Diplomacy.
Trying to get all the details down before I forget them.
Thursday:
Org Day at work. Kinda like a company picnic. Went over to the bowling alley to cheer on a few co-workers. One of them's pretty good, actually. Our summer intern can't bowl well for more than half-a-game because of issues with his hands from his days in the Navy. He had something like five strikes in a row and couldn't buy a pin after that. I was scheduled to compete in horseshoes (another game that goes well with beer), so I headed on down to the park were the main festivities were to take place. I met my partner, had my first beer at 0950, and went over to the pits to practice. I hadn't tossed a horseshoe in about a decade and I sent a couple of people running with my practice throws. (I'm really off-balance when I hold the second horseshoe when I toss the first.) Our competitors showed up and we got blown out in the best two-out-of-three, losing both games by significant margins. Another of my co-workers managed to win his first-round game before getting eliminated by some fantastic throws by the opposing team. I then settled in for drinking, eating, and a small amount of mingling. Not too bad, though I could definitely use more horseshoes practice. (By the way, I think it's a crime that Scrabble, dominoes, and poker get air-time on ESPN and horseshoes gets the shaft. Horseshoes is more of a sport than the other three combined.) Got to go home early, packup, and head on down to Virginia. I ate at a pizza place called Pie-tanza (?!) with a couple of my fraternity brothers. Really excellent Neapolitan pizza, and the waitress was pretty funny. Also got to watch the new Futurama movie, which was outstanding, complaints by a couple of my frat brothers notwithstanding and ignored, because they're retarded. (You didn't like it because it made you depressed? Get the hell out of here.)
Friday:
Todai for lunch. (Sorry, Ashley.) Went back to my parents' house to discover that FedEx had come and gone, so my plates for my car would not make it onto the car that day. Dropped a pair of shoes off at Johnston and Murphy to get re-conditioned and re-soled. I then set out for Chapel Hill for a weekend of fun and stuff. I didn't foresee all the problems that would crop up. I should have noticed the omens: a yellow Pontiac Aztek, the ugliest color for a car on the ugliest car ever; getting a way late start and moving eight miles in the first hour of driving; blood raining from the sky...well, that last is somewhat embellished. I got into Chapel Hill, cruising along Franklin Street. I stopped for a traffic light or some other reason, and when I attempted to accelerate again, power to my car was lost. I turned the car off and started it back up, but it started pathetically and hitting the gas made it shudder. I hit the hazards and coasted down Franklin, looking desperately for a parking space. I made a right onto a side street, and saw my salvation in an open space with an after-hours meter. I parked the car and called my friend Kit who was tech'ing for the improv show that was starting in about 45 minutes. He got someone to cover for him, picked me up, and brought me to the theater. I chilled out, bought a Blue Moon (which I advised him to pick up for the theater's concessions), and settled down to watch a free improv show. All of the show was based on anecdotes by two members of a band that would be performing after the improv show, and it was hilarious. I received a free t-shirt for having traveled the greatest distance to come see the show, and it wasn't close. Unfortunately, I needed to get my car towed, so I figured that would best be done during the concert. One of Kit's friends drove me back to my car and waited with me until AAA came and towed it to a parking garage. I filled out an envelope, placed my key inside, and left it in the overnight drop box. We headed back to the theater and caught back up with Kit. Kit and I then vacated the premises and repaired to his townhouse for Rock Band. The drum set pedal broke that evening, though, so we were without percussion for the rest of the evening.
Saturday:
Got off to a late start. Didn’t hear anything from the garage, so we dropped by. Turned out that it wasn't open for business on the weekend, which didn’t do me a lick of a good. It also meant one set of my keys are locked inside. Thankfully, I’m not an idiot, and had the spare on me. I started the car up in the hope that something had changed overnight, but no. A little bit of time was wasted trying to figure out what to do. I called AAA again to get the car towed. I got into a bit of a discussion about how I was going to owe extra money because they didn’t have proof the car wasn’t worked on. I told them the store was closed and the car was brought after hours, so it couldn’t have been worked on. This went back and forth for a few minutes until I said screw it, just come pick me up. I had every intention of sorting it out later, and yammering at her on the phone wouldn’t make the tow truck get there any faster. I asked AAA to tow me to a location that was confirmed open; one in Cary fit the bill. After a little while, the same tow guy from the previous night came to tow me. We got to the repair shop, dropped the car off, and got some lunch at Wendy’s. We came back, learned that the diagnostic still wasn’t done, and went to the dollar store. While poking around, a power outage struck the store. Most of the lights went off (save for a few on generator power), as well as the A/C. I decided to walk back to the repair shop to keep track there and let Kit buy whatever. He showed up a few minutes later; apparently, the store had to be shut down and he couldn’t buy anything. The verdict on the car was "crankshaft sensor". They didn’t have the part to fix it, they closed at four, and they weren’t open on Sunday, so I had them pull the car out and I called the local Carmax in Raleigh. They said they’d send a tow truck out, and I confirmed that USAA would pay for a loaner. The repair shop was owned by AAA, so they gave me a total bill that included the towing. And only included the towing. I saw no evidence that an extra towing fee had been assessed and they didn’t charge for the diagnostic. Nice people. I told Kit that he should probably get back to Carrboro to prep for the two improv shows he was in that night. The tow truck came, and off to Carmax I went. The service department wasn’t open, so the car wasn’t going to be looked at until Monday at the earliest (an optimistic outlook, as it turned out). In the meantime, I got a loaner from them in the form of a PT Cruiser (dubbed the NMS Festival). I said I’d be back on Monday. As I drove away from the Carmax, I got into a slightly heated discussion with my parents on the cell phone about things related to the car and what my plans were. They convinced me to drive back north and come back the next weekend. I called back Carmax and the guy who had been helping me wasn't thrilled. I hung up with the situation somewhat unresolved and drove back to watch some improv. Both shows were great, and Kit's team defended his title. Back to the townhouse for a terrible movie showing: Mr. Deathman. I kinda fell asleep watching it, and the IMDB synopsis might or might not be right, for all I know.
Sunday:
Another late start. (Kit and I are co-enablers.) I had Kit back me up at Carmax, since I didn’t know if they’d even let me drive the car out of the state. If they didn’t, I was going to go to Enterprise to rent a car. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. A little talking, a little paperwork, and all was smooth. We retreated to Southpoint Mall for Gamestop browsing and lunch with xenosauridae. I fled the area and got to Fairfax around 2030. Dinner at Chipotle was had with a couple of frat brothers, and I continued onward to Bel Air.
Since then:
Carmax has started looking at the car. No evidence of the check engine light, apparently. Hopefully, it will be resolved by Friday, or there won’t be a reason for me to come down to North Carolina that weekend. Thursday will be hanging out with Bel Air people, Friday will be Kings Dominion. Friday evening and Saturday will be determined by Carmax. Sunday is a wedding. It’s going to be real busy. It might actually be more convenient if the car were fixed next week, so I could have a proper Triangle weekend. Status updates to follow.
Thursday:
Org Day at work. Kinda like a company picnic. Went over to the bowling alley to cheer on a few co-workers. One of them's pretty good, actually. Our summer intern can't bowl well for more than half-a-game because of issues with his hands from his days in the Navy. He had something like five strikes in a row and couldn't buy a pin after that. I was scheduled to compete in horseshoes (another game that goes well with beer), so I headed on down to the park were the main festivities were to take place. I met my partner, had my first beer at 0950, and went over to the pits to practice. I hadn't tossed a horseshoe in about a decade and I sent a couple of people running with my practice throws. (I'm really off-balance when I hold the second horseshoe when I toss the first.) Our competitors showed up and we got blown out in the best two-out-of-three, losing both games by significant margins. Another of my co-workers managed to win his first-round game before getting eliminated by some fantastic throws by the opposing team. I then settled in for drinking, eating, and a small amount of mingling. Not too bad, though I could definitely use more horseshoes practice. (By the way, I think it's a crime that Scrabble, dominoes, and poker get air-time on ESPN and horseshoes gets the shaft. Horseshoes is more of a sport than the other three combined.) Got to go home early, packup, and head on down to Virginia. I ate at a pizza place called Pie-tanza (?!) with a couple of my fraternity brothers. Really excellent Neapolitan pizza, and the waitress was pretty funny. Also got to watch the new Futurama movie, which was outstanding, complaints by a couple of my frat brothers notwithstanding and ignored, because they're retarded. (You didn't like it because it made you depressed? Get the hell out of here.)
Friday:
Todai for lunch. (Sorry, Ashley.) Went back to my parents' house to discover that FedEx had come and gone, so my plates for my car would not make it onto the car that day. Dropped a pair of shoes off at Johnston and Murphy to get re-conditioned and re-soled. I then set out for Chapel Hill for a weekend of fun and stuff. I didn't foresee all the problems that would crop up. I should have noticed the omens: a yellow Pontiac Aztek, the ugliest color for a car on the ugliest car ever; getting a way late start and moving eight miles in the first hour of driving; blood raining from the sky...well, that last is somewhat embellished. I got into Chapel Hill, cruising along Franklin Street. I stopped for a traffic light or some other reason, and when I attempted to accelerate again, power to my car was lost. I turned the car off and started it back up, but it started pathetically and hitting the gas made it shudder. I hit the hazards and coasted down Franklin, looking desperately for a parking space. I made a right onto a side street, and saw my salvation in an open space with an after-hours meter. I parked the car and called my friend Kit who was tech'ing for the improv show that was starting in about 45 minutes. He got someone to cover for him, picked me up, and brought me to the theater. I chilled out, bought a Blue Moon (which I advised him to pick up for the theater's concessions), and settled down to watch a free improv show. All of the show was based on anecdotes by two members of a band that would be performing after the improv show, and it was hilarious. I received a free t-shirt for having traveled the greatest distance to come see the show, and it wasn't close. Unfortunately, I needed to get my car towed, so I figured that would best be done during the concert. One of Kit's friends drove me back to my car and waited with me until AAA came and towed it to a parking garage. I filled out an envelope, placed my key inside, and left it in the overnight drop box. We headed back to the theater and caught back up with Kit. Kit and I then vacated the premises and repaired to his townhouse for Rock Band. The drum set pedal broke that evening, though, so we were without percussion for the rest of the evening.
Saturday:
Got off to a late start. Didn’t hear anything from the garage, so we dropped by. Turned out that it wasn't open for business on the weekend, which didn’t do me a lick of a good. It also meant one set of my keys are locked inside. Thankfully, I’m not an idiot, and had the spare on me. I started the car up in the hope that something had changed overnight, but no. A little bit of time was wasted trying to figure out what to do. I called AAA again to get the car towed. I got into a bit of a discussion about how I was going to owe extra money because they didn’t have proof the car wasn’t worked on. I told them the store was closed and the car was brought after hours, so it couldn’t have been worked on. This went back and forth for a few minutes until I said screw it, just come pick me up. I had every intention of sorting it out later, and yammering at her on the phone wouldn’t make the tow truck get there any faster. I asked AAA to tow me to a location that was confirmed open; one in Cary fit the bill. After a little while, the same tow guy from the previous night came to tow me. We got to the repair shop, dropped the car off, and got some lunch at Wendy’s. We came back, learned that the diagnostic still wasn’t done, and went to the dollar store. While poking around, a power outage struck the store. Most of the lights went off (save for a few on generator power), as well as the A/C. I decided to walk back to the repair shop to keep track there and let Kit buy whatever. He showed up a few minutes later; apparently, the store had to be shut down and he couldn’t buy anything. The verdict on the car was "crankshaft sensor". They didn’t have the part to fix it, they closed at four, and they weren’t open on Sunday, so I had them pull the car out and I called the local Carmax in Raleigh. They said they’d send a tow truck out, and I confirmed that USAA would pay for a loaner. The repair shop was owned by AAA, so they gave me a total bill that included the towing. And only included the towing. I saw no evidence that an extra towing fee had been assessed and they didn’t charge for the diagnostic. Nice people. I told Kit that he should probably get back to Carrboro to prep for the two improv shows he was in that night. The tow truck came, and off to Carmax I went. The service department wasn’t open, so the car wasn’t going to be looked at until Monday at the earliest (an optimistic outlook, as it turned out). In the meantime, I got a loaner from them in the form of a PT Cruiser (dubbed the NMS Festival). I said I’d be back on Monday. As I drove away from the Carmax, I got into a slightly heated discussion with my parents on the cell phone about things related to the car and what my plans were. They convinced me to drive back north and come back the next weekend. I called back Carmax and the guy who had been helping me wasn't thrilled. I hung up with the situation somewhat unresolved and drove back to watch some improv. Both shows were great, and Kit's team defended his title. Back to the townhouse for a terrible movie showing: Mr. Deathman. I kinda fell asleep watching it, and the IMDB synopsis might or might not be right, for all I know.
Sunday:
Another late start. (Kit and I are co-enablers.) I had Kit back me up at Carmax, since I didn’t know if they’d even let me drive the car out of the state. If they didn’t, I was going to go to Enterprise to rent a car. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. A little talking, a little paperwork, and all was smooth. We retreated to Southpoint Mall for Gamestop browsing and lunch with xenosauridae. I fled the area and got to Fairfax around 2030. Dinner at Chipotle was had with a couple of frat brothers, and I continued onward to Bel Air.
Since then:
Carmax has started looking at the car. No evidence of the check engine light, apparently. Hopefully, it will be resolved by Friday, or there won’t be a reason for me to come down to North Carolina that weekend. Thursday will be hanging out with Bel Air people, Friday will be Kings Dominion. Friday evening and Saturday will be determined by Carmax. Sunday is a wedding. It’s going to be real busy. It might actually be more convenient if the car were fixed next week, so I could have a proper Triangle weekend. Status updates to follow.