HOW much did you say that was?

UGH! Nothing sucks worse than paying for car repairs. Ok, well almost nothing sucks worse. Before you think I had another accident, no, I didn’t. Many months ago I was at the store and when I came back outside the driver’s side rear light cover was shattered on the ground. No note, someone just had hit it out and left. I didn’t have the 100+ bucks it was going to take to replace it. Well, last week my brakes started making a grinding noise – not every time I would brake, but on uneven surfaces, plus I need new tires so I took my vehicle in on Saturday to get that take care of. It’s Tuesday, I still don’t have my mini-van back. I was told on Saturday that I might not be able to get it back that day but that they would have it ready for me "tomorrow" (meaning Sunday). I thought that was a little odd that a service department was open on Sunday, but since a lot of dealerships around here are open on Sunday I didn’t think too much of it. So, I called on Sunday when I didn’t hear anything and, as Gomer Pyle would say...surprise, surprise, surprise, wouldn’t you know it, they were closed on Sundays.

Now, I told the young buck who took my vehicle that I needed it back Monday for work and I was assured that I would have it back by then. Not the case.

So, now I have been using my mom’s vehicle to take her to work and then get myself to work. Em has been sick AGAIN this week. Odd that she seems to get sick a lot when she’s at her dad’s. Lots of coughing and stuff. She does well when she’s with me but she has come back from her dad’s the last couple of times with coughing and stuffyness – the time before this weekend with viral tonsillitis. It could be the roll of the dice but it makes me wonder if there is something over there that has been changed or added that she is allergic to or that is making her sick. At least I haven’t had to take Em to school on top of all this stuff.

So, back to the vehicle. I called yesterday and, hmmmmm, surprise, surprise, surprise again, they didn’t even have me in the system. At that point, I, ahem, may have gotten a little testy and loud. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN I’M NOT IN THERE AND YOU CAN’T FIND ME! I DROPPED MY MINI-VAN OFF SATURDAY. YOU HAVE MY KEYS!”

The person on the other end of the line started to stammer a little by this point. “Yes, ma’am, I’m sure it’s here somewhere. I, um, I, well, we just have to find it. Um, can I call you back in a few minutes?”

So, then after he calls back saying that yes, they did find my vehicle (I should HOPE so!), he then said that the light cover – the LIGHT COVER alone – would be 174.00. ‘Scuse me? HOW much did you say that would be?! Well, that on top of the tires, on top of the alignment, on top of the brakes, and I’m coming out of there 900.00 lighter at least, if not closer to 1,000.00. So there goes my tax return. Not only that, but the tires they were going to put on yesterday? They only had 2 in stock. The others are coming in from another city today, hence the reason I do not have it back yet.

VERY BIG SIGH!

The only so called “bright” side of this is that he is going to give me some sort of discount on the total for #1 the inconvenience of being told that my vehicle would be ready Sunday, when they are clearly closed on Sunday and #2 for having to wait an extra day for tires that they should have had in stock. I can only imagine what the total is going to be, probably not a whole lot taken off, but if God is merciful right now, it will be a good little bit taken off the total. I still have to pay Emily’s tuition and deposit for summer camp – another 900+ dollars total.

It sucks being poor but I am so very thankful that I had my tax refund to fall back on for my vehicle – though that means no MP3 player for me that I was hoping to get, and paying for my plane ticket to KC for my birthday in July will have to be placed on hold...again.

Speaking of MP3 players, which one would you recommend that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg? I’d like an FM tuner on it and one that’s not so bulky. Maybe by December I can have enough to get one for a Christmas present for myself. That is if I have a job after August 31. I still don’t know if my job is going to keep me on after the contract fully transitions over to the new company in charge of that contract.

LORD give me strength!