Remember that vehicle I mentioned in one of my blog? The vehicle that we have been waitin gon from my BIL who was having it repaired at our expense because we were taking it off his hand? Well, finally after upteenth false "yes it is ready" We went to pick it up from him.
I started my day with being in the dentist's chair getting a deep root planing, no fun! I felt like one of those movie stars while at the pharmacy because I had to have guaze in my mouth to catch leakage that I won't feel happening due to the numbness and swelling afterwards! I basically couldn't talk and was out of commission for the day when it came to eating! Yes, I did get the weird "what's wrong with her" stares!
Anyway, had my hubby listened to me when I wanted to go last weekend to pick up this vehicle, he listened to his brother and we chose yesterday! Yes, perfect timing with my planned dental visit which I refused to change because it was the specialiist and getting on his schedule is tedious!
So I had arrange a rental car pickup which we would leave at our destination and then drive the pick up vehicle home, that is over one hundred miles!
The vehicle, an Eagle Summit, was worth getting it because body wise it was in great condition! As for as anyting else, we took his (BIL) word at what he had done. The tires were shot though and there was no way we were going to get home with those on it! We decided to buy new tires, had them put on while we waited. Then BIL called and said, have them also look at the brakes, and CV joint, and something else! I"m thinking, "What?" Lo an behold, those needed to be changed so we waited for an hour while the garage did the jobs. I'm asking, exactly what the freck did he do for this vehicle if we have to get these things done? Oh he put a new engine in. I'm beginning to think I don't think so!
So we paid the bill and decided to get on the way because it was already after 7pm. It has been raining a lot all day there too, which was not just rain, it was torrential rains! I could tell my husband wasn't too happy about the vehicle not being taken care of properly after we had sent the money to get it done! I wasn't happy either, but kept my mouth shut!
While driving I got this bad feeling and began to pray, pray for us to just get home, or anywhere near enough to our city so that we would not be stranded!
Guess what? All of a sudden we heard a loud bang, and the vehicle jerked! We managed to get to the next exit, pulled into the gas station so we could check what the problem was.
The belt looked shaved as if it had shifted! These are the same belts that dear old BIL said he had replaced with new ones, and new plugs and the works? You bethcha! We debated whether we should go on or not? My hubby didn't have his tools, we didn't even have a flashlight! I went across to the store to buy a flashlight ($8) the thieves! Someone helpfully gave us the number for a tow truck. I was, in the meantime, rueing the day I neglected signing up for Triple A! I got on the phone with them after calling my son to get the number off the net. I signed up for it that very moment! Unfortunately for me, while they could provide basic service for free, within five miles of where i live, the plus service that I signed up for didn't go into effect until 72 hours later! I told them I would call them back if I need to use them.
I called the tow company we got referred to. They wanted a base fee plus additional mileage would be extra. The diffence was they wanted cash, and only cash. Telling them I would call back, I went to see if I could get cash from the ATM machine inside. You think the machine worked? Of course not, that would be too easy! I got suspicious when I had to swipe the card several times and was asked for my pin each time, with nothing happening! According the clerk, though, "Oh, the machine does work". O sure it does! I got worried that it was a fake or decoy to get people's information. So freaked out was I that I decided to call the bank to make sure there were no unauthorized transactions on my card! In the middle of my call, before actually speaking to someone, my cellphone disconnected! I yelled out in frustration!
Hubby decided that he was going to try to make a go of it. I wasn't too keen on that but I said OK. We drove about five miles, then wham! The vehicle jerked, we smelt burning and then it shut off! We were on the highway, I75, stranded! OMG!!!! While trying to digest this, he yells for me to get out of the vehicle, and I'm frantic trying to get the damn seatbelt off me as I threw myself out of the car, with him following close behind me! He just didn't want us to get rear-ended by one of those crazy speeding trucks whizzing by us on the highway! Let me tell you, those trucks are big, and they are going possibly over 100 mph! Each truck or car that passed us by shook the vehicle!
I decided we were going to swallow the charges and get Triple A to pick us up and tow us home. It was going to be costly but at least they would accept our card, and it didn't have to be cash (which basically is just five bucks less than the other tow company anyway)! Finally they were able to set us up on a "on call" pick up but the wait would be a while! We were on the shoulder of the highway, standing a distance from the vehicle (just in case anyone crashes into it we would be safer outside of it, according to hubby) in tall, wet grass! It was scary as hell! To add more insult to the whole situation, it began to drizzle again, it was cold, wet and my cell phone was dying! At least his still had one bar on his phone!
Finally, the tow truck came one hour later! It was a few mins before midnight and I was so happy to see him! Before we moved, he had to make sure we were who we were, which is good for him to do, then he had to make sure our card would go through! I totally understood and told him so. Finally, everything was OK and we got under way 25 minutes later, due to the paperwork involved, good grief!
He towed us home, we got my car, and then he dropped the broken down vehicle to our garage guy. Thank heavens we could go there and drop it off as my hubby arranged to do while we were enroute.
I've never been so happy to be home!
I'm not even going to touch the subject of dear old BIL! Had he done what we told him, take the vehicle to someone reputable to fix it in the first place, instead of that scam of a mechanic that he uses, this would never have happened! We decided to take the vehicle off his hand (instead of getting one from somewhere else) and spent the money to repair it, or to have it repaired (and that didn't happen) and this is what we got, royally screwed!