Not the best day.

I think I may have jinxed myself with the final line of the last entry. I had to run to the Toyota dealership today to pick up the remote entry key for the RAV4, as well as an owner's manual. I tried to think ahead and called the shop before I went there, just to make sure I wasn't driving 30 minutes away for no reason. I was told that they'd have a key for me, so I asked about the owner's manual. I got transfered to a guy who was less than happy to help me, and he told me he'd talk to his manager and call me back... this was around 8:45 am. I ended up waiting until 11 before I finally gave up and just decided to go to the dealership. When I got there and asked about the key, the service guy had no idea what I was talking about. He said that it would take a few weeks to get the remote key from the original owner. I told him I had called this morning and was told they'd have a key for me, otherwise I wouldn't have driven the 30 minutes to be there. He went to talk to someone, then came back and said they could get a key for me today. Great! So I sat in the waiting room for about 40 minutes before he came back out and told me I would have to come back because the key wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. I was pretty annoyed when I left, but there's not much else I can do... plus, they already charged us for the key, so I'm at their mercy now until they actually give it to us. I just wish someone could have figured that out beforehand... like maybe when I called this morning? I could have saved myself some time and gas money.

Then I headed to the Post Office to mail a bunch of cards (43 to be exact). I had hoped that they would have a metering machine (like we had at Baird & Warner) which didn't seem like a horrible assumption since they are the POST OFFICE, but when I asked the lady at the desk about it, she shot me down, and instead gave me 43 stamps to put on the envelopes myself, plus some attitude.

I think both situations wouldn't have been too bad if the people I dealt with weren't jerks about it. I realize today is the first day back to work after the holidays for most people, and I probably wouldn't be thrilled to be back at work either, but their attitudes would have made the situation much easier to deal with if they hadn't been so negative or lazy.

To make matters worse, Casey just called me 3 times on his way home. The first time was just to let me know he was on his way. The second was to let me know that the oil light in the VW came on, and that it was making noises. The third was to tell me that the car died on him and he was going to stop and get oil so he could make it home. I'm not sure if I've expressed my feelings about Casey taking the VW before in this blog, but I will tell you that I felt guilty that Casey would have to take the car after what kind of shape it is in. The front grill is busted after a small accident I got into a year ago due to snow, not to mention the initial problems we had with the front of the car basically falling off because it sits so low to the ground. One week to the day that we bought the car, Case accidentally pulled up too far in a parking space, and when he went to reverse, the front part of the car came partially unattached. We tried several times to get it fixed in Columbia, but they never totally fixed it. Every now and then we still have to pop the front back on. Additionally, the oil has had problems from the get-go, and although there were never any leaks found (that I recall), it seems to burn through the stuff very quickly. There always seems to be something wrong with the car, and I have basically figured out that most of these things were my fault because I didn't take very good care of it. So the fact that I am the primary driver of the newest vehicle not only has me paranoid about driving it, but increases my feelings of guilt about burdening Casey with the VW. This newest problem is just compounding the situation. Casey's not very happy either, and for good reason. Sometimes the lessons I learn in life aren't learned early enough to make a difference. I am really starting to see that now. :(

Sorry for the bummer of a blog entry. We all have bad days, and I guess this is just one of them for me/us. Hopefully Casey will be able to change the oil tonight and that will take care of it... if not, it looks like we'll be spending a lot more on vehicles this week than we ever intended.

More later,

Ash

PS: Not the best time to post pics of the new car, but what the heck.