Hurry Up & Wait

Well, I didn't get to update my post from yesterday. There was just way too much shit going on. It was a lot of trying to figure out how to get shit done. It was a long damn day. It will sound stupid as hell but I actually kind of wished I had been at work yesterday. Not because I like being at work. But because then none of the stress of yesterday would have happened and I wouldn't have to make up the time at work.

I know it was another day off of work, but it didn't feel like it. Not at all. It's not like I got to relax. It was a lot of hurry up and wait. That whole getting the battery from the store and having them install it for free idea went out the window. It just didn't make much sense to begin with. I was kind of freaking out at the moment. The reason I called them in the first place is because I thought I still had a warranty, so while that would have made the most sense it turned out not to be true anyway.

Once that was determined I gave up on the idea rather quickly. So, when the mechanic shop I go to opened I called them. They told me how much it would be and honestly it wasn't going to be that much more, including labor.

While I was on the phone with them I asked if they could maybe come down and jump start my car and I would follow them back. They apologized but they were booked fucking solid and couldn't afford to send any of their employees. I didn't get mad or anything. I understood. They have always been straight up with me and treated me well as a customer.

I then called around and got a hold of a place that does nothing but jump starts, unlocking car doors, and things like that. They told me it would be a 3 hour wait for someone to get to my place because of how back logged they were due to the cold. Made sense. So I said that was fine and asked them to just call me when they got here.

Right before the 3 hour mark was going to click by I got a phone call that they were outside by my car. So I went out there and they tried to jump start my car. They tried three different things. They tried doing it off their car. That didn't work. So they tried it off a jump start battery pack. No dice. Then they tried a different jump start battery that was stronger. Nope. Fuck me running.

They only charged me $10 for coming out here and trying. I thought that was more than fair.

Now I just had to try and find a different way to get my car down there. I called around to different tow truck companies but either they were too far out, they were way too expensive, or they would only tow me to their own shop rather than the shop I wanted to go to.

I called the mechanic again and they gave me the number to a tow truck company they recommend. I called them and they were the cheapest. They also didn't make it seem like I was bothering them, unlike most of the places I had called before.

They told me they were swamped due to all the breakdowns and told me they should be there in 2 hours. Okay.

While I was waiting I called my brother and asked him to come up. I did that just in case for some reason the car didn't get a new battery that day because ya know, shit fucking happens. I apologized over and over again because it's a long drive for him to get up here. He said it was fine.

He got here before the tow truck did. We hung out for a little while and when the 2 1/2 hour mark ticked by I called the tow truck company. They told me it was going to be another 1 1/2 hours. I got a little cranky because while I understand that they are swamped I would expect a better time quote or at least a courtesy call letting me know they were running behind

So another 2 hours go by and they finally get here. I was worried though because they got here at 5pm and the shop I go to closes at 6pm. At that time I was glad I had called my brother because it seemed like the car was going to have to wait until tomorrow. My brother drove me to the shop so I wouldn't have to ride with the tow truck driver and I wouldn't have to sit down there by myself.

When we got there the shop was jam packed. There were only three parking spots left. My brother pulled into one of them. The tow truck wasn't that far behind us thankfully.

The shop actually put me ahead as a priority because most people weren't picking up their cars until the next day. So they took a car out of the bay and put mine in. We sat there for about 45 minutes. It was actually past their close time by the time everything was said and done.

They had checked my alternator and my starter just to be on the safe side and thankfully they were both fine. I don't want to even guess what that repair bill would have been. The car needed a new battery obviously. But she also needed a battery cable extended, so they had to wait on that. She also needed a new battery housing because I guess the one that was in there was in pretty rough shape.

What was awesome was that they only charged me for the battery and labor. Sweet! I drove my car back and my brother followed me. He stayed the night just to be on the safe side. I ended up going to bed rather early. It had felt like an incredibly long day.

When I got up this morning to go to work my brother got up too. He wanted to make sure my car started. And she did! She started just fine and right away. I was a bit surprised when I was sitting in the car waiting for her to warm up and I saw my brother walking to his car. I opened my window and asked what was up. He said he was just going to head on home because he knew I was all good to go and his knee was really bothering him.

I can't blame him. He dropped everything at the drop of a dime to come help me out and even stayed the night to make sure I could get to work in the morning. He pisses me off sometimes and I don't like who he is dating but he is a good brother and I love him.

Although I won't be going into work on Saturday. I've decided to just work 10 hour work days the rest of the work week so I can have my entire weekend. It's rough but I'd rather do that than only have one full day off of work.