn't pick up on that all by yourself], I have good news. You're truck is almost ready."

This doesn't sound like good news...otherwise, why the call? I chime in, "But...?"

"Well the thing is..." and he goes on to explain that the front left router was so badly corroded that they had to "cut too deep" to be able to resurface it. It's now too thin and must be replaced. I kinda saw this coming a mile away...I have had it happen before on another car.

He goes on to say that they can replace just the one router, but they recommend if replacing one front router, go ahead and replace both. He reassures me that they won't be charging me any extra for labor but tells me that to replace one router will be an extra $100 and to replace both will (amazingly) be $200. A question suddenly comes to mind. I remember talking to this guy when this all began about the fact that we need an extra key. This magical key costs $50 just to purchase, but $100 to program. (Why even bother telling the price without programming...I mean seriously...???)

I want to know if that was included in the original work order, because now the dollar signs are just flashing past me like crazy and with the lack of customer service they've provided, I can't stomach the thought of paying over $850 bucks for all this. Not only did he forget to work the number into the original work order, but now there's yet another due date for our truck...MONDAY.

I calmly...coolly...but sternly say "before we talk any more about money...let's talk about facts." and I start pointing out every single instance where their customer service has been less than worthy of the moniker.

The conversation went on for a while and I ended up setting an appointment to actually meet with the service manager. Before I am able to get out there, I'm sharing this story with someone I work with who happens to know the General Sales Manager there. He calls him up and let's him know what's going on. This guy calls me back and does his best to assuage me and offer to rectify the situation by paying for a rental car for the weekend. I decline and tell him I don't need it. I bring up the key issue and he offers to throw in the key. He asks if that would make the situation right.

I begin to think about this and say to him, "I would love to get that key and not have to pay for it, but I'm not sure that I can justifiably say that would make me a happy customer. I'm not trying to put you out of money, I'm trying to resolve a customer service situation. At this point, I'm not sure I will ever return to your service shop."

We decide that I'm going to think it over and call him back. Ultimately, I decide that since I had a need with my truck that they did not fulfill, then fulfilling this other need I have with my truck at their expense is a fair trade. I mean, come on...$150 bucks for a key??? lol

I still wasn't sure that I was comfortable with that. I was, after all, still not sure I was going to go back there and I didn't want to come across like the key was "the key" to solving the situation. I decide to go and discuss it with him face-to-face before giving a final answer.

When I show up, he greets me pretty warmly. He's not a "typical" sales guy. He's friendly, Has an honest look to him and genuinely, and sincerely is apologetic for all that's happened. He tells me that he's gonna throw in the key anyway at his cost (before I get to tell him I'm going to accept it) and says that he is personally going to follow this task to completion. It can't happen until Monday because the parts that need to be replaced need to be ordered.

We have a friendly conversation about customer service and he asks me to consider giving them another chance in the future. I tell him that I most certainly will consider it, because I feel he has done everything he can to rectify a situation that he only came into at the last minute.

So there you have it. Hopefully you'll hear from me on Monday that we have our truck back. I haven't sworn off the dealership (at least not yet!). And I learned a valuable lesson in chemical reactions between salt and metal.

Perhaps it will all go uphill from here...

PS - I added a feed counter to my blog - I HAVE 11 SUBSCRIBERS VIA FEED! Check it out in the upper right hand corner. I can now officially stop using the "(s?)" when I refer to my readers!

PPS - James really can read...so he says...

Lost

"Lost" is one of my favorite TV shows. Just the word "Lost" however, is NOT one of my favorite words.

In case you haven't already read my post about what happened with our new (used) truck, you might want to read that first.

Ok, so to follow up: The tow truck had gotten to our house in the afternoon. I thought about calling the dealership right around 6:30 or so to see if they'd taken a look at it yet. By then it would have been there for at least a couple of hours and there was a distinct possibility they'd have had time to run the diagnostics on it. I decided, however, that because it WAS toward the end of the day, I'd give them til the next morning before calling.

Well, shortly after I posted yesterday, I called the dealership to see what the status was. I was a *little* perturbed when they couldn't seem to find me in the system. I explained the situation to them about my truck getting towed to them for diagnostics. They put me on hold. I waited. For a long time. I was now growing more irritated. Ten minutes on hold without so much as a "we're still looking" is quite frustrating.

Someone came back on the line "Service, who are you holding for?" I explained AGAIN the situation. I got put on hold AGAIN. This time for not as long tho...someone else picked up the phone and said "Service, who are you holding for?" I, once more, explained the situation and was put on hold AGAIN. Very shortly afterward (we're at a total of 15 minutes on the phone now) someone picks up and said "Hello, sir?" I had muted the phone at this point because I was talking to my wife about heading over there. In the amount of time it took for me to hit the unmute button, the guy hung up.

Ok, now I'm pissed.

I call back. I explain that I got disconnected. I got put on hold again. CRAP! Oh wait, no, they came back more quickly this time...

"We're still waiting for your truck. It hasn't arrived yet."

WHAT???

Ok. Not cool. I tell them that's not possible. I explain the timing and how it should have been there for at least a couple of hours yesterday. Nope. They explained that when they closed up shop at 7:00pm the night before, it had not arrived.

Ok, now I'm BEYOND furious.

I call my wife. I ask for the number to our insurance company (who provided the tow truck in the first place). She tells me she has the number for the wrecker company responsible for towing the car. I gladly accept the number and mutter something about someone losing their job and threatening jail time.

Now I call the wrecker company and in a not-so-nice voice, but not the "irate customer" many dread, I explain that I had my truck towed and the dealership claims they never received it. I am given yet ANOTHER number. This guy is apparently the one who was in charge when my truck was towed.

I call him. I'm a little less kind than the previous call, but still maintaining at least a modicum of composure. I explain the situation and his initial reaction is that the dealership it was towed to is pretty bad (nation-wide) about receiving vehicles towed in, but never recording that they received them. He says he'll call the dealership.

I get a call from the wrecker guy, he says (really...his words) that they performed a "miracle" and "magically" made my truck appear. I can understand his sarcasm since he apparently has problems with this dealership a lot, but it was not appreciated in my mood. Whatever...I tell him thanks.

I get a call from the dealership. "Good news! We found your truck. The work order WAS in the system. Everything WAS done right. The wrecker guy gave the keys to the wrong person. I couldn't find your truck on our lot because it was already in the shop!"

Bull. Whatever. I don't care, just diagnose the problem and call me back with a solution. Of course, that's not what I said...I thanked them and asked when I should know something. They indicate that it shouldn't be long.

Well, it WAS long. I called 3 hours or so later and they still didn't know anything. I said "So the diagnostic still isn't finished?" He said "I'm not saying that...it's just not ready. It's not in the computer yet." Right...and asking the technician who was looking at it is just too hard. I asked when they close. Four o'clock. Good. So I should at least know something in the next 2 hours. NOT. They never called and I was wrapped up in something at that particular moment in time (4:00) so I didn't get a chance to call them back to find out what the heck was going on with my truck.

So...my loyal reader(s?) - I don't know as of this moment why the rear wheel on our new (used) truck won't turn. I may also swear off this dealership. I have been known to completely and utterly avoid companies that give me service that I consider less than adequate.

Oh well. I guess it'll eventually work out. But - I thought maybe you'd be interested to know that the saga continues.

Some Saturday Morning Thoughts

This has been one heck of a week. Just about every day ended with me in a terrible mood for some reason or another. There were a couple of moments that all seemed ok with the world.

Earlier this week I came home from work and sat down in one of my patio chairs to just...sit there. Enjoy the cooler weather that followed Hurricane Ike into Texas. I came really close to blogging about how nice it was outside, but my phone wouldn't let me log into blogger...so I didn't.

My in-laws just closed on their new house. I went for the grand tour. It's nice. I already have plans (with my father-in-law) to wire up their house for networking and even (if I can get my mother-in-law on board) install a projection screen with a projector and surround sound for a REAL theater experience! LOL. Ok...so that last one is not likely to happen.

I also, for the first time in my life, watched a few episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus last night. Sometimes I can appreciate British humor, though sometimes I am left just shaking my head in bewilderment. What really struck me as "funny" was the fact that for a couple of minutes on this episode last night, there was a conversation taking place almost entirely in French. I'm not sure which is funnier...the fact that I still remembered enough French from high school to understand the entire conversation OR the fact that I was actually laughing at what was taking place because it was funny! British humor in French...now that's classy! 

Oh, did I fail to mention that they were not translating the French conversation? That made me wonder just how many people in England speak/understand French. Later on in the same episode they had conversation in Russian. But they chose to translate the Russian. Which is good for me because I know VERY LITTLE Russian. I learned how to say a couple of phrases while I was stationed in Korea...but nothing complicated.

I think the culmination of horrifics this week, however, was basically the whole day yesterday. While I won't bore you with all the little details, one story line from the day is worth noting. Our new (used) Mazda Tribute decided it didn't want to leave the house yesterday. It started just fine, but when I put it in reverse, it would not move. One wheel...ONE WHEEL...would not turn. My first thought was "did I leave my laptop bag under the wheel?" Yeah right...that would have crushed my laptop bag real quick! My next thought was "could someone have blocked the wheel or something as a gag?" I've seen more bizarre, so it wouldn't have surprised me. My next and final thought before checking to see what was in my way was "Oh my gosh! Is a CHILD under my truck???"

I was on my way home from work the other day and there were some kid's playing in the front of one of the yards. A ball inevitably flew into the street followed by an oblivious child followed by a parent stopping the child. I actually had seen it coming because of the circumstances, so I didn't even have to slam my break...I was already slowing down when it all happened.

Because of this experience, I couldn't help but wonder if somehow at 7:15 in the morning there was a child under my truck and THAT was keeping me from moving. I knew it was irrational, but I checked anyway. 

Thank God...no child under the truck.

I couldn't find ANY reason that the wheel would not turn. It was the passenger side rear wheel that was the culprit. I thought maybe it was the parking break stuck on that wheel somehow...I played with that...didn't fix it. I thought through a list of things to check try...breaks, 4-wheel drive, how about going in drive instead of reverse...NOTHING WORKED.

This vehicle did NOT want to move.

Throughout the course of the day, we called and scheduled a tow truck to come take it to the dealership for diagnostics...I wonder if Dr. Gregory House works as a mechanic too. It was going to be a while before the truck showed up...oh well, what can you do?

How about laugh...like a maniac...when they call to tell you that the tow truck got a flat tire! Not only did our truck not want to leave the driveway...it was now using its supernatural telekinetic abilities to flatten tires on tow trucks!

So they sent a different truck and it was going to be a while again...the tow truck finally showed up right as I was getting home from work (I drove a different vehicle). Apparently tow trucks aren't really set up to pull vehicles from the back. He chained onto the tow hitch on our Tribute and started to pull. It was his only option for pulling from the rear. 

I was concerned. I was afraid that during this maneuver to get the truck onto his tow truck, that rear wheel was either going to start turning again and I'd look like fool (but still send it to the shop because...well...duh!) OR the wheel was going to snap clean off. Neither happened. Our stubborn little Tribute fought the pulley every inch of the way onto the tow truck. But the driver of the tow truck emerged victorious.

I don't know the status of our truck now...I need to call the dealership. But a small fact maybe worthy of mentioning...

I'm NOT superstitious. I don't believe that numbers have some supernatural ability to cause good or bad "luck". It may be interesting to know, however, that our new (used) truck just got its new (new) license plates a few weeks back...and they contain a number that many would consider "unlucky".

Gotta be coincidence...