A dissappointing ending to an otherwise great day...
Got up early this morning to get to the gov't surplus auction on time. Still barely made it, as I wound up spending too much time reading the morning paper and lost track of time. At $102.38, this was probably the least expensive auction I've been to. There were only two things that I can honestly say I NEEDED, those being two of those enormous (84 cup) coffee-brewers that you always see at social events (weddings, funerals, dances, etc.) I got the pair of them for a mere $15.00, and I can justify that because it would undoubtably cost more to rent them for the grand-opening of our bowling alley on the Labour Day long weekend.
After unloading my treasures at home, I went to Princess Auto to pick up a 40-gallon parts washer that they had on special. I wound up getting a few other things that I "needed" as well, which is the curse of browsing in such a store. Princess Auto is (as they claim in their advertising) a UNIQUE sort of store. They have their regular items, but they also bring in "special purchases" from time to time, and they have a large and ever-changing surplus section where all sorts of odd and unusual things may be found.
After that, I picked up some other tools I needed at Canadian Tire, one of my favourite places to shop. I got lucky on two counts there, getting the LAST of two items that I really DID need in the store. Then I went to the Midas shop next door to see about getting the brakes on my 1994 Ford Explorer fixed. They gave me a guesstimate of nearly $700, so I tried another Midas shop near where Trickstir works, and was given a guesstimate of over $1000!!! I tried the Speedy Brake Centre next to the Midas shop, and was given a price of $400 !!! I think the difference comes from Midas going by their books, which says "this job costs this much..." regardless of the actual amount of time it would take. The owner at Speedy didn't even use a computer, he just gave me a price, and wrote it all down by hand on a sheet of paper. Old-fashioned, no-nonsense type of mechanic. He says he's been there over 23 years. I wish I had known that a few years ago! Ah well... By tomorrow afternoon my Explorer will have new brakes, and I'll feel a lot safer driving it. Also found out from the parts-guy at Canadian Tire that I don't have to replace the entire ignition-switch on the Explorer, it turns out the the key-tumbler is a replacable part, and it's only $19.99 !!! :)
I picked Trickstir up after work, and we went to see Wall-E. I'll have to agree with everyone else on this - it's an AWESOME movie, and a MUST-SEE! It will DEFINITELY be going into the DVD collection as soon as I can get it! After the movie, we popped into the Chapters book store next to the theatre to browse a little. I really shouldn't do that... Even with my discount card, the end bill was well over $100... *sigh* What can I say? I love my books!
The dissappointing ending to an otherwise great day was when we went for munchies at the end of the evening. The service was horrible, half our order forgotton until we reminded them about it, and the part we DID get was BURNED. That was the worst part actually, as it was one of our very favourite dishes, and it was pretty much ruined. I guess we really need to learn to stand up and tell the server when something like that happens, instead of accepting it and brooding over it. As we were checking out, the manager asked us how everything was. We DID tell him, also adding that we've dined there MANY times with no problems, so we could understand that this was just an off-night. He apologized sincerely, and gave us a card for a FREE serving of our favourite dish the next time we came. That bit of good PR definitely helped! We will be back again, but not until my stomach forgives me first... The food that wasn't burned was SPICY, and while I'm developing a taste for Jalepenos, I suffer for it in end, literally! ;)
After unloading my treasures at home, I went to Princess Auto to pick up a 40-gallon parts washer that they had on special. I wound up getting a few other things that I "needed" as well, which is the curse of browsing in such a store. Princess Auto is (as they claim in their advertising) a UNIQUE sort of store. They have their regular items, but they also bring in "special purchases" from time to time, and they have a large and ever-changing surplus section where all sorts of odd and unusual things may be found.
After that, I picked up some other tools I needed at Canadian Tire, one of my favourite places to shop. I got lucky on two counts there, getting the LAST of two items that I really DID need in the store. Then I went to the Midas shop next door to see about getting the brakes on my 1994 Ford Explorer fixed. They gave me a guesstimate of nearly $700, so I tried another Midas shop near where Trickstir works, and was given a guesstimate of over $1000!!! I tried the Speedy Brake Centre next to the Midas shop, and was given a price of $400 !!! I think the difference comes from Midas going by their books, which says "this job costs this much..." regardless of the actual amount of time it would take. The owner at Speedy didn't even use a computer, he just gave me a price, and wrote it all down by hand on a sheet of paper. Old-fashioned, no-nonsense type of mechanic. He says he's been there over 23 years. I wish I had known that a few years ago! Ah well... By tomorrow afternoon my Explorer will have new brakes, and I'll feel a lot safer driving it. Also found out from the parts-guy at Canadian Tire that I don't have to replace the entire ignition-switch on the Explorer, it turns out the the key-tumbler is a replacable part, and it's only $19.99 !!! :)
I picked Trickstir up after work, and we went to see Wall-E. I'll have to agree with everyone else on this - it's an AWESOME movie, and a MUST-SEE! It will DEFINITELY be going into the DVD collection as soon as I can get it! After the movie, we popped into the Chapters book store next to the theatre to browse a little. I really shouldn't do that... Even with my discount card, the end bill was well over $100... *sigh* What can I say? I love my books!
The dissappointing ending to an otherwise great day was when we went for munchies at the end of the evening. The service was horrible, half our order forgotton until we reminded them about it, and the part we DID get was BURNED. That was the worst part actually, as it was one of our very favourite dishes, and it was pretty much ruined. I guess we really need to learn to stand up and tell the server when something like that happens, instead of accepting it and brooding over it. As we were checking out, the manager asked us how everything was. We DID tell him, also adding that we've dined there MANY times with no problems, so we could understand that this was just an off-night. He apologized sincerely, and gave us a card for a FREE serving of our favourite dish the next time we came. That bit of good PR definitely helped! We will be back again, but not until my stomach forgives me first... The food that wasn't burned was SPICY, and while I'm developing a taste for Jalepenos, I suffer for it in end, literally! ;)