random thoughts – Day 1,226 – (Wednesday) – timelines and backstory

My car was in the shop for 10 days for repair of a dent. 

Backstory: The neighbor puts the three trash and the three recycle bins for her three-family home in front of my small bungalow. Sometimes, the barrels run right up to the edge of the fence and driveway where I park. The barrels are usually two to three feet into the street away from my fence, which spares the fence caps from being ripped off when the barrels are lifted (it happened once) and adds an extra degree of difficulty to back into my driveway. I back in because the other neighbor’s basketball net is placed directly opposite my driveway, and I don’t want to risk running over one the kids who can’t seem to get out of the street when I’m trying to leave.

The $1,200 dent.

More backstory: One Sunday in May, after getting groceries, I hit the next to last of the neighbor’s recycle barrels in the lineup while pulling right in preparation to turn to the left and back into the driveway. The two bins at the end of the lineup moved and one tipped over and spilled into my driveway. 

I was super unhappy and sweary as I righted the tipped over bin and picked up the stuff from the driveway and threw it back into the bin. The recycle bin was unscathed. Baby Jeep sustained a $1,200 dent and gouge in the paint. Zero stars, I do not recommend. 

It took a couple weeks to get the estimate and schedule the repair. When the appointment was made for three weeks out, the service manager explained it was a three-day job, with details like “part X comes off and part Y comes off and this happens and that is painted and things dry and blah blah blah. Ok, cool. I had basically stopped listening after “three-day job” because I just wanted to know the time, not how to build the clock.

The car was dropped off before work last Monday. The service center said text updates would be provided. Cool, because I don’t necessarily love talking on the phone. The prearranged pickup from the rental car place was an hour late.

On Tuesday, I noticed the black Chevy Malibu rental car, which is low to the ground and harder to get in and out of than the Jeep, had a New Hampshire inspection sticker and license plates that had all expired in March. Not cool, but it was only for three or four days and one day was already done, so not the end of the world. I wasn’t in the mood to ask for another car for just another day or two.

On Wednesday, day three at the body shop, there had been no updates on Baby Jeep. I finally called, expecting to hear it would be ready Thursday or Friday. The service manager casually said, “early next week,” as if I should have known this all along. When I said I thought it was a three-day project, he repeated, “nope, early next week.”

On Monday, one week after drop off, the first text update finally came. The estimated completion date had been updated from pending to 07/27/2023. Tuesday’s update said they were “nearing completion,” and if delays were encountered, they would call. At 4:00 today, the service manager called to say the car was done.

Upon learning they close at 5:00, I flew into action. I haven’t moved that fast in a while. I was in the service center waiting room handing over my bank card at 4:17 and back home by 4:45. There was no way I was waiting another day. Thursday’s schedule includes physical therapy before work, meetings and a webinar during work, and book club after work. Nope, nope, there was not room for anything else on Thursday.

The car looks great. They even cleaned the inside to a showroom ready look. It’s nice to be back in the vehicle where I know where everything is.