customer service

*this blog may be copied and distributed for training purposes*
 

I am usually a pretty mellow person. It takes a while to light my fuse, but once it’s lit, IT’S FUCKING ON LIKE DONKEY KONG.

I understand the service industry sucks. From being a waitress to being a customer service rep. I get that people get pissed off and angry and irrational. I’ve taken my share of phone calls at work of people SCREAMING at me when things go sideways. I try *REALLY* hard not to be the screaming asshole.

Until I have to be.

Then I will scream and curse and light a mother fucker up.

Take my car for example. #fucktoyota

I bought a toyota a little over a year ago after my little passat got rear ended and totaled. The car buying process was TERRIBLE, but I bit my tongue. Then, two weeks later I got notice that the dealership had changed all my signed, sealed, delivered paperwork from a local credit union where I was preapproved, had the approval paperwork in hand, signed all the papers with the credit union name on them, to wells fargo because if the car dealership can match the terms and payments with another bank, they can switch the paperwork without asking. OH, and the car dealership gets a kick back for pushing paperwork to specific banks. I REFUSE, ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to do any banking with Wells Fargo.

So, I SCREAMED. I went on a twitter rant and landed in the office of the customer service rep at Toyota where I explained, politely, that I would drive my fucking car through their front fucking window if they didn’t fix it.

They fixed it. The gentleman was VERY nice. We ended up talking over a few different things and when he heard my reasoning for avoiding wells fargo he understood and told me he would talk to his sales team and make sure they understood my reasoning too and that a kick back isn’t always worth over writing the customer’s request just because you have the legal paperwork to back it up.

GREAT. THANK YOU. Well handled. Smoothed out. Happy(ish) customer again.

I’ve been driving the car for almost a year. And then I had a nail in the tire. At my next oil change I asked them to look at it. ALL I was told is they couldn’t repair it. No explanation. Nothing. Just that I need to take it to a tire shop.

I take my car into a tire shop where they explain that where the nail went through is unsafe to patch, technical talk, I needed a new tire. DO I WANT ANOTHER WINTER TIRE?

Wait. WHAT? I’ve been driving in winter tires SINCE I BOUGHT THE CAR? No one told me when I bought it that there were studless winter tires on it. _I_ don’t know the difference between a studless winter tire and an all season tire. So I drove winter tires, through unusually hot summer temperature, decreasing the life of the tire exponentially, because Toyota couldn’t be bothered to tell me either when I bought it, OR WHEN THEY LOOKED AT THE NAIL IN IT that it was a winter tire?

NOT. HAPPY. But shit happens. Bought a new tire (yes, just one, I know how bad it is) and went on my way.

At the last oil change I also let them know there’s a problem with my starter- not always, but often enough when I start my car it sounds like it’s already running- that sound when you try to start it but it’s already started? That grinding over-start noise? It does THAT.

They couldn’t find anything. To this day it STILL does it, but whatever. The theory of take a car to the mechanic…you’ll never get it to do what you need it to when there’s a chance for someone in the know to hear it. I’ll just have to take a video every time I start my car until I can catch it making the noise clear enough for them to diagnose.

So then last week I get a call: there are two recall items that I need to bring my car in for. When can I make it in.

I tell them I’ll check my schedule and call them back.

The next day I call back to schedule and I’m told there are no recall items on my car.

Wait. WHAT? What the fuck?

The gal calls me back late that afternoon- OH WAIT. Just kidding. There are 2 recall items. When can I bring my car in?

Between work, kid baseball, life, the only time I can make it in during their hours is on a Saturday.

So. Saturday (one week ago) I take my car in for two recall items. AND, while it’s here, the starter is still not right, and now there’s a grinding sound- like metal on metal when your brakes are worn out, but it’s NOT when I press on my brakes and it only happens under 20 mph.

My hour appointment (their time table) takes almost 2 hours, but I don’t mind because I figure it means they found what the noise is and are fixing it. There’s also a nice older gentleman in the waiting room that I had an interesting conversation with.

They bring back my keys and tell me the recall items are done: airbag cable and computer update. They couldn’t get the starter to make any noise and they couldn’t hear any noise from anywhere else while driving it.

Me: did you check all the brakes and tires? I just had one rear tire replaced, could that be causing it?

Tech: we checked all the brakes and tires and didn’t see anything.

Well. Fuck.

So I take my keys, get in my car, and first thing notice my steering wheel is jacked up. There’s a huge gap all the way around the air bag cover and it looks like it’s not sitting on right. I try to press it down which makes the horn go off which is embarrassing as fuck, so I head home.

GUESS WHAT NOISE THE CAR MAKES ALL THE WAY HOME?

Then, NEW FUN, as I pull into my drive way and turn the wheel a full turn, now there’s a fun dragging noise- it sounds like a cable wrapped in wire mesh being dragged across plastic. THAT WASN’T THERE BEFORE.

Monday I call the dealership and tell them what’s going on. The guy on the phone says to bring it back in. OK. WHEN? Well, we close at 4. OH. So you want me to take time off work so you can fix your screw up. not happy. He tells me it’s an easy fix. He knows exactly what the mechanic did. OH. SO THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE? ENOUGH THAT YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE YOU LOOK AT IT? That’s not encouraging.

Tuesday I get off work early, get to the dealership as close to 4 as I can, pull in the bay, it’s making the grinding noise LOUD AS FUCK which echoes off the walls and the same service tech guy as Saturday says: “oh, is that the noise?”

THAT SUPER LOUD GRINDING? YES, THAT’S THE NOISE. BUT, I’m actually here for the airbag. I told the guy on the phone it’s making a dragging noise when I turn the wheel a full turn.

15 minutes.

FIFTEEN FUCKING MINUTES.

Tech: We fixed the airbag cover, and that grinding noise is your brakes. The cover on the brakes that helps keep them quiet is misaligned and rubbing on the rotor.

Me: *deep breath* did you fix it?

Tech: no. that would take, like an hour.

Me: so now what?

Tech: you’ll have to bring it back in.

Me: ok. How much will that cost?

Tech: well, since you just bought the car not too long ago I’ll see if I can do it for no charge.

Me: ok. So when can I bring it back in.

Tech: well, I’m booked all Saturday morning.

Me: SO DO YOU HAVE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AVAILABLE?

Tech: yeah. I could probably get you in around 1.

Me: *deep breath* ok. Well put me down for one then.

How did it take them only 15 minutes to find the problem this time when last time I specifically asked them to check those specific parts and they didn’t find anything??

Ok. Well. Shit happens. Everyone has an off day. I’ll just come back Saturday and get it all fixed.

So I drive home. And I pull into my garage. And what do I hear? THE SAME DRAGGING NOISE IN THE STEERING COLUMN.

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?? SO WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY JUST “FIX”????

And so I go on a twitter rant.

Because it’s what I do.

TOYOTA gets back to me: “did a local service rep get in touch with you?”

NOPE.

Yesterday I do get a call from the local customer service gal, (knock, knock, knock) Penny.

I’m not the smartest person on earth. Not even close. But I do understand a few things. I understand that when you tell me you’ve been in the business for 20 years as a customer service rep and now you’re handling social media that means social media got dumped on you because no one knew what to do with it INCLUDING YOU. Google is almost 18 years old. Twitter is only 10 years old. Facebook isn’t even that old (I know because I have tweets pop up in timehop about switching over to facebook).

So. What you’re saying is: you have no idea what to do with me.

LET ME TELL YOU WHAT NOT TO DO:

#1: don’t accuse the person who’s already pissed off of “posting anonymously so no one can respond.”

BITCH, PLEASE. My twitter handle is my name. my avatar it a picture of me from less than a month ago. My profile has a link to my facebook page which has ALL my contact information. TWO CLICKS and you can find out EVERYTHING about me that you need to know. TWO CLICKS. That is FAR from anonymous. also, YOUR customer account has ALL my information. You have my name. you know what day I was in. you know exactly what repairs I’m complaining about. Is it THAT HARD to look at my customer account and get my information? yes, I’ll grant you, twitter is an online forum which is seen as anonymous to many people, but, since I’m one of the lucky people that cries when I get extremely pissed off, I didn’t want to be the screaming, cursing, crying customer standing in the store making EVERYONE uncomfortable. Pretty sure they don’t want that either.

#2: don’t tell me how great your brand is.

Don’t tell me that you’ve monitored by the toyota corporation and the larry h miller corporation and the better business bureau. ALL THAT TELLS ME IS YOU HAVE A BETTER LEGAL TEAM. It tells me that customers are shut down because you have a contract that backs you up when work is done incorrectly, or when your team screws up, or when any number of things happens. It ALSO tells me that I you think I’m full of shit. All your other customers are shitting rainbows, what’s my problem? It ALSO tells me that you’re so busy defending yourself, you’re not listening to me.

I try to explain to you that simple things: a multi-point inspection sheet being incorrectly filled out is a sign of a bigger problem. Your tech filled out the multi-point inspection form and marked NOTHING wrong with my car. Including the little windshield wiper box. Little green box checked: everything is A-OK.

EXCEPT THAT I KNOW MY REAR WIPER BLADE IS FALLING APART AND THE PLASTIC IS LITERALLY HANGING OFF IT. I know it’s worn out. It’s been worn out for months. I’m too lazy to stop at a store and buy a new one. I didn’t need them to tell me it was worn out. BUT THE FACT THEY CHECKED IT AS OK MEANS THEY DIDN’T LOOK AND DIDN’T DO THEIR JOB RIGHT. Something as simple as a wiper blade being over looked or, worst case, lied about, HOW CAN I TRUST YOUR COMPANY ON BIG THINGS IF THEY LIE ABOUT LITTLE THINGS?

#3 don’t talk down to me.

I don’t know that you have techs AND mechanics. All I know is I drive my car into the bay, hand my keys to a guy, and the same guy brings my keys back and tells me everything they did (or, in this case, pretended to do). DON’T BE A SNOBBY SHIT WHEN I CALL THEM ALL MECHANICS. After I’ve explained everything in as much detail as possible, TWICE, don’t say “well, help me out here.” THAT’S WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING. Don’t patronize me, don’t, again, try to tell me how great your brand is. Don’t try to sell me on your bullshit concern.

So. I have another appointment. I get to waste another Saturday afternoon in the shop. My car gets to be worked on for the THIRD TIME in ONE WEEK.

Tell you what, if it isn’t all done correctly this time, there will be ZERO question about anonymity. I WILL be the screaming, cursing, probably crying customer IN PERSON. FOR ALL THE OTHER CUSTOMERS TO HEAR.

Insult to injury: as I’m explaining all this to a friend, he asks: why do you keep taking your car back there? You know you can take it into ANY Toyota shop, right?

WHAT FRESH FUCKERY IS THIS? I took it into these assholes intent on fucking me without lube because they’re the ones that called about the recall. There’s a Toyota dealership literally ACROSS THE STREET from my work. I could have taken it into there?? I’m going to call the one across the street today to see if they can do the oil changes that were part of my purchase agreement and, honestly, even if they can’t, I’m still going to take it there from now on just to NOT go back to the same assholes ever again.

fuck toyota. fuck larry h miller.

this is my car. this is how i get back and forth to work. this is how i pick the kid up from baseball and go grocery shopping. how safe do i feel driving a car that's had the air bag worked on THREE TIMES IN ONE WEEK? pretty sure i'd rather go on a date to a mariners game (too soon?) maybe i can trade this car in for a duck boat. i don't know if it's because i'm female. i don't know if it's because they treat all their customers like shit. i don't know if it's because they're terrible mechanics or because they think they can get away with it.

all i know is FUCK YOU. this is my car. i'm paying a fuck ton of my money, every month, for this car. i want it to be safe. i want it to work properly. i want broken things to be fixed, RIGHT, THE FIRST TIME.

i want to be heard as a customer. i want to be listened to by the mechanics.

what i REALLY want is to drive my car through the fucking plate glass window at the dealership, get my loan cancelled, get my original down payment back, and go find ANYONE ELSE to buy a different car from.

but i don't have bail money. and i don't want to have to buy another car.

mile marker 203

another year, another car.

about this time last year i was trading in bonnie for eve and a plane ticket to london.

well, here it is a year later, and eve has now been replaced by betty.

eve, top, she had a good run. betty, bottom, welcome to the family.

no, there was nothing wrong with eve, but she just...wasn't right. i don't see myself as a hatchback station wagon mom. plus, there were issues with the title from the day i bought her AND it took several days to even decide on a name for her. that should have been the first clue.

BUT, for better or worse, eve is the car that made it possible for me to get to london and back for the fairy tale adventure. i owe her a large debit of gratitude for that.

the spawns didn't (don't) understand why i traded in Eve: THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE OTHER CAR MOM.

and granted, there wasn't. and yes, i traded down in some aspects- from a 2010 car to a 2000 car. i reasoned it all out and rationalized it- betty is a VW which is a more reliable/longer lasting car than eve, a dodge (even with higher repair costs figured in). betty also has fewer blind spots and will be better on gas mileage AND she isn't a hatch back station wagon soccer mom car. plus, betty has  heated seats. and a sun roof. i've always wanted a car with a sun roof.

SEE, I HAD GOOD REASONS.

saying goodbye to eve was shockingly easy. i never really did get attached to her. but i did get to thinking- what is it that makes me want to change cars so often? and why always in october?

i bought my very first car in october- a 1988 GOLD (we're talking mr. t would have loved it GOLD) chevy beretta. this was long before the days of naming things, so that car just was what it was.

that car lasted a few years until the big spawn arrived and two doors with flip bucket seats wasn't quite working. i can't remember when exactly it was, but i'm pretty sure it was fall-ish when i switched the beretta out for the saturn sl2 (that's the best they could do? sl2? blah).

i drove the saturn through college until it DIED back during the days of marriage. it was december-ish when i took over driving the truck (through the divorce proceedings) and april when i traded the truck for annie, the focus (and the first one to get a name).

annie lasted until bonnie, bonnie begat eve, and eve begat betty. that's the way the begat thing works, right? 

so, not ALL my cars are october babies, but an odd proportion of them are, particularly the last three in a row.

i'm not sure why i've taking to changing so often the last few years- maybe it's some deep seeded control issue- they've all been during/after a pretty sizeable change in life- bonnie was after my dad passed, eve was for london, and betty is after finally getting back to work.

maybe it's my fear of commitment to anything for an extended length of time- i mean, bonnie was BRAND NEW and would have lasted for years if i hadn't grown to sincerely dislike her and traded her in. 

maybe it's just that i had legit issues with the cars and, since they were paid for, could afford to change out (legit to me at least).

you can tell, for all my wondering i've put so much thought into this.

either way, eve is back in foster care until she finds a new home, and bonnie is now keeping my buns toasty warm on the commute to work (heated seats = awesome).

and then i was all...

today has been deemed random blog post day. there’s too many ideas to narrow it down to one. so. strap in. it could be a fucked up ride.

first off. i’m disappointed with myself. i knew that making changes in my life would open me up to new things, different things, the same things from a different perspective. i didn’t expect to hate- nay- loathe myself this early on in the process. yes, that’s right friends, a dixie chicks song made sense to me. I KNOW. i’m ashamed enough for all of us. but really…all of a sudden i’m listening to my mp3 and wide open spaces pops up and it just made sense. and yes, that was me admitting to having it on my mp3 thus giving it the ability to pop up and cause this whole identity crisis. going down in flames before i’ve even started the journey.

next. i have decided that i HATE tall book shelves. will never own another one again. ever. now i’m a tall person, so please don’t think i’m height discriminating. actually, think that all you want CAUSE I AM. i hate tall book shelves. you can never see what’s on top, they take up a whole wall, and if you’re not crazy diligent then whole villages of dust bunnies will move in and take over the place. i decided this weekend that the tall book shelves had to go. i swapped them out for little half height cubicle shelves and I LOVE IT SO MUCH. i have space to set things and decorate. i have wall space to hang pictures. i have NO MORE DUST VILLAGES. seriously, the swiffer duster was disgusting when i finished cleaning off the old shelves. it was a relatively small change, but it made a HUGE difference in my house- less claustrophobic, more clean, better displayed, all around happier shelves. it’s the little things that make a difference.

random #3: i broke my new car. yes, bonnie has been mortally injured. ok. maybe not mortally, it was more like a hangnail, but it happened. i was backing out of my garage and discovered that my side mirror does NOT bend backwards, and more importantly, does NOT bend back forwards after being bent backwards. also: insurance/warranty doesn’t cover stupid. so. $180ish later bonnie has been fixed and now my new car is old. the first official battle wound. all fixed up and better, but i’ll always know that the original side mirror met an untimely demise.

if insanity is defined by repeating the same action and expecting different results: I’M INSANE. we tried another pet. I KNOW. someone needs to put my picture up at the pound and not even let me in the door. BUT: the cat has made it over a year, so i’m not completely hopeless. so. the story goes like this: we adopted an akita. BEAUTIFUL dog. he was 3 years old, fully grown, and fit right in. was perfectly behaved while we were home over christmas break. got along perfectly with the kids, didn’t mind the cat, acted great when people came over and we did glee karaoke at way too loud of a volume with way too big of actions to go with the singing. strike that- there’s no such thing as too loud or too big of actions when it’s glee karaoke. but you get the idea. GREAT dog. no accidents in the house, didn’t even think about chewing up one thing, didn’t cause any problems. then we had to go back to school/work. turns out he had a bit of an anxiety/separation issues thing going on. TORE THE HOUSE APART. destroyed the kitchen blinds/curtains. shredded the plastic blinds in the living room. that was the first day. so i thought: my bad for leaving him out, i’ll put him in a kennel. second day: destroyed the kennel. or more correctly the contents of the kennel and everything near by. i had left a blanket, a bowl of water, and some toys in with him. DESTROYED. and he somehow managed to pull a stuffed giraffe off a shelf nearby and eat that. apparently the giraffe wasn’t good eating according to the mess that was smeared all over the kennel, through the wire mesh, EVERYWHERE. so i thought: my bad for leaving things in the kennel with him. so. day three: dog, rawhide, kennel. came home to the kennel TORN APART. still no idea how he did it. one of the big wire kennels and he managed to tear one of the doors down. it’s the kind that can collapse for travel, so it’s not a complete feat of strength, but still- those things are pretty damn solid when you put them together. but he tore it apart and got out. so. he had to go back. he was GREAT when we were home, but there’s no way we could have a dog that couldn’t be left alone. we’re gone more than i realized- grocery shopping, errands, movies- just a deal breaker for us. so. no more dog. back to just the cat. who, by the way, is even MORE obnoxious now that she is back to being an “only child.” ugh.

random #15: i think i broke my finger. well, not my finger, the knuckle on my right pointer finger. it hurts.

so. we all know how hard it is to take a GOOD picture of ourselves. don’t lie- you know you’ve tried it a million times on your digital camera or cell phone and HATED the results. know what’s even harder? taking a good picture of your own arm. it’s REALLY HARD PEOPLE. i’ve been trying to take a picture of my sleeve for a few weeks now and just can’t make it work. even got the spawn to try it…well…that’s a whole different story. you thought _I_ was technologically incapable? turns out it gets worse when you pass that gene on. anytwaddle: i have a half sleeve tatt now that is almost done and i can’t get a good picture of it to show off. so. imagine flowers. there you go. that’s all i can do for now. (not really, THIS is all i can do for now: 

random #5: there’s something very liberating about realizing you’re learning how to get past what you think other people will think. i’ve had a nasty habit…well…forever…of editing what i write depending on how i think people will respond to it. i’m (slowly) learning how to get over that. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW PEOPLE FEEL. i write what i write. how people feel in response to that is up to them. i can’t dictate what mood they’re in or how they interpret something or the voice they attach to my writing. IT IS OUT OF MY CONTROL, AND I AM OK WITH THAT. that’s a hard sentence to write. especially for a complete control freak. i know how things sound in _MY_ head and how i would LIKE them to sound in your head, but i can’t control that and it’s ok. i don’t need to let that dictate what i’m going to write and how i’m going to express myself. i will not be unnecessarily vicious or mean (well, not without proper warning anyway). i will not go out of my way to offend people or be completely out in left field. but it will happen from time to time that people are offended. or that they didn’t read a particular post the way i intended it to come off. AND THAT’S OK. along the same vein: it’s liberating to look at situations that are already in turmoil or where there are already problems and be able to speak my mind. i’m slowly leaning that the things i think are the worst that could happen rarely do happen. the worst response that i think i’ll get is rarely the true response that i do get. and when things are already in turmoil or when there’s already a problem it’s not like i can mess it up any more. well, i probably can, but that’s not the point. if there’s already a rift or a lack of communication, what is there to lose by speaking my mind? if someone has cut me out of their life or decided to move on, what do i have to lose by speaking my peace? the answer: NOTHING. and it generally helps me out to know that i’ve done and said everything i could on my end. but it really is liberating to realize that. so. learn from me. your yoda i am.

you can shoot me now. i apologize for that. can’t believe i just dropped a yoda line on you people. i’m sincerely sorry. i suppose i could delete it, but eh…that means backtracking and hitting extra buttons and it just sounds like too much work.

BIG NEWS: i’ve decided what i want to write first. i’m going to write my story! i’ve been thinking about it lately and i just really need to get all my history out of my head before i can get a character with a history of their own up in there mixing everything up. so. that’s my starting point. ME. i’m excited to see how it will turn out. that may sound strange, but you know how it goes- different parts and pieces come together at different times and it make all different stories. i don’t know what will be important or come to the front or want to be written about first. but i’m excited to see what path it takes, which of my experiences makes the cut, and what it tells in the long run. think of all the different blogs- how on different days, different pieces of my past have come forward to shine. they weren’t all in order, they didn’t all have the same tone or purpose to them, but they were all important and all were pieces of me. so. i’m excited put it into book form and see where it goes. hooray! a starting point!

i’m sure there’s a million other random things that i’ve been thinking of that i’ll think of again later, but right now…i think i’m good. i think that’s most of it. i’m doing a ton of thinking today apparently. and i like the work apparently apparently. there will be a more serious post up on the meatball page in a bit...so, if this doesn’t suit you today, give me a few minutes and we’ll try something different.

so THAT'S why they call it carma...

what did i do this weekend? (now that it’s wednesday…)

well. since you asked…

come on down bob barker…IT’S A NEW CAR!!

that’s right. I BOUGHT A CAR. *heart attack*

and bought as in BOUGHT, no payments, no mess, just all mine. *sigh* oh happy new car, how i love you.

let me introduce you: this is bonni-

and that’s bonni with an _I_ not an _IE_. these things are important. and bonni speaks with a british accent and say s things like cheerio and top notch. yes, my cars, talk, they have names, and they have personalities. my last little girl was annie- of course she was…what else do you name a red head?

so. NEW CAR.

and i have a feeling this may change SEVERAL THINGS.

let me explain: i don’t have very good luck. not luck as in “hey look, i found a $10 bill on the side of the road” but luck as in life in general going smoothly and drama free and low stress. my life is pretty much the exact opposite of all that.

i believe in karma. i believe in a balance in the world. i try to do good things. i try to keep my positive side above my negative side. i try to help others whenever i can (except panhandlers…you’re not getting any change from me!), i try to do the right thing, i try to always be honest and forthright and all that. but it seems that no matter what i do, my karma never really pulls through for me.

or so i thought.

i haven’t owned many cars. my first car was a p.o.s. 1988 GOLD (mr t would have stepped back and said WHOA) chevy beretta. it didn’t work more than it DID work- something about the starter chip and they didn’t know how to fix it and whatever. not a fan of that car. had to change out when the kiddo came along, bought a 1992 saturn sl2, drove that and LOVED it until the ex husband decided it was time to trade it in on the biggest piece of shit i’ve ever owned, some kind of isuzu rodeo that had stripped 4x hubs, a radio that had been stolen and patched back in, a starter that didn’t work, and a rear tire that had to be held shut with a bungee cord. oh my god. i HATED that car. thanks, hubby, for making sure i had a nice reliable car. fucking asshole. in the divorce, the judge gave me his truck that i had just paid to put a new engine into- a 1996 dodge ram extra cab long bed…HATED that truck too. it was a monster. impossible to get a 5 year old and a brand new baby in and out of the flip forward seats, impossible to drive, even more impossible to park. BUT, i’m realizing that’s where my good CARma started.

i took that truck after the divorce and needed to trade it in on something practical. so my dad had his buddy pick out a car for me from his lot, i drove my truck to grandview (yakima valley), and traded the beast in on my little annie. now. if you’ve ever driven to the yakima type area, you know that it’s long stretches of highway with NOTHING and the trip in total is about 3 hours depending on how you roll. i took the truck by myself, drove down, managed 80 most of the way, stopped for food/gas once, and pulled into the lot in grandview. the truck drove great, new engine was working smoothly, not a hitch along the way, never a whisper of trouble at all with that truck. it was reliable, i’ll give it that.

i pulled into the parking lot of the car dealership, parked the truck, and took my new (to me) little ford focus. easy peasy. all picked out and decided for me. well, bud (the dealer) walked over to have a look at my truck. here’s how it went:

bud: what’s that? (pointing to my tailgate)

me: um…road grime? i didn’t have a chance to wash it before getting here.

bud: that’s not road grime, that’s oil.

me: where would oil be coming from like that?

bud: your rear axle…did you have any problems?

me: not one. drove fine- did 80 down here and not even a hint of a problem.

bud: hmmm….

turns out, in the rear axle of those trucks there are 12 ball bearing in the whatever dealie thing that makes the read end work- differential maybe? not a car girl. anyway…out of those 12 ball bearings, 8 were ground to powder, 2 were shattered, and only 2 were left in good condition. they had to tow the truck across the street to the repair shop because they couldn’t even move it off the lot. umm…HOW DID I DRIVE IT THREE HOURS? how did i stop for gas and food and manage to keep going? how had i been driving it for weeks before that? WHAT THE HELL?

score one for good CARma.

so. i had my little 2002 ford focus to replace it. things were good for a while. that little car did a LOT for me. drove her for 6 years. the last 2 years she’s been getting tired. my dad was set that i needed a new one. every time i talked to him he told me i needed a new car. every trip to his house he would clean her, check her over, and remind me that i needed a new one. he and my brother were going to help me pick one out for my 30th…much like vegas with dad, that never did and never will happen. but i knew it was time for a new car, with or without dad. i’ve been shopping for a long time. i’ve been doing research, looking at what i like, tracking consumer reports, prices, used cars, everything. i knew eventually my little girl would need replaced. the last two years she’s been making some pretty strange noises- every time i would hit a bump or a pothole in the road she would chatter pretty good. i’ve had les schwab check her out the last three times they changed the tires- everything looked good to them. i had a mechanic friend drive her and check her out- i was just making up the noises and the problems. but i knew she was getting tired, i knew she was running rough. i knew the transmission fluid needed changed, the air filter sensor was throwing an engine error light, the rear struts needed changed, there’s a few dents and dings on her (not too bad), she was getting tired.

so. it was time. i shopped, test drove, haggled, had a nervous break down, and finally bought a new car. thank you dad- you helped me get a new car, just in a very different way. i was able to take part of his estate and just pay cash for a new car. no worries about payments. no worries about anything mechanical for 8 years (or 100,000 miles), brand new, all the bells and whistles maintenance/road side assistance/safety wise (EIGHT airbags up in there people. EIGHT!). a GOOD, reliable, safe new car that isn’t making any strange noises.

there was some talk for a short while about the then boyfriend taking my little red car to drive. but we all know how that worked out. so NOW what do i do with a second car? i asked a mechanic friend if he wanted her, free and clear, to fix up and sell. whatever he makes can go in his pocket. i know she needs work and he’ll have to pay out that way. i wouldn’t have gotten much trade in wise- so this just worked well.

so. he took annie on sunday. and drove her. and complained about how rough she was running and all the strange noises she was making. YOU THINK? shit…i’ve been saying that for years and he told me i was crazy!

come to find out, he took some time to look over her yesterday- there’s a ball joint type thing in the front of the car that’s (from my understanding) the car version of a truck’s u-joint (i know what THAT sounds like when it goes out). the ball joint is almost completely separated. NOT GOOD. so. basically, like with the truck, he has no idea how i’ve been driving her around this long. he said it was BAD up in there.

so. turns out my CARma was working. it was keeping my car running…as much as possible. TWICE my carma has pulled through that way.

so. here’s my theory: now that i have a good, reliable, brand new car, my karma can return to normal things and maybe life will level out in other areas for a while. it can change back from CARma to karma and maybe other good things will start to happen.

here’s hoping…