I'mstudyingformyfinalandfinalssuck,it's3AM-Monday 5/12/08

[coldfire]

Hey chuck, you can still ditch her next week and head on over to the beach! Heh, it really sucks that you guys can't come though. It would make things so much more enjoyable. Same goes for you too Dave. Hell same goes for everyone. I even had Victor (QuickVic) thinking about driving in from California.

But just for you Kev, I will now relate the horror story from Saturday at the dealership. Left the apartment in Terre Haute at 5am(est), made it to the train station in Champaign IL at about 6:05(central) for a 6:10 train that was delayed until 6:45. Made it to union station around 9:15 or so. Then at 10:30 got on the metra bound for naperville. Around 11:30 I arrived there and was picked up by Gabe, the sales guy. We got to the dealership, test drove the car, went over all the numbers (they had IN sales tax off by .25% on the low side, so that was annoying) then we started trying to deal with the actual payment. I had a loan for the majority of the cost of the car and then $1000 in cash for the rest of it. Except they wanted money in their had for the total amount of the car before they would release it and the loan wouldn't actually deposit money until today......... Needless to say this was a problem as I didn't have a way to get home. They were able to finance me for 13K and some change. And I had to come up with 7 grand out of my ass. There was supposed to be a limit of 2500 that you could put on a credit card. Due to the situation they allowed me to put 2700 on my credit card (I told them that would max it out, when in reality I saved a couple hundred dollars for gas and such). Then I had to find another 4K. I started calling people, can't call mom and dad or use their credit card because they aren't being told about the car. My cousin was willing to give it to me, after all it was going to get refunded on tuesday. She activated her card and then it wouldn't go through. Spent hours on the phone with credit card companies, friends. I had 4K available on another card that I had left at home because I'm not using it due to a high interest rate. But being at home didn't help cause I didn't have the numbers or anything. Finally at 8:30 Central time. The sales manager gets involved, he comes over and listens to the story. By this time I've already missed the last train leaving chicago bound for home. I had no money cause I had 'maxed' out my credit card. Ya di ya di ya. He goes off to talk to the finance manager. Comes back and says "I have good news and I have bad news." I'm sitting there thinking, wtf kinda bad news can you have now. Then he says, the bad news is that you have to drive home. The good news is that your doing it in this car. End result. I guess they got tired of dealing with me and gave in. They let the 4K slide and just gave me the car. The funny part is, Gabe the sales guy felt so bad that he gave me $10 out of his pocket for me to get food on the way home. All I had the entire day was an apple, a soda, and lots of free coffee at the stealership.

On a side note, I stopped on the way home at a gas station with a dunkin doughnuts, ordered an omlette, and the guy gave it to me for free. I guess that it was closing time and they had to throw away the food for that day anyway. Good deal right there.

Anyway, thats my story. 9 hours in a honda dealership, 7 hours on/waiting for trains. 4 hour drive home cause it started raining just as I left.

[duckdog]

After today, only have to face two more mondays!!!

[duckdog]

Ben, I think we all have horror stories about dealing with dealers. Your's is up in my top ten, though.

[coldfire]

Haha, thanks Dave. After having the car for about 36 hours, having a warranty and the insurance being as low as it is. I still feel like it was worth the hassle. Its truly a pleasure to drive (except on Chicago's crappy roads) and if theres an issue with it, it'll get fixed for free. Also for being six one with long legs. Its pretty spacious for a sports coupe.

[PekaBou]

Originally Posted by Valkyrie

Well I'm off. Hopefully they will have free internet or I won't be talking to y'all till Friday. See ya.

oh dear!!!!


I hope they have free internet, too ! ! ! !


Have a great conference/meeting/whatever it is you're doing, Michelle!

[duckdog]

Originally Posted by coldfire

Haha, thanks Dave. After having the car for about 36 hours, having a warranty and the insurance being as low as it is. I still feel like it was worth the hassle. Its truly a pleasure to drive (except on Chicago's crappy roads) and if theres an issue with it, it'll get fixed for free. Also for being six one with long legs. Its pretty spacious for a sports coupe.

You only need room for yourself and a passenger. Do you prefer blond, brunette, or redhead?

[coldfire]

Finding a new 'hole in the wall gang'

Published May 11, 2008
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Photo

Photo: Gadsden Times | Marc Golden
Kittens Boo, left, and Waldo were rescued from Gadsden Times News Editor Greg Bailey’s kitchen wall.

A few weeks ago, Helen gave me a list of gift ideas for her for Mother’s Day. She’s learned after nearly 16 years of marriage not to leave me to my own devices on such things, especially when it comes to choosing gifts.

Not surprisingly, I lost that list and had been trying to remember what was on it, until something happened in the Bailey household last weekend that made the list moot and made this Mother’s Day one to remember.

On my dinner break Friday night, putting my dishes away in our kitchen, I heard a noise from the wall behind our stove. It sounded like a chirp or a squeak. My eldest son, Ryan, was also in the kitchen, and I asked, “Do you hear that? What does it sound like?” He replied, “It sounds like a bird outside,” and looked out the window but no bird was seen

I heard the sound again. “No, it’s coming from the wall.” Helen, summoned from the living room, shot down my theory. “That’s not a bird or a squirrel, that’s a cat,” she said.

“Wonderful” was my sarcastic first thought as I envisioned how especially distasteful a dead animal might be in the kitchen wall. But, I had to get back to work and there was nothing I could do at that moment, except say a silent prayer that whatever had gotten into our wall would find its way out.

When I got home from work after midnight, I walked into the kitchen with my fingers crossed ... only to hear not one noise, but two from inside the wall.

I went to bed, saying the same silent prayer as earlier and hoping the noises would be gone by morning.

Not only were they not gone, they were getting louder and more insistent.

I kept banging on the wall, hoping to drive whatever was there out. I spent a long time underneath the house with a flashlight, trying to find out how something managed to get inside our kitchen wall. (We still have no clue.)

Reality set in, and Helen and I grabbed the tools. Or at least she did. I can use tools, but I’m slow. And after nearly 16 years of hearing “let me do it” and being shoved out of the way by someone who freely admits that impatience is one of her virtues, I’ve learned to let her go.

Helen punched one square hole out of the wall — and it wasn’t just drywall, we have an old house with plaster lathe walls, so some wood had to be removed as well — where we thought we heard the noise. No luck.

Twelve or so inches to the left, she punched out another hole. She stuck her hand in and felt around, then drew back in horror.

“I grabbed a tail,” she said, as both of us conjured up visions of a very large rat.

Helen reached in one more time ... and drew out, by its back this time, a tiny (as in fitting into the palm of your hand) cream-colored male tabby kitten. It was dirty, flea-bitten, hungry, scared ... and I wished I had a camera handy to record the look on Helen’s face. I knew at that instant we had another member of the family.

We called our vet’s emergency line, not having a clue what to do with a kitten that small ... we estimated about 3 weeks old ... and were in luck. One of the techs was to be at the office later in the afternoon, and they told us to stop by. The kitten was treated for fleas, its only malady, and we got some formula to feed it.

We were no longer hearing noise and thought an echo might have been causing the two noises we heard earlier. We covered the holes with duct tape temporarily, thinking that was the end of the story.

Wrong.

I was out shopping a couple of hours later, when my cell phone rang. It was Ryan. “Dad, Mom just pulled another cat out of the wall. “Welcome to the family,” I thought.

Back home, I found a third taped-up hole and another tiny kitten, a curly-haired black male, housed next to her sibling in a cat carrier in our living room.

Helen, who is known for giving her cats unique names, dubbed the tabby Waldo, because of him coming out of the wall plus being so tough to find, a la “Where’s Waldo?” She dubbed the black one “Boo,” simply because she said it fits. Who was I to argue?

The past few days have been like “back to baby-rearing days” around our house, including getting up in the middle of the night for feedings, being that small kittens have to eat quite often (the formula wasn’t satisfying them, so we’ve already moved them to kitten food, which they are devouring).

Ryan and our youngest son, Aaron, are, of course, thrilled with the new arrivals.

Seymour, our nearly 4-year-old Maine Coon/Norwegian Forest Cat mix, who has had the run of the place for three years, is not so thrilled, although he’s finally starting to venture out of the hiding place he took to after the kittens infringed on his territory.

Helen? Sunday, while holding the kittens, she said, “You know, I don’t need anything else for Mother’s Day. This (the kittens) is fine.”

She joked that the long-term investment ... shots, neutering, food, etc. ... for them would have a bigger price tag than the list she’d given me.

Maybe it will. But it’s hard to put a price tag on the scene of her sitting there cuddling those kittens.

And what could be a better Mother’s Day present than “motherhood?”

Greg Bailey is news editor of The Gadsden Times.

Link

[TireMeltingRSX]

Originally Posted by coldfire

Hey chuck, you can still ditch her next week and head on over to the beach! Heh, it really sucks that you guys can't come though. It would make things so much more enjoyable. Same goes for you too Dave. Hell same goes for everyone. I even had Victor (QuickVic) thinking about driving in from California.

But just for you Kev, I will now relate the horror story from Saturday at the dealership. Left the apartment in Terre Haute at 5am(est), made it to the train station in Champaign IL at about 6:05(central) for a 6:10 train that was delayed until 6:45. Made it to union station around 9:15 or so. Then at 10:30 got on the metra bound for naperville. Around 11:30 I arrived there and was picked up by Gabe, the sales guy. We got to the dealership, test drove the car, went over all the numbers (they had IN sales tax off by .25% on the low side, so that was annoying) then we started trying to deal with the actual payment. I had a loan for the majority of the cost of the car and then $1000 in cash for the rest of it. Except they wanted money in their had for the total amount of the car before they would release it and the loan wouldn't actually deposit money until today......... Needless to say this was a problem as I didn't have a way to get home. They were able to finance me for 13K and some change. And I had to come up with 7 grand out of my ass. There was supposed to be a limit of 2500 that you could put on a credit card. Due to the situation they allowed me to put 2700 on my credit card (I told them that would max it out, when in reality I saved a couple hundred dollars for gas and such). Then I had to find another 4K. I started calling people, can't call mom and dad or use their credit card because they aren't being told about the car. My cousin was willing to give it to me, after all it was going to get refunded on tuesday. She activated her card and then it wouldn't go through. Spent hours on the phone with credit card companies, friends. I had 4K available on another card that I had left at home because I'm not using it due to a high interest rate. But being at home didn't help cause I didn't have the numbers or anything. Finally at 8:30 Central time. The sales manager gets involved, he comes over and listens to the story. By this time I've already missed the last train leaving chicago bound for home. I had no money cause I had 'maxed' out my credit card. Ya di ya di ya. He goes off to talk to the finance manager. Comes back and says "I have good news and I have bad news." I'm sitting there thinking, wtf kinda bad news can you have now. Then he says, the bad news is that you have to drive home. The good news is that your doing it in this car. End result. I guess they got tired of dealing with me and gave in. They let the 4K slide and just gave me the car. The funny part is, Gabe the sales guy felt so bad that he gave me $10 out of his pocket for me to get food on the way home. All I had the entire day was an apple, a soda, and lots of free coffee at the stealership.

On a side note, I stopped on the way home at a gas station with a dunkin doughnuts, ordered an omlette, and the guy gave it to me for free. I guess that it was closing time and they had to throw away the food for that day anyway. Good deal right there.

Anyway, thats my story. 9 hours in a honda dealership, 7 hours on/waiting for trains. 4 hour drive home cause it started raining just as I left.

Damn dude, that blows. But at least it worked out in the end, and the salesman who gave you the $10 seems to not be a total douchebag like most of them.

Originally Posted by coldfire

Haha, thanks Dave. After having the car for about 36 hours, having a warranty and the insurance being as low as it is. I still feel like it was worth the hassle. Its truly a pleasure to drive (except on Chicago's crappy roads) and if theres an issue with it, it'll get fixed for free. Also for being six one with long legs. Its pretty spacious for a sports coupe.

yeah they're pretty shitty. Spent way too much time on them this weekend.

[coldfire]

Originally Posted by TireMeltingRSX

Damn dude, that blows. But at least it worked out in the end, and the salesman who gave you the $10 seems to not be a total douchebag like most of them.


yeah they're pretty shitty. Spent way too much time on them this weekend.

Then theres union station. All they have signs for is the freaking food court!

[n0s_speed]

good everyone.

back to work.

Originally Posted by Nikon1

AW! It's a Miserable Monday here in South Jersey - Heavy (flooding) rains and high winds!

Hope everyone has a better day than Icey! Study more during the semester and finals are just a recap.

dang, we're going to be in the 70s this week.

Originally Posted by coldfire

AW. Seems like this is the week for countdowns. HotIce is just about done with finals, Dave has three weeks left. In five days I'll be heading to the beach. Its the summer baby! At least its finally sunny here, only 43 though.

don't forget my dental apt.

Originally Posted by coldfire

Hey chuck, you can still ditch her next week and head on over to the beach! Heh, it really sucks that you guys can't come though. It would make things so much more enjoyable. Same goes for you too Dave. Hell same goes for everyone. I even had Victor (QuickVic) thinking about driving in from California.

But just for you Kev, I will now relate the horror story from Saturday at the dealership. Left the apartment in Terre Haute at 5am(est), made it to the train station in Champaign IL at about 6:05(central) for a 6:10 train that was delayed until 6:45. Made it to union station around 9:15 or so. Then at 10:30 got on the metra bound for naperville. Around 11:30 I arrived there and was picked up by Gabe, the sales guy. We got to the dealership, test drove the car, went over all the numbers (they had IN sales tax off by .25% on the low side, so that was annoying) then we started trying to deal with the actual payment. I had a loan for the majority of the cost of the car and then $1000 in cash for the rest of it. Except they wanted money in their had for the total amount of the car before they would release it and the loan wouldn't actually deposit money until today......... Needless to say this was a problem as I didn't have a way to get home. They were able to finance me for 13K and some change. And I had to come up with 7 grand out of my ass. There was supposed to be a limit of 2500 that you could put on a credit card. Due to the situation they allowed me to put 2700 on my credit card (I told them that would max it out, when in reality I saved a couple hundred dollars for gas and such). Then I had to find another 4K. I started calling people, can't call mom and dad or use their credit card because they aren't being told about the car. My cousin was willing to give it to me, after all it was going to get refunded on tuesday. She activated her card and then it wouldn't go through. Spent hours on the phone with credit card companies, friends. I had 4K available on another card that I had left at home because I'm not using it due to a high interest rate. But being at home didn't help cause I didn't have the numbers or anything. Finally at 8:30 Central time. The sales manager gets involved, he comes over and listens to the story. By this time I've already missed the last train leaving chicago bound for home. I had no money cause I had 'maxed' out my credit card. Ya di ya di ya. He goes off to talk to the finance manager. Comes back and says "I have good news and I have bad news." I'm sitting there thinking, wtf kinda bad news can you have now. Then he says, the bad news is that you have to drive home. The good news is that your doing it in this car. End result. I guess they got tired of dealing with me and gave in. They let the 4K slide and just gave me the car. The funny part is, Gabe the sales guy felt so bad that he gave me $10 out of his pocket for me to get food on the way home. All I had the entire day was an apple, a soda, and lots of free coffee at the stealership.

On a side note, I stopped on the way home at a gas station with a dunkin doughnuts, ordered an omlette, and the guy gave it to me for free. I guess that it was closing time and they had to throw away the food for that day anyway. Good deal right there.

Anyway, thats my story. 9 hours in a honda dealership, 7 hours on/waiting for trains. 4 hour drive home cause it started raining just as I left.

dang, atleast there's a happy ending to that story. congrats on the car, again.

[duckdog]

Well, here we are at work, and the network is snafued. Wonderful.

[n0s_speed]

i soooooooooo miss my bed right now........

[TireMeltingRSX]

Originally Posted by coldfire

Then theres union station. All they have signs for is the freaking food court!

We ate lunch there very often when I worked at CDW. Our office was right across the street.