If only I were dooce...

I had what I consider the most ridiculous time with our local

PEPBOYS. Our 2000 Chrysler Town and Country van.

(not the Space Shuttle) was not running right.

 The engine light was on and she had "no hussle"

as TJ would say. It started out fine, they ran their dianostic crap

and identified the problem, replaced the sensor for $560. Thats

when Moe, Larry and Curly took over. To make a long story short

It wasn't the sensor, so "we weren't charged for that" it was the

Flywheel, a $120 part with $990 of labor...hmmmm

would the labor had been only $430 w/o the sensor?

Believe it or not, this process took 13 days, 4 visits and

many hours sitting in Pepboys waiting area. One of

those times, stranded for 1.5 hrs listening to
"we're just finishing up" then it was "not sure"
thats when a friend picked me up.
four days later it was ready so I went back and

 wrote an $1100 check and drove away only to be back

within 24 hrs. I was at JoAnn fabrics buying fleece for my

13yo to make blankets for the homeless. Seriously, I

couldn't make this shit up. While pulling out of the strip mall

accelerating up the hill, I found myself going backwards towards

the car behind me, what that driver was yelling, God only knows what.

I put my flashers on and waved everyone around me,
 then I gunned it up the hill across the street
 down the block to PepBoys. Curly took it right in

and 1/2 hr later with a big smile informs me
 "all fixed ma'am, All she needed was 4qts of trans fluid"
  Nimrod!
 My first thought, (well my second thought,
 because the 1 st thought was Nimrod!.)

was, you took out the entire transmission, took it apart

(hence the $990 labor) and you forgot to fill it up with fluid?

What if my trans had crack, locked up or whatever it is
 called when you drive a car without the almighty
 transmission fluid.

It began to cross my mind that I got the intern grease monkey

(Please refrain from smoking dope on my time)
 .All better...NOPE

24 hours later, ding ding ding Engine light! No giddy up and go,
I'd hit the gas and you're just reeving the engine in the
middle of the street, for any Mack truck to come
barreling down the highway and take me out.

 Tim and I bring it back in, call for Wally

the manager.( aka "Moe".)
 Explain our plight. He looks up at us with his

big Goober lookin eyes and says
 "ya know, ya really need to be careful when
 putting 4 qts of fluid...
" "Moe, Moe...I mean, Wally, YOU put the freakin

fluid in"
(cut to Moe wide eyed)

"huh?"

My Tim is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to any
and all engine, computer, electrical put together and work crap.
Had it just been me...I shutter to think of where we would be.
without Tim's constant imput, Moe, Larry and Curly
would still be scratching their heads and my receipt
would be 100 feet long

4 days later and a lot of "we just don't know"

by the Three Stooges. We have our van back.

 It now runs like a Diesel Truck. My eyeballs shake, due to

grasping a vibrating steering wheel. Sure

they fixed a little oil leak, changed some spark plugs and did a lot

of tinkering around w/o charge, but I'n not real clear on

the real cause of problem or what was free or hidden in our

$1100 bill.

In regards to  dooce.com she writes a blog that I follow,

as does thousands of other people. on a good day I have 15

 She has 1 million twitter followers. I have zero...

 Dooce had a problem with her maytag

washer and after her run around, she received a personal
phone call from Mr. Maytag himself  and a new washer

(which was donated to charity I believe)
dooce maytag saga

if I was her do you think I would have

gotten a prize? I think I deserve a prize.

Had this episode gone down years ago,
I may have had a different response
Pepboys really dodged a bullet
 (figuratively)

Some may say I had some anger issues
or as I like to put it, lack of patience

Disclaimer:
(not due to anyone or anything
in particular...maybe I was born with it.
Ya know, it was exceptable to smoke and drink while
pregnant in the 60's...just sayin)
My life coach has made me carry a rock
around for quite some time now
to represent the weight I carry from
hanging onto anger and resentments.

I chose to leave my rock at home during
this 13 day fiasco
(progress not perfection)