Baby Shower

It was bitterly cold as I left the house on Saturday morning to get the oil changed at the dealer. My wife and I had planned on meeting up in Wayne later in the day just before her baby shower. However, as soon as I pulled into one of the service parking spots, and saw the crowd in the waiting room through the window, I knew we were going to have to adjust things. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize just how much our plans would change.

My wife picked me up on her way to the late lunch and while in transit I called my dad to have him pick me up at the venue. This was my wife’s day and I didn’t want to stick around too long and get in the way. After chatting with a few people and greeting some early arrivals, it was time for me to head out and wait for both the call from the dealer and the text from my wife.

While we chatted about work, planning for the year, and other things the dealer finally called about 2-3 hours after I first walked through their doors. It turns out that my car needed more than just an oil change as the front brakes needed to be replaced and the slow leak that I had them check on the front tire was actually a bent rim… I guess I won’t be seeing my car for a few more days. Well, things happen and thankfully my wife was having a much better day than I.

The shower was a small gathering of family and friends all of which brought overly generous bags and boxes. We had put a lot of things on the registry but simply to offer a variety of both items and prices thereof, we didn’t expect so many items to be purchased. When I got the text from my wife, I was glad to read that things had gone well and that she was happy. Everything else didn’t really matter at that moment… my wife had a good time and everything had gone as smooth as possible.

We met up at the tail end as the last guests were walking out the door. The bags and boxes seemed never ending as we walked back and forth between the restaurant and a few cars. Thankfully we had some help from my family as well as a bigger place to live in which to fit all of this new stuff. The help continued later in the evening as my sister and brother-in-law (along with the kids) helped us get everything in the house and move around the furniture that I was unable to get up the stairs previously.

It was a long and tiring day for both of us but a great day and one that will serve as a happy memory for us and many of our family members. And now we will wait for our son to arrive so that we can start using all the new items that will soon be organized in his room… which is another project all together. I guess that is going to have to be the new project.  

Another One Bites The Rim

Again I am in the midst of a short week and just like every other time I have tried to take a day or two off things are not going as planned. The basic schedule that I originally set this week was to put as many hours in during the four days was going to be in the office so that I could take Friday off knowing that nothing was being pushed back to the following week. Essentially, I didn’t want the day off to cause me to fall behind. That timeline took a few dings during work on Monday but nothing that I couldn’t address with my remaining three days.

Well, that all changed during my drive home on Monday night when the asphalt decided to jump up and take another victim. I was almost home when I was one of many cars forced to slam on the breaks to avoid an accident (thanks a-hole who decided last minute to turn into the first Wawa parking lot entrance). That sudden stop prevented me from avoiding the large crater waiting like a Venus Fly Trap to claim another tire.

Seconds later my dashboard lit up like a fireworks display and I turned into the next street. I know how to change a tire as, unfortunately, I have done it a few times before but having to do so on an incline still sucks. When I pulled off the tire I could see the rip in the tire but it was what I say when I looked on the inside that let me know that this was not going to be a quick tire change… the damn rim was bent. Given my past experience it was a rather quick stop and after sweating out my frustration of the day I slowly made my way to the apartment after about 30 minutes.

After shuffling our schedules, I ended up using my wife’s car this week while the dealer ordered a tire and rim… it actually worked out well as she didn’t really need the car too much this week and was able to quickly arrange for a ride to those places she was going. The prolonged process is finally, hopefully, coming to an end this morning but not without a little bonus discover at the dealer that the back right tire needs to be replaced as well. Another big expense that I am not paying for!

That’s right, thankfully I’m not going to be paying for two tires and a rim. While I am usually not a huge proponent of additional coverage when buying a car, I am a firm believer in purchasing tire and rim protection. With this latest stop at the dealer I think I am going to get about three times my investment back over the course of the two years since I purchased the car.

Since I have to be at the dealer I might as well get a few other things taken care of while I am already being inconvenienced so I figured to get the annual inspection and oil change done. With all the work being done to the car today, I should be ready to hit the road early tomorrow morning. It would be nice to get back on schedule for the first time this week. More about that later (hopefully without any other issues to report).

Quick Trips Are Rarely Quick

 

Have you ever noticed that a quick trip on a weekend never ends up being a quick trip? That was the case today as my car was due for its 10,000 mile oil change. In the past I have gotten lucky and it would only take about 30 minutes so I wound up waiting for it and killing time by either making a call or reading a bit. However, as soon as I called the Armen service department I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. So, what I was hoping would originally be about 30 minutes was now at least going to be 90 minutes (this is not a criticism just a reality).

Whenever you call a place to have any kid of service done if they hesitate before telling you that there is time today, it is almost definitely going to be a longer wait. Having been told that it would take about an hour and a half, my wife and I decided to go out for a lazy lunch to pass the time. And if we are going to head out for lunch we might as well have some company so I gave my mom a call to invite my parents to lunch. Just like many of my weekends, my dad was working so it was just the three of us who would meet up at Dujour after we dropped the car off at the dealer.

After an excellent time with my mom chatting over lunch we started walking back to the car when the phone rang to let me know that the car was ready. At least our timing was pretty good. However, going straight to the dealer would just make too much sense and since we were out we thought that we should take care of another errand by looking for some boots for my wife across the street from the dealer at DSW. I wasn’t going to stand around while my wife was looking at shoes so I headed to the clearance section to find a replacement pair for the shoes coming apart on my feet.

I found a nearly identical pair of brown shoes the only different really being that they were a different brand. When checking the price I was a little thrown off because the price tag was in yellow and not in one of the usual colors (i.e. red, purple, green, and blue). In another example of great timing, the shoes that I picked out (the only pair out which happened to be the perfect size) were on sale for 80% off the discount price. Perfect replacements for just under $12.

Of course, my wife also found a pair to pick up so after checking out we parted ways as my wife headed home and I walked across the street to pick up the car. An oil change, tire rotation, and a few dollars later I pulled out of the parking lot and, instead of heading home, drove over to the post office and lodge to check the mailbox and the office. Quick trip but one that is going to be a new part of my weekend routine. As I pulled into the parking lot back at my apartment building it was obvious that the quick trip today was anything but quick having taken nearly three hours to get back to where I started.