Adventures in automobile repair
So, I can't really say that yesterday was really that great of a day.
Come with me, gentle readers, and allow me to recount my tale of daring and adventure.
Yesterday morning, I got myself up pretty late - around 10:30 or so. Not too shabby. Bri and Nick (the siblings) are pretty much both in one of those moods where they're jerks to everyone around them for now obvious reason. This was pretty annoying, but it's not too terribly uncommon, so whatever.
I realize, at some point, that payment for Rock Valley is due on Wednesday. Now, I've only just gotten my student loan form, and that takes a couple of weeks to process and I won't even have it turned in until Monday. Even if I go with RVC's payment program, I'd still owe about $330 or so on Wednesday. $330 I don't have.
Naturally, I need some money. My mom is in no position to help me right now, so what's the best way to go? My grandfather.
So, as I'm on my way to work I give him a call, and as humbly as possible I apologize profusely and ask him for money.
The conversation went something like this from that point:
Him: "Well, you already owe me $300." This, of course, is from an earlier semester when something similar happened. And this is despite the fact that when I actually had the money to pay him back with, he told my mom to keep it for bills and not to worry about it.
Me: "Well, I'm pretty sure my mom used that money...I thought you gave it to her."
Him: "Heh. You know, you can also call me when you don't need money, to make sure I'm - you know - alive."
Me: "Well, yeah, I always mean to, and I know that sounds like an excuse, but I always mean to but I've just been so busy this semester..."
Him: "Yeah, I know. But you're not too busy to call when you need money, are you?"
Me: "No, I guess not."
Him: "You know, I don't have all of this money to keep giving you. I'm not getting money from anywhere and if I keep giving it to you I'm not going to be able to survive. I was supposed to be going on vacation in February; I think I'll still be able to go and I'll have to struggle..."
From there it was pretty much more of that - I can't keep giving you money, I'm an old man with no job, and I kept apologizing and telling him how bad I felt that I had to ask. This is something that I can definitely respect, but my grandfather has told me on a number of occasions that if I ever needed money to come to him. And I don't like doing it, but it's not like I just take it and run. I give it back to him, or at least my mother to give to him, every single time.
I must have just gotten him on a bad day, I guess, because this guilt trip is completely unlike him. Anyway, after the conversation I felt pretty shitty regardless.
And then I pulled into work.
There are a couple of ways to get into the Lemstone parking lot - there's a back way and a front way, essentially. I usually take the back way because it's faster and there's generally less traffic.
Since the big snowstorm last week, there's been this big patch of ice and snow around there. Every day I've worked since then I've always driven over it and nothing has happened.
Except for today.
As I'm driving over this patch, I feel this jolt - like if you run over a big rock or something in the road. And then I just stop. My first thought, naturally, is that somehow I've gotten myself stuck in the ice, so I just give it the gas and try and go. That doesn't work, so I go in reverse. Nothing. I try a few more times.
I glance outside and notice my wheel is turned about as far as it can go. So I straighten out my wheels, without realizing that my steering wheel is telling me that the wheels are already straightened.
Once I do figure this out, I go outside to check it out - and my tire, my whole damn wheel, literally, is hanging on to my car by a thread. It is completely disconnected from the axel. I can see the axel and I can see inside of it.
No good.
I call my mom and we quickly figure out a game plan, getting a tow truck to get my car to a local shop. Then, I go into work (about 45 minutes late despite being right outside the store).
Dealing with cranky customers who want a specific kind of Bible that doesn't actually exist is one thing. I'm used to that, I can deal with it. But then my mom calls me, after having heard from the shop, to tell me how much the costs are.
$622. That's a lot.
So, there goes my money from the Valley Forge. And conversely, there goes my Wii.
I know it's not a big thing, and it's only a little box and in the long run it's really not that important. But truth be told, I'd kind of set my heart on that little game machine, and I was really looking forward to it. And for the time being, that's been ripped away from me (damn, that sounds way too melodramatic for what I'm actually talking about).
Disappointing, to say the least.
So, yeah, not really the best day.
By the time I was out of work, the car was finished. And it's exactly the same as when I left my house this morning. I've still got that little piece of plastic hanging down that scrapes against the road, my car is still making that mildly funny sound it's been making since the snowfall, and I still need an oil change. Essentially, I paid $622 for them to make it exactly like it was yesterday.
Ridiculous. Can't stand it.
After that I went to Heather's sister's house and they made cookies and we all just hung out. That was pretty cool, I have to say. Really, the only part of my day that didn't suck.
Anyway, that's my spiel. Just wanted to get that off my chest and onto the information superhighway. If you're still here, thanks for reading.
-M
Come with me, gentle readers, and allow me to recount my tale of daring and adventure.
Yesterday morning, I got myself up pretty late - around 10:30 or so. Not too shabby. Bri and Nick (the siblings) are pretty much both in one of those moods where they're jerks to everyone around them for now obvious reason. This was pretty annoying, but it's not too terribly uncommon, so whatever.
I realize, at some point, that payment for Rock Valley is due on Wednesday. Now, I've only just gotten my student loan form, and that takes a couple of weeks to process and I won't even have it turned in until Monday. Even if I go with RVC's payment program, I'd still owe about $330 or so on Wednesday. $330 I don't have.
Naturally, I need some money. My mom is in no position to help me right now, so what's the best way to go? My grandfather.
So, as I'm on my way to work I give him a call, and as humbly as possible I apologize profusely and ask him for money.
The conversation went something like this from that point:
Him: "Well, you already owe me $300." This, of course, is from an earlier semester when something similar happened. And this is despite the fact that when I actually had the money to pay him back with, he told my mom to keep it for bills and not to worry about it.
Me: "Well, I'm pretty sure my mom used that money...I thought you gave it to her."
Him: "Heh. You know, you can also call me when you don't need money, to make sure I'm - you know - alive."
Me: "Well, yeah, I always mean to, and I know that sounds like an excuse, but I always mean to but I've just been so busy this semester..."
Him: "Yeah, I know. But you're not too busy to call when you need money, are you?"
Me: "No, I guess not."
Him: "You know, I don't have all of this money to keep giving you. I'm not getting money from anywhere and if I keep giving it to you I'm not going to be able to survive. I was supposed to be going on vacation in February; I think I'll still be able to go and I'll have to struggle..."
From there it was pretty much more of that - I can't keep giving you money, I'm an old man with no job, and I kept apologizing and telling him how bad I felt that I had to ask. This is something that I can definitely respect, but my grandfather has told me on a number of occasions that if I ever needed money to come to him. And I don't like doing it, but it's not like I just take it and run. I give it back to him, or at least my mother to give to him, every single time.
I must have just gotten him on a bad day, I guess, because this guilt trip is completely unlike him. Anyway, after the conversation I felt pretty shitty regardless.
And then I pulled into work.
There are a couple of ways to get into the Lemstone parking lot - there's a back way and a front way, essentially. I usually take the back way because it's faster and there's generally less traffic.
Since the big snowstorm last week, there's been this big patch of ice and snow around there. Every day I've worked since then I've always driven over it and nothing has happened.
Except for today.
As I'm driving over this patch, I feel this jolt - like if you run over a big rock or something in the road. And then I just stop. My first thought, naturally, is that somehow I've gotten myself stuck in the ice, so I just give it the gas and try and go. That doesn't work, so I go in reverse. Nothing. I try a few more times.
I glance outside and notice my wheel is turned about as far as it can go. So I straighten out my wheels, without realizing that my steering wheel is telling me that the wheels are already straightened.
Once I do figure this out, I go outside to check it out - and my tire, my whole damn wheel, literally, is hanging on to my car by a thread. It is completely disconnected from the axel. I can see the axel and I can see inside of it.
No good.
I call my mom and we quickly figure out a game plan, getting a tow truck to get my car to a local shop. Then, I go into work (about 45 minutes late despite being right outside the store).
Dealing with cranky customers who want a specific kind of Bible that doesn't actually exist is one thing. I'm used to that, I can deal with it. But then my mom calls me, after having heard from the shop, to tell me how much the costs are.
$622. That's a lot.
So, there goes my money from the Valley Forge. And conversely, there goes my Wii.
I know it's not a big thing, and it's only a little box and in the long run it's really not that important. But truth be told, I'd kind of set my heart on that little game machine, and I was really looking forward to it. And for the time being, that's been ripped away from me (damn, that sounds way too melodramatic for what I'm actually talking about).
Disappointing, to say the least.
So, yeah, not really the best day.
By the time I was out of work, the car was finished. And it's exactly the same as when I left my house this morning. I've still got that little piece of plastic hanging down that scrapes against the road, my car is still making that mildly funny sound it's been making since the snowfall, and I still need an oil change. Essentially, I paid $622 for them to make it exactly like it was yesterday.
Ridiculous. Can't stand it.
After that I went to Heather's sister's house and they made cookies and we all just hung out. That was pretty cool, I have to say. Really, the only part of my day that didn't suck.
Anyway, that's my spiel. Just wanted to get that off my chest and onto the information superhighway. If you're still here, thanks for reading.
-M