Shocked, Appalled and all that Jazz...

So I am still without a car.  Not fun. 

I thought that Michael had a dentist appointment today.  Turns out it is actually tomorrow.

Borrowed Nick's car today to run errands and within three blocks of my house I knew something was wrong.  So I called him and was like "What in the world is up with your car?" and he's like "What?"  No real clue as to what I am talking about but to me it felt as if there was a flat tire.  So I got out and checked the tires and they all looked fine.  So I call Frank and describe the noise to him and he's like "It sounds like the tire is out of balance."  Okay fine.  I call our friend Joe who is an awesome mechanic and tell him what's going on and he tells me to bring the car in.  Okay, fine...I go, we take a test drive and sure enough, the tire is bad.  The belt inside was bad, the tire was cracked, the list was endless but the bottom line was "Bad tire".  

So for starters, shocked that my son was driving around without noticing the bad "Thump, thump, thump" sound that vibrated the entire car.  I was so relieved that Joe could take the car right away and make it right.  So he goes to get the tire and sends me out to the front desk to settle up.  Now, let me just say that I know NOTHING about cars, parts, cost of said parts so when the guy told me the tire was $76, I had a moment of "Say WHAT?"  But no matter what the price, I was doing it because my son has to be safe.  Sure, finances suck right now and he is probably never going to pay me back but really, to know that he is safe on the road is payment enough.  The guy at the desk was a MAJOR jerk (I had another word but I'm tying to keep it clean, people!) and within a few minutes, I was gone.  And for the record, the car drove as quiet as can be!

I go to put gas in the boy's car - he told me to fill it up since I was driving it, but I was only committing to ten bucks since I was only driving a couple of miles around town.  Well, at the gas station I ran in to a friend and I walked away from the pump and next thing I knew, BAM!  Thirty-five dollars worth of gas in his car.  Again, money I'll never see again.

So because I needed to run a few errands, it ended up costing me $110.  For THIS, I am appalled.  

But wait, it gets WORSE.  Of course it does...this is ME we're talking about.  So I'm at a cookout with my church small group tonight (great group of people) and my phone rings.  It's Joe (the awesome mechanic).  Apparently, after hours at the shop he got in to a rather heated discussion with the front desk jerk and that guy was like "You went and put a tire on that car before she even decided that she wanted it.  I had to CONVINCE her to buy it!"  Seriously?  Are you kidding me?  Then he went on to rant about how Joe drove the car around for an HOUR.  We took a left out of the parking lot, a quick right, drove around the roundabout and came back.  Four minutes, TOPS!  So after a long conversation with Joe, while I know that I am not the DIRECT cause of this heated discussion, my showing up there today certainly did not help.

I end my day being shocked and appalled AGAIN because I cannot believe that this desk guy would so blatantly LIE and exaggerate a situation when clearly he was the one with attitude and treated me like crap!  Gee, sorry that right now, spending $76 on one little stupid tire gave me a moments pause!  Sorry that I don't have a disposable income.  Sorry that I wasted your precious standing around time with something as trivial as doing your job!  I hate that poor Joe had to deal with this jackass and that I contributed to any problems.  People suck sometimes, you know that?  

Frank's out jamming with the band right now.  Work is hard for him because his friend who he works with is being a royal ass.  He's jealous that Frank got this job and he wants Frank to only do the jobs that he (the friend) gets and so he is refusing to help Frank.  That means that my husband is working super long hours and is killing himself to do it and that makes him NOT pleasant to be around.  So he's jamming tonight to let off some steam.  I'm going to go and have some Hagen Daaz to unwind from this hellacious day and pray that my sweet little mechanic has a better day tomorrow and that things cool down for him fast.