11:50 p.m. - 2004-03-23
car troubles
So, I go out to my car this morning, get in and realize something is wrong. I look around...the whole car is trashed. Cigarette butts (not mine) all over, potato chips and dirt everywhere, the glove compartment emptied out onto the floor, tapes and CDs scattered everywhere. The steering column is loose and sort of pulled out of place, and there are wires hanging down all around the brakes. Sigh. Mind you, my car just got towed last weekend due to me parking in a no-parking zone...the sign alerting me to this, was in fact, hidden by a tree. SO, here I am, late for work, and just totally sick over it. I call my insurance agent, and my parents and then the police. I wait for two hours for the police to show up......all the while makign calls to arrange my transportation to work....bus, no. Cab, no. Friends: working or out-of-town. I call my coworker and she says she can come and get me, and reminds me of an important staff meeting. But I have to wait for the police to get there, until I can call the tow truck because I need a police report for the insurance, and if the tow truck comes before the police come, they won't file a report, blah, blah, blah. SO I talk to my mom, then my dad, and of course my dad goes through this whole thing that he does anytime something bad happens out here "Well, if you lived here, I could have so-and-so come and pick it up and take care of the whole thing in no time" so I listen and say "I know, Dad. I know. " SO eventually the police show up. He does his little inspection, takes a report. So I call AAA and they say someone will be there between 5 minutes and 55 minutes. So I wait some more. Eventually (in 35 minutes) the guy shows up. He is the nicest person in the world. Here, the story takes a turn...he pokes around in the car, fiddles with the stuff under the steering wheel, pops the steering wheel back into place, starts it up, and says "it's fixed." I stared at him like he was crazy and said "What?!?!" He said "yeah, they were amatuers, they didn't know what they were doing, so they just stole the change out of your console, smoked some cigarettes, ate some chips and took off. Sorry they made a mess. Have a nice day." I was totally flabbergasted. All day I had been adding up in my head the cost of my deductible, a rental car, etc. And it was FREE. I love AAA! So, as I happily drove to work, I called the customer service number and told them to give that guy a big fat award certificate or something.....maybe I should send some donuts over....
