Holiday Weekend
Random thoughts for the weekend. I seem to be the queen of random thoughts these days. I blame it on the pregnancy. Then again, I blame EVERYTHING on pregnancy.
- The weather here has been phenomenal. Sunshine, bright blue skies, temps in the 70s and low 80s. Just perfect for Chris to take off to State College for a 40 mile mountain bike ride with some friends. He was sweating it a bit that he was going to be "that guy". The only one on the ride who just can't seem to keep up. But it turns out that he was useful mechanically, and able to hang with two of the riders while the other two were definitely much better. So he came home happy and tired.
- We got the Volvo! Sweet! It took us 3 1/2 hours to do paperwork though. Alas it's been so long since we've had to go through that whole maneuver that we came a little underprepared. So that meant two trips - one home, one to the bank. Then add to that a few minor things that we were settling with the dealership, some computer problems, and we'll just say that I was quite ready for lunch by the time we left.
- Do any other Catholic women have problems with bellies so big during their pregnancy that they can't kneel? My belly hits the pew in front of me, and I can barely get on the kneeler. I guess I'm sitting for the next 3 months.
Labels: Car, pregnancy, Seasons
Random thoughts
Pictures must follow eventually, but... With Fred having had most of the fur removed from his butt, and what little fur is left is white, from the back he looks like he's wearing long johns. He does seem to be handling the heat a bit better. At least that's what we keep telling ourselves.
Fingers crossed but as of tomorrow we should be the proud owners of a new (to us) car. It looks roughly like the one pictured. We're replacing the Race Taxy, Chris's '89 Volvo Station Wagon with a 2004 pimped out model. Now to hit
Ear Xtacy on our way through Louisville next weekend for a bumper sticker. The "thing" in Louisville was to cut up the bumper sticker, re-arrange the letters and give your car a name. We'll see what name applies itself to the new car. We just have some paperwork to get through in the AM, and then....we'll have two reliable cars for roadtrips. Perfect.
I worked from home yesterday when it was 80 degrees. I'm not working from home again this summer, I can already tell the heat is going to hurt me this year.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend everyone!
Labels: Car, Dogs
By the Numbers
Car repair total: $8625.77
Car rental total: $1597.98
Total total: $10,223.75
Total time without our car: 46 days
But...it's back. That's really all that matters.
Labels: Car
PSYCH!
The car place today told me that the car FINALLY aligned, which means it just needed to come back from the dealer to the mechanic and be cleaned up. That was supposed to happen at 3, and it would be available to pick up at 4. WOOHOO! Score!
Oh...but wait....
At 4:20, having finished my conga line through the office, I was packing up to go get our baby (FINALLY! FINALLY! FINALLY!) when the guy at the car place called. The dealer had not delivered our car, and it will be lunch time tomorrow before it's ready.
Just one last rubbing of salt in the wounds. Thanks, dudes, thanks.
The POS from Enterprise is still in our driveway.
One good night's sleep and it will all be better.
Labels: Car
Bad-Good-Great
The Bad News: Our car is STILL not ready. Tomorrow supposedly. HAH. Bitter. Bitter. Bitter.
The Good News: Called Liberty Mutual for more money for car rental. Their claims person has been really nice, and hopefully will be sending us a nice juicy check soon.
The Great News: Chris comes home tonight! Between the dogs and I, he should totally feel like a rock star, because I know all three of us can't wait to see him. I'll bet little rat-breath will be absolutely beside herself. She probably thinks I divorced him or something since he's been gone so long. 10 days in a life that's only 7 1/2 months long is a long time!
Labels: Car
In Cahoots with Enterprise
The car is STILL.NOT.READY.
The accident was January 14th. The odds are they will not get the car done now until Feb 26. (They say tomorrow, I'm calling bullshit). That's 6 long weeks without XM radio, power locks, and heated seats. Oh and without a doubt, they're in cahoots with Enterprise, because our car rental bill is $1400 now. I have to call Liberty Mutual and get more money.
On the plus side, that's 6 weeks without the wear and tear of winter salt on the Accord. So maybe I shouldn't complain.
Nah, I definitely should.
Labels: Car
Dammit
I probably misspelled my cursing, too, didn't I?
Sigh, the car isn't going to be ready for pick up today. As they were replacing a part (a cow panel? What the heck is a cow panel?), they realized our windshield was cracked. So it's coming on Monday. Frustrating because I thought we'd be getting the car back the week of the 5th (although they never gave us a date, so dummy me for taking the initial 3 week estimate), then they told us the 12th, then today, and now it's Monday.
I keep telling myself that it's ok, because our driveway is a sheet of ice, and I'd rather wreck our rental than our newly re-assembled car. But man, this Aveo suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. And the wonderful woman I've been dealing with at Enterprise - Erin - has been very nice, but I just don't want to ask her for any more extensions.
Whine. Whimper. Whine.
Labels: Car
Sigh. Drats.
Well the good news is... we have a date for getting our car back.
The bad news is it's February 12th. We're going to be driving this %&*( little Aveo for 2 more weeks. Enterprise loves us, that's almost $1000 in car rental fees. And we love Liberty Mutual for paying up.
But, man... I miss the Accord. I miss doors that don't clank when you close them, gas tanks that hold more than 10 gallons, power locks and windows, and a roof rack.
Wah!
Sniff.
Labels: Car
The makings of a phobia
Alasdair nailed it in the comments below. I took Ginger out with me to run errands this morning. She shook the whole time she was in the car, too scared to even accept a treat or any affection. Once she's recovered enough from her surgeries, we're going to need to make a bunch of runs to the park so she can start associating it with good things. That's the theory, anyway. I'm hoping that if Fred's in the car with her, she'll calm a bit too. He's not at all flustered.
Labels: Car, Dogs
Thank God it's not our bill
The final estimate for repairing the Honda
$6295 (I guessed $5K, I was overly optimistic)
3 Weeks to repair it (aka 3 weeks of car rental)
Labels: Car
Be Careful what You Wish For
So the last week or two I've been thinking "Wow, life has been rather dull, of late. I need something to blog about."
Well....
Tonight we were driving past a busy parking lot. The first car pulled out of the lot rather close to us, but still cleared the (no stoplight, no stop sign from our direction) intersection. The second car pulled directly into us. Chris had tried to swerve, but the guy didn't even slow down. He hit the passenger's side front quarter panel and pushed our car across the street and over the curb. At which point we barely stopped when we realized that smoke or steam or something was pouring out from under the hood. So we bailed out, snagged the dogs, and staggered down the sidwalk. We took a couple of shaky breaths and realized it wasn't smoke. Phew! Some really nice ladies let us put Fred & Ginger in their car while we sorted things out with the police and the other driver. A friend came and picked us up, as the car had to be towed.
So damage to the car...my guess is $5K. We'll see. Damage to his car - probably totalled. There was transmission fluid and oil in the street from his car, the entire front was smashed in, and it's a 6 year old car. More happily, no serious damage to people (although our @&$#*% air bags did not go off.) We do have bruises and some sore muscles. Damage to dogs: Ginger was already nervous in cars. And tomorrow she's going to get in a car and get taken to the vet for spaying. Odds of her ever calming down in the car: Slim to none. And Slim done left town. But neither dog appears to be hurt.
Looks like we're going to have a lovely new paint job on the front of the Honda. And a bunch of new components. Sweet. Sort of. It could have been much worse, we're not sure how we lucked out enough to not have hit or been hit by an on-coming car. But no more longing for excitement for me. This sucks.
Our Baby, worse for wear
Then again, you should have seen the other guyLabels: Car
