Thursday, December 6, 2007

An Exciting Day ... Not!

It's been a pretty exciting and busy day for me at work today. Well, it didn't just involve work alone but it was exciting nonetheless. I sent my car on Tuesday to get some stuff that was really in dire need of repairs fixed. The mechanic was my regular guy and he said I had to leave my car there for a day or two. Which was no problem for me cos he was kind enough to lend me a spare car for me to use in the meantime. That's why I like this mechanic.

Now, what he didn't tell me was how bad the condition of the car was. The exterior of the car looked fine and dandy. But now, the interior left much to be desired (not that my car was all that much better but definitely way better than this one). So, I took the loaner car, thankful that he even had a loaner to lend me cos my work involves traveling quite a bit.

The first day I had the car everything was fine though it was kinda difficult to drive cos the clutch was sticking on 3rd gear and made this frightening grinding sound no matter how hard I pressed on the clutch itself. Now, the brakes, what can I say about the brakes. You all know Fred Flintstone right? You've all seen how he has to use his feet to stop the car? Well, this one was just like that. I had to press down so hard on the brakes to make a stop that I was afraid if I pressed any harder my foot would have gone through the floorboards!

As bad as that was I managed to eventually get a feel on how to drive that car with minimal gear crunching sounds and to be sure to brake at least 2 kilometres from where I actually wanted to stop ... LOL!

'Ok, that's not too bad'

But that was the least of my problems. This morning, I decided to go for an appointment first before returning the car and collecting my car which should have been ready. It was a nice rainy and cool morning and the drive to my clients place was uneventful until about a few kilometres aways when the car decided to start acting buggy. To get to this clients place I have to traverse this small narrow 2 lane road which is used by huge container trucks and delivery lorries.

First the car starts to jerk and choke on every single gear I depress, then it just dies in the middle of the road with huge speeding trucks behind me, not forgetting the oncoming ones. I hit the hazard lights as fast as I possibly can and swerve the dead car onto the side of the road which is like this small grassy and muddy thing and watch these huge monsters of container trucks speed by so close to the car. The truck drivers here tend to think they're all a Michael Schumacher, a Kimi Raikonnen or something.

Never mind I say as I sit there in that totally dead car trying to figure out what to do and hope to god that those freaking crazy truck drivers actually notice me at the side of the road. It's raining remember. So, I sit there a good 5 minutes trying to start the car and finally it starts.

'There is a god after all!'

I quickly head out of that tiny weeny space by the side of the road and continue my journey but a few metres down the road the same thing happens again ... arrgghhhh! I swerve to the side again and try again and finally it starts again. Once again I move off and this time the car goes much further before acting up again. I finally reach my clients place, quickly get my appointment finished and try to get the car back to my mechanic which is like kilometres upon kilometres away.

So, all the way back, in the rain and all, the car gives out on me nearly 20 times and I have to do the stop, wait, start, move procedure over and over again and nurse that car all the way back. It took me a good one hour plus to drive back which with a decent car that actually moves would have taken me 30 minutes! But reach back I did and immediately go tell my mechanic the problems I had with the loaner he gave me. He listens to me intently as I relate every single detail of the story to him and then he bursts out laughing and says ...

'Oh, saya lupa cakap itu keleta ala sikit ploblem la ...' (Oh, I forgot to mention that the car has a little problem ...)

That's when I felt like giving him a swift kick up his you know where! There I just went through a horrendous experience and here he actually knew the car had problems and didn't even inform me. Damn, I could do with a little less excitement in my life sometimes. Anyway I was finally glad to get my hands off that cursed car and get my own car back though I had to wait an hour or so more cos my car still wasn't completely fixed yet.

When the car was finally fixed and I got the bill my eyes nearly popped out, I clutch my chest and almost collapse from a self inflicted heart attack! It cost a bomb and a half! Gee, does he think just because I work in advertising that I can print my own money or something? There go you guys Christmas presents. I was thinking of buying each and everyone of my blogging buddies a Christmas present but now looks like you guys ain't getting nothing. Ok, ok, I was not really going to get anyone anything but it sounds so cool to say that I was ... LOL!

Oh well, that took practically half my working day (and precious blogging time ... LOL) to get sorted out but alls well that ends well they say. Now hopefully my own car doesn't give me any more crap for now. Have a great rest of the day people ... :D

28 comments:

  1. Oh.My.Goodness! I would be freaking helpless in the middle of nowhere! You seem so cool about all the container trucks whizzing past you! Oh, that's my biggest nightmare actually, to have the car die on me in the middle of the road!

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  2. it sounds as if my "before repair" PC turned into the loaner. Crash. Wait. Start. Crash. Wait. Start. LOL!

    At least you didn't have to pull a Fred and create a hole in the car so you can run along the road so you could reach your destination. hahaha..

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  3. That sounds like excitement you could have done without! Can't believe they let you drive a car like that! I would have got myself in a right state!

    Sorry to hear the repairs are costing a small fortune. I dread anything going wrong with my car. Touch wood, it will behave itself for a while...

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  4. BT - Cool? You should have seen me praying and hoping those crazy truck drivers could see me in the rain! LOL! I'm just happy I managed to get back in one piece ...

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  5. Shemah - yeah, your before repair PC sure sounds like the loaner I had! LOL!

    That would have been a sight to behold, me doing Fred Flintstone ... LOL!

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  6. The world according to me - I agree, the excitement I had today could probably last until early next week even ... LOL!

    The amount of money I spent on my car in the past, I could probably be driving a rolls royce by now ... LOL!

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  7. Hmm.... very exciting day... NOT!!!...lolz... can just imagine you braking with your legs.. now that would have been exciting..YES!!..

    Glad you have your car back Nick.. about the gift for all of us...it did sound good...lolzzz

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  8. Is it abnormal for a car to behave like that? My little Daisy always keeps my life exciting by being totally unpredictable and hormonal. LOL.

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  9. I'm glad everything went well in the end, you got your car back, minus a few Ringgit in the wallet!

    Too bad about the X'mas present though... hehehe

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  10. Oh I'd definitely be tensi too! Sorry u had a terrible day Nick! :(

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  11. Bud! What can I say? Just thank goodness you reached back safe and sound! :)

    More importantly...am i considered a blog buddy too...no right...I'm a real buddy right...so do I still get my Christmas pressie hehehe

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  12. aiyohh.. all i've been reading from your blog these past few days are really kinda sad.. maybe you should 'mandi bunga' or something.. lose all the bad karma, y'know.. hehe..

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  13. What a miserable experience with that car, Nick. So glad you made it back safe and sound, and yes, I might just have told that mechanic where to "park it"... right after he finished fixing yours of course! :-)

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  14. Lady Java, I'm sure that would have been a sight to behold, a kodak moment even ... LOL!

    Yeah, the gifts sure sounded like a great idea ... LOL!

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  15. Gypsy - well, if it was my car, it would have been normal but seeing as how it was a loaner it was a new experience for me ... LOL!

    Well, my car is the same. It so 'exciting' not knowing when it'll decided to go bust on me ... LOL!

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  16. Sweetiepie - it was more like minus a whole pile of money from my wallet! Money that I could really use for Christmas. But like you said, everything went well in the end, that's what matters :)

    Well, if you're good enough, Santa just might decide to send those Christmas presents after all ... LOL!

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  17. Marzie - tension was an understatement! I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown ... LOL!

    Well, my day improved after I got my old trusty car back :)

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  18. Dammit Adrian, you found a loop hole in my not getting gifts for blog buddies thingy ... LOL! If you're nice nice good lil boy, Santa just might drop something in your socks and make sure they're washes properly, k? You don't wanna wake up Christmas morning and find Santa dead in your living room now would you? LOL!

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  19. Syura - Mandi bunga? What kind of bunga? I'm inclined to try anything for a run of good luck for a change ... LOL!

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  20. Josie - I'm glad I made it back safe too. That's one reason I didn't give my mechanic my two cents worth on what I thought of him forgetting to inform me about that 'small' detail in the loaner, cos he was still working on my car. Don't want a lose brake cable or something now do I? LOL!

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  21. hahahaha!! opps sorry to be mean and laugh but you made it sound so funny!! am definitely adding your blog to my blogroll... can ya? :-)

    oh, and glad you came out of it in one piece.. :-)

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  22. I don't know about you Nick, but after I have left my car for a bit, it's almost like missing my kid when I get it back.

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  23. Sting - I'm glad my misfortunes can make you laugh ... LOL!

    Sure, go ahead and add me in your blogroll by all means ...

    I'm also really relieved I came out of it with all the pieces still intact ... LOL!

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  24. fmtv2 - to be honest, wifey and me both missed the car when it was at the repair shop. We kept counting the hours until our 'baby' got back to us ... LOL!

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  25. ouch! I know how expensive car-care is. hope they didnt overcharge you too much.

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  26. Meleah - I don't know of any repair shop here that doesn't overcharge ... LOL! Worse thing is, it's still giving problems! Arrggghhhh!

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  27. Any bunga can do.. preferably the ones that are really wangi.. Then just chant, "Make my bad juju go away" 3 times and wala!! Your bad juju is gone..

    LOL!! Give it a try Nick!

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  28. Syura - hmmmm, I think I'll just try it. I hope my mom doesn't ask what happened to her flowers in the garden later ... LOL!

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