Day in the Life of an Idiot

 Yesterday, I was feeling brave. After a quick consult with Shawn to make sure we agreed on what we would and would not accept, I picked up the phone and called back Tim from Turbo Tim's. 

Tim sounded my age.  I'm not sure why I felt this, but immediately I got the sense we were both young in the 1980s.

I initially thought things were going to not go well because, after a brief exchange of pleasantries, Tim started in on this long description of why rear wheel bearings are different from front wheel bearings. And, I thought, oh no. He's going to try to mansplain his way out of this. I listened (actually to keep myself from rudely cutting him off, I held the phone away from my ear) and when he wound down I asked, "Okay. I do actually have some knowledge of how cars work, but I appreciate your explanation. Is that all you are offering?"

He wanted to know if I would come back, ever, and accept some store credit and I said "absolutely not. I am not interested in store credit." We talked a little bit about trust at this point and I told him, "Tim, we are working back towards trust. If I am going to have any trust in you, it will depend on what you are willing to do to make this right." 

At this point he wanted to know what he could do. What did I want? I told him that he could offer me a refund for the front wheel bearings. I wanted half the cost of the work. That was all I needed. $600.00.

For some reason he decided to argue with me? But what he argued was, "No, I think you deserve much more." 

I will admit: this proposal stunned me into silence for a good half minute.

I managed to gather my wits and said, "Well, then offer me what you think I deserve." He then offered to refund the ENTIRE JOB. All $1,200.00 of it. 

I accepted.

We kept talking (and by "we" at this point, I mean "he,") and I was a little confused by this. But, it dawned on me that what he really, sincerely seemed to want was some kind of assurance that I would remain his customer. I told him that was going to be difficult, but that he had really impressed me with the full refund. I also told him, several times, that Midway Turbo Tim's is a block and a half from my house, which is why I started going there. I also explained that I am a lesbian and so I appreciated his political stance on LGBTQIA+ "friendliness." I also like cats! But, it was going to take some time before I felt ready to go back, but, if it was important to him, I could tell him that it was POSSIBLE I might return for small jobs? It really is convenient, but it's also insanely unlikely: they done me wrong. REALLY WRONG. I didn't say that last bit out loud, so he seemed satisfied. (The extent to which this felt like an ex-boyfriend saying "just give me one more chance!!" was HIGH and also did not actually ingratiate me the way I think Tim intended. Like what woman hasn't had that One Guy who really, really needed assurances that he was still loved, even after he was a complete knucklehead or worse?)

Tim then really wanted to explain wheel bearings again, so I let him, and then he assured me that Sean at Midway Tim's would be calling with details about the refund. 

Sean did NOT call. But, Sean did text the information to me. (I do not think Sean feels nearly the same desire to keep me as a customer. Tim in his long ramble did let slip that the Midway mechanic, foreman, and front desk all got "written up" over this fiasco. So, yeah, Tim, I think me going back to Midway Tim's would be met some MASSIVE hostility. They are not big fans of me right now over there.) 

At least it seems as though things are resolved and a repayment is in process.

I am not closing out my BBB case file, however until the money is literally back in the bank.

So, I guess that's it.

Y'all, the Better Business Bureau for the win. I do not believe I could have gotten any action without the threat of a bad mark in the BBB. It makes some sense if Tim is my age (or near) because *I* thought of the Better Business Bureau immediately for recourse. I am still somewhat unconvinced that anyone younger than me even knows what the BBB is, exactly, or what they do and what it means to have a bad Better Business Bureau rating. But, in this case, it worked.

What are my brain cells supposed to do now? I've been obsessing and thinking about this for WEEKS!

 For those of you who are all in for the blow-by-blow with Better Business Bureau vs. Turbo Tim's Midway, there is a new development!

For those of you NOT here for it, this is your cue to skip. Since this drama-llama will probably continue on and off, I will see if I can find an appropriate car icon so that you know not to bother at a glance. I will us the 'llama in car' icon  you see above, graciously found for me by coffeetime , to warn you off at a glance. 

Okay, so.....

The BBB works FAST, y'all. Highly recommend (at least so far.)

If you have been following along, you will remember that I got a notification from the Better Business Bureau the very same day that I put my complaint in. The BBB is very clear in its canned responses that it is very likely that businesses will not respond. The businesses are notified that they have 20 days to reply, but it's not legally binding, so a lot of places just don't. There are consquences if they don't reply, but, technically, if you don't care what the BBB thinks of you, the consequences are fairly minor, as such things go.  No one wants a bad Better Business rating, but then the question is do GenZ or Millenials even know what the Better Business Bureau even is?

Yesterday, while I was out doing some grocery shopping in advance of the snowstorm, I got a text. It was about an hour before I usually pick Shawn up at MNHS, so I checked it. It was from Tim of Turbo Tim's. Yep. Tim himself. The Tim of Turbo Tim's.

Yes, I saved it. No only do I still have his text saved, I had Shawn take a picture of it (I have NEVER figured out screenshots on my phone) and so I have photographic evidence as well. (Should I need to upload another .jpg to the BBB's files.)

It was actually--on the surface--a very friendly note. It was all, "Hey, we need to make this right! Why don't you give me a call when you have time and we'll work out some options! My goal is not to lose you as a customer!"  This is a paraphrase. For some reason, Tim of Turbo Tim's really loves "wanna" and "gonna" in his texts. 

What bothers me, of course, is this attempt at a work around.

I know that the BBB sent my complaint to Tim's because they told me they had when they assigned me a case number. So what's the game here, Tim? Are you 'gonna' offer me some kind of coupon? Because if you were the refunding type, Tim, you would have offered that on the spot.

I did not respond at all. I never acknowledged reciept of the text. Nothing. Instead, I went to my latest email from the BBB, copied my case number, and wrote them an email telling them that Tim's had tried a work around and asking for advice on how to proceed. 

Stay tuned, I guess!

I will admit that it was weirdly satisfying to see Tim nervous enough to reach out like this.

 
Image: the f*cking wheel bearing

The car story gets worse, but also better. 

The tl:dr is we took it to Troy's in Roseville got amazing service and a lot of sympathy. Tried to get Tim's to refund us was told they'd never replaced the FRONT wheel bearings only the rear, so "too bad, so sad."

The longer story. When I heard back from Troy's on Tuesday they said "Our mechanic took it for a drive and it is the worst sounding wheel bearing we have ever heard." I, of course, expressed astonishment that it could be a wheel bearing at all since Tim's bill clearly stated "replaced wheel bearings [both sides]." Troy had no idea what to say. But, the car was barely drivable, so I said, "Of course, do the work, but if you could please take a few pictures so that we could have some proof to show Tim's and maybe we could get our money back?" Troy is a mechanic not a computer whiz, but they promised to do their best and figure out how to email us the pictures. 

They did an amazing job, btw. When I walked in the door they had a mechanic come out from the back, go to my car with me, and let me try to produce the weird electrical problem. Of course, it fired up like a dream. We joked that it's like trying to reproduce a cough at the doctor's office. It just never happens. The mechanic said they'd take a look, anyway, and see what they could find. He asked me all the right questions, "Does it happen when this?" "Does it happen when that?" 

At the very, very least I felt listened to.

Troy called me with updates along the way and was very consciencous about getting things done for me by the time I needed the car back. They took pictures and expressed disappointment with Tim's. "I'd heard such good things about them," said Troy in a sad voice.

When the mechanic drove it, he noted that the other horrible rattling was probably a loose heat shield so they tightened that back down FOR FREE. They also recommended replacing some tires, which, of course, necessitates an alignment, and I had asked for an oil change since one was due.

So, the bill was hefty.

But they also tested the battery and it FAILED. So, they thought that a first step to solving the electrical problems might be to replace the battery, did I want to do that? I said, "Honestly, it can't hurt. Though that was the first thing I did when this problem started." (To be fair to me, that was right when we first got this car, which is several years ago now.)

When I picked it up? It ran like a dream. I couldn't believe it. And, so far? The weird electrical gremlin has either gone into hiding or, is, in fact, fixed. (I find the later to be unlikely, but at least when I return it to Troy, we will both know exactly when the battery was replaced, etc.)

I had to work Wednesday as it was the last official day of the snow emergency and I had signed up to do what they call "snowbirding" (which is tagging obviously abandoned cars that are completely covered in snow and clearly plowed around.) A WAY more fun job that tagging cars during a snow emergency. The owners of the cars are... not around? So, no one comes out to yell at you. Also, I got to drive alone. One thing to know about your girl Lyda: she is well suited for jobs where she works mainly independently. 

But, so anyway, this morning, bright early I showed up the moment Tim's opened. I brought their paperwork, Troy's paperwork, the actual front wheel bearing removed by Troy, and Troy's pictures of their work to the office. I was ready to fight for $600 back. (Also, Troy charged us $300 for a single wheel bearing; Tim's charged us $600.) Y'all I was calm. I did not ask to speak to the manager, but I did ask to speak with someone who could authorize a refund. Apparently, it was their front desk guy Sean who at first tried to tell me that they only replaced ONE of the wheel bearings, until I pointed to the part on their bill that clearly says both. Then, he told me he needed to "check their notes" and SPENT A LOT OF TIME TYPING and then showed me a print out of the behind the scenes notes where the mechanic said "rear" and that "a growling sound persisted."

Now, 1) you'd think you'd write "rear" wheel bearings on the bill, but it just says "replaced both wheel bearings," and 2) you'd think a good mechanic might feel, at this point, that maybe the job wasn't done and that the next step would be to recommend (or, hell, just CHECK) the front wheel bearings, but apparently not.

Apparently, if Sean didn't just add this note while I stood there waiting for him to respond to me, they are AT LEAST guilty of being really, really negligent mechanics. Because nothing came back to me that said, "growling persists." In fact, I was quite shocked to discover that growling persisted. 

Moreover, the car was dangerous to drive.

But, Tim's not only let me drive away in a dangerous car, let me pay them nearly $2,000 for a job NOT FINISHED. 

So... one of my jobs today is to figure out how to make a complaint to the Better Business Bureau, possibly the Attorney General, and f*ck up all their yahoo, Google, and Angie's lists reviews as much as physically possible. I guess that's my only recourse. All and all we are out $3,000--most of that is stuff that I guess needed doing? Do I trust any of Tim's recommendations at this point? No, for all I know they replaced things that didn't need replacing, like, did the rear wheel bearings need replacing? I don't know any more. Because Troy only replaced one of the wheel bearings in the front and now it works great!

When I told Troy that Tim's had also recommended a new tie rod, they came back to me and said 'No, we checked. Your tie rod is solid. The big problem was this front wheel bearing.' And, given HOW WELL the car drives right now, the people I believe are at Troy's!  And think of it. I would have, had I continued to think that Tim's was capable of doing "the basics" spent money on a tie rod that absolutely DOES NOT need replacing.

Did my belts need replacing? Now, I'm not sure!

This is so awful, y'all. 

Plus, I had to stand in line with people dropping off their cars off at Tim's. I listened to one woman who was desperately trying to save a few dollars asking if they could do a break line reroutering instead of full replace and they told her no, they don't do that, for this reason and that, but mostly YOUR SAFETY. And, I really, really had to old my tongue and say, "Try Troy's. If it can safely be done, they will do it AND they don't charge for an inspection."

I feel like this is so predatory. A lot of people who live in Midway are, like me, borderline... well, I can't say "poor" because I think that conjures up the wrong image... maybe very, very working class? Maybe "getting by, but certainly not flush."  That last description is probably the best. Lots of folks in Midway own their own homes, but we all bought into the kind of neighborhood where you see a lot of people replacing their own shingles, say, one at a time, rather than hiring the company that does it, you know? I did my own concrete repair on my stairs because the bids I got would have bankrupted us, (like, seriously, it was obvious that the company didn't want to do so small a job because they quoted us LITERALLY $30,000. I did the work myself for the cost of two bags of concrete and one specialized tool and the miniscule internet cost of three different YouTube tutorials.) And, Turbo Tim's is set up not only here, but in Northeast, which is another notoriously poor/working class/just getting by kind of neighborhood. 

What the hell. I am so disappointed.

But, the short of it? My car is repaired now. I am praying for another snowstorm so I can tag some more cars for money.... Goddamn it.

----
Complaint has been registered with the Better Business Bureau for all that's worth. Now on to the various review sites!

 We got our car back from the shop this morning, and... I'm going to miss the loaner. 

Because when I picked up the Camery, of course, it didn't start. I had to pop the hood and wiggle the wire and turn the key again. I honestly do not know how the mechanics managed to move my car in and out of the garage, but good for them, I guess. It's also so weird to me that none of them (at Turbo Tim's) have the intellectual/mechanical curiosity to want to understand WHY this happens. 

They also never recognize me despite the fact that in any other shop, I'd imagine my car would be the source of much interest for its electrical weirdnesses. I tell them every time how close I live to them, and, every time, I attempt to have a bit of humorous banter with the guy behind the counter. But, I am universally met with a blank stare--if they look at me at all. Usually, they studiously avoid looking up from their various computer screens. I don't think they know who they're talking to half the time.

Even though, I can tell you my mechanic's name is Tony. I could, in fact pick him out of a line-up. The reverse is clearly not true.

Is this a Millenial thing? 

I mean seriously.

The barista at my coffee shop also no longer seem to 1) make eye contact at all and so 2) never learn what I look like or my name and 3) stringently rebuff any attempts I make to ask them about their lives or to engage in what my generation thinks of as "friendly chit-chat." To be clear, I don't think anyone "owes me a smile" or even the time of day, but there is a cool indifference to their attitude that does really change my relationship with places that I frequent. Like, not only do I feel no loyalty, I feel actively UNWELCOME there. Turbo Tim's claims to be LGBTQIA+ friendly. Are you kidding me? What do they think "friendly" means? Treat everyone with the same amount of vague disinterest? I mean, I guess that's a kind of equality, but it doesn't feel anything approaching "friendliness."  No one extends even the vaguest of pleasantries. Instead, it's all very, "And you are?"

I don't know. I went back to them despite having twice been charged for something they could not fix because I assumed that just being asked to do some routine maintainance would be fine. And, I guess they did the work, so I shouldn't really complain, but I did not feel well taken care of or "valued" as so many places claim to want to do with their customers. 

I probably shouldn't be so annoyed. People are just trying to get through. But, I think, in 2025 the issue is that I feel like small kindness are going to MATTER. It's weird when you can't even count on a nice bit of stupid back and forth at the places you do business.

===

Okay, and now I just drove it on the highway to pick up Shawn. THE GROWLING I TOOK IT IN FOR IS STILL THERE. Yes, it's a little better? But it is still bad.

========

Update to the update: I have an appiontment elsewhere. Sorry kitties at Turbo Tim's. I actually need my car serviced. 

 
Image: Cat on top of a car inside Midway's Turbo Tim's.

When I posted this picture on Facebook, I noted "Took my car to Turbo Tim's. They got their best guy on it."

I really want to love Turbo Tim's. They are queer friendly and literally within a block and a half of my house. Dropping a car off with them is easy, peasey lemon squeezy. 

But I am deeply concerned that when I go an pick up my car today they will not have fixed the problem because the problem is not routine. It's actually REALLY weird. It's a mystery. Something where you have to have time and patience and a lot of expertise to figure out. I have some kind of parasitic draw sucking the juice from my battery on TOP of the fact that sometimes the wire just jiggles loose. I am very certain that  the loose wire is an AND problem, not the ONLY problem.  

But, inevitably (because this is the second time I've asked Tim's to look at this), they will come back with a simple diagnosis that the wiring is loose and they have tightened it and done and dusted. I saw that come through last night on my estimate, felt depressed, agreed to let them do a couple of other cheap things on their routine list of things they look at on your car and resolved that I was probably going to have to drive out to an auto place in Roseville that I used to swear by that I am 85% certain is run by Trump voting Republicans.  But Tor is the kind of mechanic who can actually trace a problem like this because he is that kind of motorhead Republican who actually kind of believes his manliness is attached to his ability to perform car miracles.  Which WORKS IN MY FAVOR in this instance...

...and I hate that.

I hated it so much that I decided to try to be proactive.

I called Turbo Tim's just now and said, "Look, I am really afraid that when I pick up my car, the problem will not be solved AGAIN." I told the person I talked to just now that I have actually brought the car in to them for this VERY SPECIFIC problem before, that they all did the exact same things that I can see on the list that they text me, and the problem not only continued, but has deterioriated. I do not like to have to pay for labor (although I said I would because I sincerely value labor, even unproductive labor,) when the problem isn't going to be fixed.  And I will be forced to take my car elsewhere if they simply don't have the expertise to fix this or are unwilling or otherwise unable to do it. I am a used car driver. Used cars have weird, dumb, mysterious problems. If Turbo Tim's only solves the easy to fix, routine problems that new cars have, then why are they in Midway??? (See: previous description of my neighborhood as a possum.) Or for that matter Northeast??

The person on the other end at first wanted to reassure me that this is how you test for the things and my car passed the test. I said, somewhat grumpily, "I guess that's why it's a mystery."  I appreciated that they used a voltmeter on my car, but my brother-in-law also owns one. Lots of people have voltmeters. I reminded them that this was their "solution" last time and the problem persisted. The person said, "Oh, you brought this in before?" I said, "Yes, and the problem wasn't fixed then either. This is why I am concerned. You have done the tests before and tightened the wire before. That is simply NOT the problem or it would have been fixed the last time." 

They have now promised to get an extra pair of eyes on the issue. Who knows what this means, but it is, at least, a token effort. 

I will probably still have to budget time (not to mention MONEY) to take my car to a different auto place. 

Still, last time I just sucked up. This time, at least, I am doing what I can.

 This morning certainly started out, didn't it?

I awoke to a note on the toilet in my wife's handwriting that said, "Plugged. :-("  After brushing my teeth and throwing on some pants, I went to the basement got the plunger and started at it. I had THOUGHT I'd got it unplugged, flushed the flusher and... the toilet promptly overflowed. Despite that inauspicious start, I eventually got things working with what I presumed was a minimum amount of water on the floor. 

BUT, as I was headed to the coffee shop to pick up what already felt like much needed fancy coffee, I got a text. Also from my lovely wife. It read: "Much bigger sploosh than you thought. Came through the kitchen ceiling. Need to bring up the dehumidifier, I think, to dry out." At least the coffee I bought for Mason was free because I'd filled up my punch card. Whee?

Got home, dragged up the dehumidifier turned it on and went on about my day, until Mason woke up and announced that he needed a ride to Best Buy to see if they could repair a hinge that has come loose on his fancy gaming laptop, the Razor Pro. Fine, fine, no problem, but we waited at the counter of the Geek Squad forever until a nice young man, Gavin, finally took a look. He admitted that they don't really do hardware repairs in store any more and so we might as well ship it back to the manufacturer--which was something Mason was trying to avoid, even though his computer is still under warranty. Gavin suggested we could also try Computer Revolution, a place I'd had really good luck with before. So, we thought we'd get a quick lunch at Noodle & Company since we were already at the Roseville Mall. Except, when I went to start the car it just didn't. At all.

Luckily, it occurred to me that the first thing I should check was the little screw top we use to disconnect the battery. We'd removed it when we left the car in the driveway all weekend up at our friends' cabin in Siren, Wisconsin. Fortunately, that seemed to do the trick, but HOLY SHIT I had a heart attack. This is our "new" car, the Camry, a gift from our other dear friends the Jackson, and as such is sort of the car I expect to continue to drive once our Ford is no longer road worthy. 

Still the little scare reminded me that I need to take it in for an oil change and so I wanted to call the new place that just opened up on University Avenue extremely close to me, but, like now, my brain BLANKED on their name and had to wait to get home to do this in order to ask Shawn. (Not a huge hassle, but I think you can see the pattern that is forming: death by a thousand cuts.)

Noodles & Company is also doing this weird thing where they seem to have removed their cash registers and are only accepting online orders, so even though we basically just stood outside and placed an order, it was another level of WTF hassle that we didn't need. Especially as both Mason and I tend towards HANGRY if we don't eat lunch by 11:30 am. It was after noon.

But we did get to Computer Revolution eventually and they had, unfortunately, the same news for Mason. They could fix it there, but the parts were insanely hard to get since Razor is proprietary in their bits and bobs. But they got the closest of anyone to look at it, having taken it apart and really giving it the college try. 

After all of this, Mason and I decided what we needed was a reboot. Shawn and I went for an afternoon walk and then a nap; he hid under his blankets for a few hours.

Things do seem better now?

I think this all feels so much more stressful because this weekend, we were looking at this:

 I got up early this morning to take the car in for its check-up. We are T-2 days for launch. I just got the call and they are going to do their best to fix our air-conditioning. They already did an oil change and are replacing and rotating tires, and giving me new front brakes. The bill will be hefty and Shawn won't like it, but the car will definitely be road worthy after that. 

One of the reasons I picked this particular auto place--besides the recommendations from friends, of course--was because it's on a fairly easy bus/train line from me. Unfortunately, the bus runs straight down Snelling (out-of-town friends, just think major thoroughfare.) Normally, this makes the trip fast.  But, I kind of forgot that today is the first day of the Great Minnesota Super Spreader, aka the State Fair, which is right on Snelling.  The bus crawled almost as much as my skin, as I watched all those maskless people amassing. You can feel free to yell at me about how outdoor events are safer, but I will remind you that they could literally track the explosion of cases from Sturgis. And, like Sturgis, the main event might be outdoors, but there are going to be indoorish places to buy beer and food and I don't know? Are the craft barns open? I did see a giant pumpkin being delivered, so I can only imagine so.

A big enough viral load and we all get overwhelmed....

I mean, can I point fingers? Only if I remember that most of them are pointing back at me. We are choosing to travel across the country to deliver our child to a university. At least Wesleyan is requiring proof of vaccination and masks indoors. I have no idea how that works in a dorm, but I presume you just kind of have to have your floormates as a pod. I don't know. That's the crazy, risky part. We are trying to mitigate what we can. I'm grateful a booster is coming. And, selfishly, even though Mason is lucky enough to be one of those people who did FINE with distance learning, I would like him to have the in-person experience, particularly at the university level. 

The other thing that has me stressed is our eldest cat, Ms. Piggy. She's 21. Until a couple of days ago, however, you really would not know it. She's had the Katherine Hepburn head shake going on for some time, so you'd know she was OLD, but she could hop up and move around like a kitten. In the last couple of days, she's been having a lot of trouble moving.  She's still eating and drinking like a champ. She's been trying to make it to the box, but last night she just let loose on the floor next to the box right during dinner. We have a piddle pad? But, it's clear her hips are just not up to even the shallowest jump right now. 

We have cat sitter coming to live-in while we're away, which makes me feel somewhat better. This person has cared for Piggy before, but I am going to need to write an addendum pre-absolving the cat sitter of any guilt should Piggy pass while we're away. I mean, she's a tough old lady? But, did I mention that she's TWENTY-ONE??

Yeah. 

Mason is mostly packed. I feel pretty good about the amount he's bringing. Shawn joined the Wesleyan parents Facebook page and there are people trying to send PALLETTES of stuff. We also watched our across the street neighbor load up a U-Haul for his kid. We're going to have a stuffed trunk? But, that seems reasonable in comparison, I think. I mentioned that he's getting a single, so that's kind of nice. He can decorate however he wants. 

His best local friend showed up last night in her car and they went off for ice cream together. She's going to Seattle, and him to Middletown,. Connecticut. They're going to be an entire country apart. 

On the other hand, this is the big moment that parenting is all about as far as I'm concerned. His own life begins! I have to be honest, I have jettisoned a lot of my memories of high school. I had one friend that I still sometimes miss, but I attempted to visit her at her college during one of my breaks and... it was awful, partly because I came head to head with the fact that I had a massive crush on her and the fact that she was in a serious relationship with a guy just about broke me. I came out only a few months later. She ghosted me after that... and that was probably actually a reasonable response in retrospect. I was deeply hurt at the time, of course. She never goes back to high school reunions and neither do I. I mean, I went back to my five year? Mostly because I'm an asshole and wanted to come out to everyone. I brought Shawn. People didn't recognize me with my hair short and with no make-up. It was actually kind of fun. No regrets. 

So, I mean, for me, the friends I made in college were the ones that lasted? 

I hope its the same with Mason.

 If you thought that somehow, thanks to the pandemic, you wouldn't be hearing stories of my adventures in idiocy, you'd be VERY WRONG, my friend.

Yesterday, I realized we were completely out of cat food and so I grabbed my teen, our masks, and headed to the car.  I put the key in and... "rrr?" was all I got. I tried again, "r?"  and then "..."  

We got out of the car and came inside to call triple-A. That was new and different, because I was asked very explicitly if me or anyone in my family had been exposed to COVID-19.  Since I presumed a certain amount of closeness and current-ness and certain-ness, my answer was "no." I mean, of course, I could have been recently and I wouldn't know for several weeks, and we were one-removed from a known case, but that was literally over a month ago and that person who was in contact with the confirmed case never developed any symptoms.  So... I felt fairly confident in my answer, and, at any rate, it was enough to get them to send someone. I also promised to be wearing a mask, which I did.

The triple-A guy was a hoot. He really wanted to understand the problem before coming out. So, I described everything again and confessed that it was, in fact, QUITE POSSIBLE that I'd forgotten to fill-up with gas.  Thing is, a lot of my car is electronic, and it has a little warning beep it gives me when I am running low on fuel. HOWEVER, when I'm low on something else--say, washer fluid--it really, really wants me to know about THAT over everything else. We are low on wiper fluid. I have not bothered to get any because: SNOW. So, I may have missed the indicator that warmed me about low fuel. Yes, yes, I have a gauge, but it's exactly 100% accurate, so I have been relying on the reminder.

Guess what?

I WAS out of gas.

On the other hand, the triple-A guy and I did a lovely social distance ballet while working on the car together. I left my AAA card and my driver's licence on the trunk, got into the car, he check that. He looked under the hood while I tried the car, made the determination to try the gas, while I stayed in the car. And, like this until the car started. We yelled at each other from across the road when everything was done (yelling, because masks really muffle your voice.) 

Anyway, it was weirdly entertaining. Then,  since I was already wearing the mask and I wanted to make sure the battery was charged, I went to Target by myself, got the cat food and was impressed with Target's social distancing and constant sanitizing. They literally wipe everything down between customers. EVERYONE was wearing a mask and gloves working there, and there were social distance markers on the floor to indicate where customers should wait in line. MOST of the customers were also wearing masks, some had gloves, and everyone was being really conscientious about how close they were to each other. Except, of course, family groupings, which was fine.

In other news, my sour dough starter has really started to percolate, so perhaps Vera wasn't quite as ready as I thought she was before. Today, I am making rolls and regular bread with her cast off. 

I also decided to be silly and made myself this "fancy" desert:


Image: wine glass full of orange Jello and orange slices--just how grandma used to make it, only FANCY!

Haters gonna hate, but I'm here to tell you: IT WAS DELICIOUS AND I REGRET NOTHING.

Also, I posted my cooking/food fic today, I hope my requester likes it. It is super fluffy and full of the smell of food, the preparing of food, and the eating of food. ALL THE THINGS I LOVE. 

This morning as my family piled into the car to head off to work and school, we discovered we'd been robbed. Someone had gotten into our car and rifled through the glovebox and the various compartments. They absconded with my adorable kitty change purse and about $1.50 in loose coins, most of them pennies.

I hope that $1.50 was useful.

Though I want my change purse back, you b*st*rds, That was a Solstice gift!

If you're wondering if we also suffered a broken window, we didn't. I have a 50/50 chance of remembering to lock the car doors and last night was apparently one of the times that I forgot. I should know better, as this has happened to us numerous times before. But, there's just so little to steal.. I mean, seriously, the cute little zip purse was probably worth more (to me, anyway,) than the collection of odd change within it.

We have to park outside, on the street, because, though we TECHNICALLY have a garage, it's so old that it still has "barn" doors. Currently, it's function is as junk storage/a potting shed.

I used to feel weird to see all of our stuff tossed around the front seat, knowing some stranger sat in our car trying to find something useful, but it's happened enough that now I just feel vaguely annoyed and sort of sad for an individual who is so desperate that a $1.50 makes it worth the effort/chance of being caught. Seriously, whoever you are, you missed the big payload on New Year's Eve. There was probably a whole two or three dollars in dimes just sitting on the steps outside of our house. Think of what you could have bought for three dollars! A whole Slim Jim! (maybe.)

This is why this is sad to me. I hope the other cars this person rifled through last night actually netted them enough money to buy some French fries at Wendy's, if that's what they needed.

Speaking of the car, it's currently at the mechanics. Our car's dash has been flashing an oil change warning for over a week now, and yesterday I called to see if our usual place, Dave's, had any time this week to slide us in. They told me that 8:30 am today would work, which is why I am writing to you all from the Dunn Brother's Coffeeshop in Roseville, which is kitty corner from the auto repair place (and attached to the Roseville library).

With all the vet bills, I really didn't want to have to take care of the car, but it's our only car and if it stops working with the kitty in it on the way to the emergency clinic... that would be more than bad. An oil change SHOULDN'T break the bank, either. It's just a hassle and it means I'm away from home and Ms. Ball for however long it takes.

( Continued kitty saga for those following along at home... )

...so that means I'll probably get nothing else done today.

Though to be more accurate, I started the day out feeling extremely stymied.

We seem to have developed a slow leak in one of the rear tires of our car. Mason, who would like to practice driving, had been bugging me to take care of it for days. Today, I finally decided that I would drive to my mechanic and see if they could just do that quick thing where they check for leaks, slap on a patch, and you drive away. ALAS. Tor told me that they can't get me in, even for something simple, until Monday. Poo. So, I drove home and made myself coffee.

Determined to get something done today, I decided to try to log-in to my work e-mail account. Ramsey County was hacked some time in September and so they briefly locked out all of us who were remote accessing. I thought that I had been keeping up on all the memos as to when/how it would be fixed, but apparently I missed a critical one that told me some instructions to get reconnected from home. So, when I attempted to log-in this morning from home (I wanted to figure out my work schedule for November as I missed most of October and, you know, a paycheck is important,) I got the weirdest message which was, paraphrasing, "Yep, your info is good, right log-in and password, but we're not letting you in because you're on a browser." I was like, "WTF." So, I called in to my supervisor and left a rambling message, because I had wanted to check in about a half-dozen things: my schedule, the up-coming Inservice day, and also now this whole "what is up with my email thing."

I thought, man, I need more coffee.

So, just as I sat down to complain to my online friends about how everything I tried to do today was blocked, I got the call from Amber at work and the fix is in, as it were. Whoo! I will still have to follow some instructions on my email to figure out how to log back in, BUT I now know when and where the inservice is and I have several dates to work in November.

Since I felt like I was on a streak, I texted a friend that I have neglected to get back to in a while and hopefully he and I can connect this upcoming Sunday, as Shawn and I are signed-up to do the "fall colors" tour in Lakewood Cemetery at 2 pm. It goes rain or shine, but I sure hope we FINALLY get a break in the rain.

In other news, Mason brought home a rather curious award from one of his debate tournaments last week:



The award reads "Fifth Speaker" which felt to me as if it were missing the word "BEST," but, because I first posted a jokey post about this on social media, I was inundated with explanations as to what this means in debate. Probably the best one came from my FB friend Laurinda Holm: "As a high school (and college) debater, I can tell you the 'best' is assumed and this is really good. It means he had the 5th most speaker points in his division."  My family, of course, just finds the wording humorous and Mason has been running around telling people silly things like, "I don't know who you think you are, but I'm Fifth Speaker." :-)

It does seem like he got an award for speaking fifth in a row, you know? Like, hey, you went fifth, so here's an award!

Anyway.

Otherwise, the New York Times thinks all y'all should catch up with us cool kids and write hand-written letters via snail mail. "We Could All Use a Little Snail Mail Right Now.'

My birthday is coming up in about a month (Nov. 18) so y'all have time to write to me.