When it rains...

Yesterday was an adventure in trying to be productive... but getting stalled by the inevitable "when it rains, it pours." I spent some time in the morning sorting clothes into good-enough-to-resale, goodwill, and trash piles. (Sad that I have clothing I could deem to be "trash.") I went out to the car to load the first two of four large bags, and my back right tire looked suspiciously low. Even as I looked adoringly down at my baby car from the third floor... it looked low. When I got up close, fears were confirmed. I ran back upstairs, grabbed my purse, and drove with my hazards on to the Jiffy Lube 8/10 of a mile from my apartment. Twenty miles an hour on Carothers Rd. - I was popular. I made it (whew) and told them my tire was low, and hey, while I'm here, go ahead and change my oil. It's time.

So I wait. About 30 minutes before my car's even pulled in (didn't they used to be fast?) and they tell me my tire's OK. Yeah! Then for the oil change... they always come into the little lounge with ESPN blaring, midway through the procedure, to show you a filter, a bolt, a something amiss that you MAY want to go ahead and think about replacing, so he walks in, and I'm not surprised. Until he starts talking. He shows me these little metal coils that fell out when they went to unscrew my oil pan. Not normal. The bolt is completely stripped. They can't fix it. They fill me up and finagle a temporary bolt to hold it together, but this is a problem cause by the last place that changed my oil. Who would that be? THE VW DEALERSHIP.

I gather the pieces, the fabulous Jiffy Lube guy charges me not-a-dime, and I drive less than half a mile to the dealership (living in Cool Springs ROCKS.) I dump the parts on the counter in front of Randy, the VW guy that I've tried to "build a relationship" with by taking all my business there these 9 months, and of course he doesn't remember me, and he listens to my story, calls a mechanic over, and says, "Well, a new oil pan's gonna run ya 200 plus labor ($90/hour there), or we can do it blah blah blah for 160." That's DOLLARS he's throwing around. And I say, "I don't understand - I just needed an oil change" and GQ mechanic guy says, "Well, this is what happens at places like Jiffy Lube." Hmm. Noooo, I explain, I got this done HERE. I would not have gone to Jiffy Lube (build the relationship) but for my almost flat, and VW is never accomodating for emergency needs. Oh, the look on their faces... "Ahem... (cough)... when were you last here?" "I don't know - it's time for my oil change - your sticker is still in my window." He looks me up. Oh yeah, it was them. 200 plus labor my ass. Forty-five minutes later, I get an apology, I pay for a new filter (9 bucks) and drive away with an oil change and all-better tire for 9 dollars. I LOVE JIFFY LUBE. :)

Unfortunately, after all that, and the rain just pouring and pouring, I didn't get many of my Spring Break errands done. I'll try again today.