Categories: uncategorized
Date: 21 January 2007 05:00:12
...today my car and i bonded.
it's a cute car... silver, small with a deceptively big trunk, and it has a moon roof. love my car.
we had an appointment together at 8:30am to get the oil changed... he (car) did a good job, and got all sparkly clean at the end (the car-dealership-people do a courtesy car wash & vacuum post-oil-change).
...some rather upsetting news (luckily car was outside, so was unable to hear)... his left front brake pad was seriously thin - too thin, soon to be metal-on-metal... and the dealer could fix it for $280 + tax.
although it was good to get the brake pad diagnosis, it was unfortunate...because i knew the dealership was charging me much more $ than necessary. i said 'no thanks' when they offered to do the work.
...so car and i drove around, looking for a *break specialist* to get an estimate... and, at one point, i did an apparent "illegal U turn"... it's 'apparent' b/c there were no signs that said DON'T do a U-turn... however i figured out i must have done something wrong when the police cruiser pulled up behind me with lights flashing...honking horn. i immediately pulled over... into a parking lot. police officer pulled in behind me. he approached my car. asked for license and registration/insurance. i asked what was the problem, officer? he said (in a sarcastic tone) 'the illegal U-turn you made at that last intersection'. i immediately came back with "well, i didn't see a sign that said i couldn't... i looked for the sign. the person in front of me did a U-turn, so i supposed it was legal. please know i didn't knowingly make an illegal U-turn"
by this time i had given my license and shown him my insurance card. his mood shifted. was it the 'special education' name tag i had dangling from the rear view mirror? was it the fact that i stood up to him and said there was no sign visible at that intersection? was it because i am so beautiful? probably a combination of things.... but mostly because of my good looks. i am very pretty.
anyway... he left my insurance card, asked if i had any warrants out for my arrest? or outstanding tickets? i said "No Sir"... he went back to his car... ran my license plates...
about 5 minutes went by... he came back with a piece of paper. great. just what i need... a ticket.
but, fortunately for me it was just a *warning* ...he said it very sternly "Ms. Rain, I'm giving you a Stern Warning"
i smiled and thanked him... appreciating his flexibility (and his reason...seriously, there was no No U-turn sign) and promised to never-do-it-again.
then i drove home... called a few places re: brakes... found one where the person on the other end was fairly knowledgeable, prices weren't astronomical... and he appeared friendly.
it was a very interesting day... my car and i had a good adventure out of it!
we drove home around 4:30... he's currently outside, in the cold (probably getting a bit snowy) and i think he and i will be happy for months to come... his tires need to be rotated & balanced in approx 3000 miles... that'll probably be in March. good times, good times. looking forward to it... until then - adios.