Car Adventures
So, I had a bit of fun and excitement with that car repair. After dropping it off one morning to have it worked on all day (they shuttled me to my first office, and I got rides from co-workers from there), I got a call that afternoon that the part they had ordered had arrived... but it was for the wrong side of the car. Translated, it'd take another day.
They were apologetic about it, and offered me a free rental until it was fixed, which I decided would be fine. That afternoon, when I was down at the shop, I inquired (hope springs eternal!) if they had a Prius in stock, as I still wanted to test drive one.
SCORE!
Oh how I WISH that was a permanent fixture in my garage!
I got to drive that around for the evening, and decided at that moment to visit my brother across town, so I could test it on the freeway and basically get my free rental's worth out of it. I put in a few gallons - about four, I think - (trivia: the '08 model, at least, takes Premium grade fuel) but despite driving over 70 miles, I put in WAY too much. I think I could have gotten away with adding perhaps a gallon of gas between when I picked it up and returning it. It averaged more than 41mpg over the two days I had it.
A little side-anecdote, here: when I rented the car to go up north for the vacation I posted about earlier, I was also trying to get a Prius, but they're largely impossible to reserve. It's first-come,first-serve. I found out as I got this one that the full rental fee (from Enterprise, anyway) is around $75 a day to rent one. The PT Cruiser I rented for four days and it only cost me about $104. Thanks to the arrangement with the dealership, though, I got to rent the Prius for that one day for about $21. Just as well that they didn't have it for rent for my four-day trip - I would have really struggled over making that decision.
I have to tell you, when the shop called me back to let me know my car was finished on Friday... I wish it hadn't been.
I WANT ONE!
One last side-note: When I did return the Prius and go to pick my car back up, they didn't ask me to pay anything. I thought this was wrong, but the service agent insisted I was all set, and I wasn't going to push *too* hard, but I was going to reserve judgment. Of course, I got a call the following day saying that they'd messed up, and I did actually have to come in and pay for it. Very amusing. And when I went there to pay it, my card was in the middle of the payment transaction when there was a loud electric arcing noise, followed by a deep boom, and the power went out! I figure a transformer shorted out nearby, although I couldn't see any distinctive clues (smoke, fire, a gigantic smoking crater with rubble falling from the sky) when I hurried outside, so I'm not certain what it was. Someone didn't want me to pay my bill, I guess. :)
And finally, here's the image of my cat that I have had in my home the past several months, after Sabrina didn't work out. The conditions of this one are rather different, and I haven't had any further problems.
He still technically belongs to my brother, but he's staying with me - his real name is Squeakers, but I've nicknamed him Whisper - he's typically very quiet, and he has remarkably soft fur.
That's a wrap for tonight!
They were apologetic about it, and offered me a free rental until it was fixed, which I decided would be fine. That afternoon, when I was down at the shop, I inquired (hope springs eternal!) if they had a Prius in stock, as I still wanted to test drive one.
SCORE!
Oh how I WISH that was a permanent fixture in my garage!
I got to drive that around for the evening, and decided at that moment to visit my brother across town, so I could test it on the freeway and basically get my free rental's worth out of it. I put in a few gallons - about four, I think - (trivia: the '08 model, at least, takes Premium grade fuel) but despite driving over 70 miles, I put in WAY too much. I think I could have gotten away with adding perhaps a gallon of gas between when I picked it up and returning it. It averaged more than 41mpg over the two days I had it.
A little side-anecdote, here: when I rented the car to go up north for the vacation I posted about earlier, I was also trying to get a Prius, but they're largely impossible to reserve. It's first-come,first-serve. I found out as I got this one that the full rental fee (from Enterprise, anyway) is around $75 a day to rent one. The PT Cruiser I rented for four days and it only cost me about $104. Thanks to the arrangement with the dealership, though, I got to rent the Prius for that one day for about $21. Just as well that they didn't have it for rent for my four-day trip - I would have really struggled over making that decision.
I have to tell you, when the shop called me back to let me know my car was finished on Friday... I wish it hadn't been.
I WANT ONE!
One last side-note: When I did return the Prius and go to pick my car back up, they didn't ask me to pay anything. I thought this was wrong, but the service agent insisted I was all set, and I wasn't going to push *too* hard, but I was going to reserve judgment. Of course, I got a call the following day saying that they'd messed up, and I did actually have to come in and pay for it. Very amusing. And when I went there to pay it, my card was in the middle of the payment transaction when there was a loud electric arcing noise, followed by a deep boom, and the power went out! I figure a transformer shorted out nearby, although I couldn't see any distinctive clues (smoke, fire, a gigantic smoking crater with rubble falling from the sky) when I hurried outside, so I'm not certain what it was. Someone didn't want me to pay my bill, I guess. :)
And finally, here's the image of my cat that I have had in my home the past several months, after Sabrina didn't work out. The conditions of this one are rather different, and I haven't had any further problems.
He still technically belongs to my brother, but he's staying with me - his real name is Squeakers, but I've nicknamed him Whisper - he's typically very quiet, and he has remarkably soft fur.
That's a wrap for tonight!