I have been pretty excited to get out to Portland. With May 10th right around the corner, I was ready to start packing already. For those who personally know me, you know well that I hated my current job for one reason or another. Not to get into details, but let's just say it really brought me down and discouraged me. It had nothing to do with my boss, who is a great boss by the way, but the environment and the seclusion that the job presented was just something I didn't need. All this to say, I figured that April 30th (my last day of work there) would be one of the best days I've had in a long time.
Lucky for me though, my life just isn't that simple. My life needs to be more boring and uneventful. Sometimes those events suck, such as what happened after I quit. I had just gotten my car back and was on my way home before leaving to go to the Verizon store so they could fix my phone, then to my Uncles. On the way to the store, my emergency brake light turned on, as did my battery light. Then...random lights began to fill my dashboard, yet I was driving fine. If you don't drive much, this isn't normal and is cause for alarm. I took it to Advanced Auto parts only to be told my car is too old to be hooked up to their computer and checked. So I drove to the nearest Auto Zone and they checked. I got two answers when they hooked up my car which were, it's either my battery but more than likely it's my alternator. I was also told that I was ripped off financially by the guy who worked on my car and that it could have been something he did that caused this. On the way home, my car slowly went on what seems like a Car Acid Trip and wasn't shifting into gear, was revving up all by itself, and was just being crazy. When I parked it, after backing up my driveway cause it was the only way I was able to make it up (for some reason) and revved up to 3 rpm's before I shut it off.
I wasn't happy. Actually, I was angry beyond words. Even the Pens game wasn't making cheering me up. I just laid in my room, not eating, watching the game hoping to feel something that wasn't sadness, betrayal, and anger. Oh, betrayal is in there because my grandfather used to be the boss of the mechanic shop. So, they know me and my family. Wonderful, right? So I just got a car back that only needed back brakes, a rotor and a new belt. Those are wonderful but everything around them is failing. Everything that worked perfectly before I took it in.
This morning, I woke up and left for the shop hoping to speak to the manager, Tim. I've dealt with him a number of times. He's a really cool guy, even sold me my second car. Unfortunately, he wasn't there. The mechanic who worked on my car was though. So we talked it out and they sent a flatbed to pick it up, after which my dad looked at my bill. He noticed something they fixed (which they didn't ask if they could) and said one small mistake doing that could have fried my cars computer and ruined my alternator, which explains everything that has gone wrong.
And so I am a bit hopeful again. I've decided, car or not, I'm definitely still going out to Portland. I have an opportunity to work for an organization that is doing some great work helping those in South Africa, believing in their friends down there and investing in the future of that country. I'm hoping that, if a mistake was made, they will own up to it and fix my car. Who knows, this could end up being the best thing that could of happened. Maybe this mistake, should they fix it, will actually fix my car up even more. Maybe this won't happen and I'll be car-less in Portland. The house I'm staying at isn't that far from where I work, so I can manage.
Why I share all this, I'm not so sure. Maybe something to write about. Maybe a way for those of you who are keeping up with me to keep up with what is going on. Who knows? But I plan to keep going on with the things I want to do, I plan to be in Portland in a few weeks, helping These Numbers Have Faces serve their friends in South Africa. A small bump in the road isn't going to stop me.
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