Tuesday, April 26, 2011

CRCT Fun

Today one of my children went up to one of my co-workers and the following occurred...

Points to his head with both index fingers, then moves them in an arch toward the floor and says:
"I'm ready to FOCUS!!!"
Teacher:
"Seems like it." All while wide eyed and thinking, there is no way you can focus.

The joys of testing week!!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Murphy Strikes Again

This was an un-posted post that was sitting in my blog... I hope you enjoy it. This event occurred after the spring break debacle.

http://http://tigerteacher03.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-break-2011.html

http://tigerteacher03.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-break-2011-part-2.html

http://tigerteacher03.blogspot.com/2011/04/and-diagnosis-is.html

http://tigerteacher03.blogspot.com/2011/04/saga-continues.html

SOOOOOOO, I am apparently blessed with bad luck when it comes to my car.


This past Sunday, after church, two of my friends and I went to lunch. I pulled the car into the spot and pulled up too far. Oh goodie!!! My car ended up sitting on top of one of the cement guards in the parking space.


We come out from eating lunch and when I pulled back the car out I hear this terrible screeching/ scraping sound. YAY!!! I later find out that I have pulled the protector of the bottom of my car. It is now 4:30 pm and I am on my way back to church for my second Easter cantata performance. I crawl on the ground, in my church clothes, and grab hold of the dirty plastic. I yank and pull...twist and give all that I have and it just won't come off. So what do I do? I cut if off with a pair of scissors. Now the piece is being housed in the trunk of my car and will hopefully be fixed soon. When I have the time to take my car in...again.

Since this has occurred... I have thrown away the piece of plastic and waiting for a financial windfall so I can get it fixed.

Oh the joys of being a car owner.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

The Saga Continues

"Megan, it has to be all down hill from here. The car is fixed and we will pick it up on the way home Saturday. No worries." Well apparently Murphy was hiding in the trunk of my car during spring break, because crisis stuck again.


On Saturday, April 9th, Megan and I departed Ponte Verdra Beach, FL. We began our trip home with a planned stop in Savannah, Ga to pick up my car from Grainger Honda. I was contacted earlier in the week and was told that my car was fixed and that it was good to go.


Our first stop was at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where we returned our second rental car. This task was a breeze. They even gave us a ride to Grainger Honda in the car we returned, since it contained a week's worth of stuff that we loaded into the car. We had no desire to move it more times then was necessary.


Upon arrival at the dealership, I went inside to take care of paying (I had to have a baring replaced) and got my keys. Megan located my car and loaded it up with all of our belongings from the rental. While I am standing there, I see our buddy Patrick round the corner. He looks right at me and makes no acknowledgement of my existence. Ok, he may be busy or does not recognize the crazy woman that he met earlier in the week. So, I continue waiting. No use in yelling out at him and looking more crazy then I already am.


When my service manager, Robert, got to me, he told me that I would not be able to take my car that day. He explained to me that several of my valves were bent and that they would give me a loaner car and that I would have to come back the following weekend and swap the cars. FANTASTIC!!! I was super excited to hear this piece of news. I call Megan and explain the situation.

"You are kidding, right?"

"Ummm, no. Robert and I are on our way to see you."


I get outside and see that Megan has moved all of our belongings into my car. Robert promptly pulls the loaner car around and we empty my car and load the new car with all our goodies. We then proceed inside to fill out paperwork in order for me to take their car. Everything is filled out and we are ready to go, when Robert looks at me and says, "I think I made a mistake."

He had...he got me mixed up with another woman with the last name of Finway...Finnegan, Finway. All the same in the grand scheme of things. So we head back to the lot and move our stuff again.

1: Loaded Car at Aunt Mac's House

2: Rental 2 to my car

3: My car to Rental 3

4: Rental 3 back to my car


Mind you it is 86 degrees (we are sweating like pigs doing all this).


Robert gets behind the wheel of my car and turns her over. My car makes a sound as if a dying bird is flying around inside of it.

"What is that!?!" I know, I know...Ms. Calm, cool and collected.

"It's your AC belt. I will tighten it up and you will be on your way."

Oh goodie!!1 Megan and I set up camp in the dealership and begin to entertain ourselves. I read a book and Megan plays angry birds on her phone. We can consistently getting approached by people who work there...We are now local celebrities in this place. I decide that we just need to pitch a tent in the center of the showroom and move in. I mean hey...we have spent enough time there already, might as well.


30 minutes later, I am handed my keys and we depart the dealership. I say goodbye and we drive off. As we are pulling out of the parking lot, we drive past Patrick who waves at us confusingly. Then proceeds to text Megan.

"When did you get here?"

"Around 11:45." (it is now 1)

"Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

"Shannon said she saw you and you saw her and you didn't acknowledge her. Plus, you are at work and we did not want to bother you."


"If I saw her I did not realize it was her."


We are hungry at this point and hit up the Cracker Barrel in good ole Pooler, Georgia (remember this is where the car dies the first time). We also decide that my car needs a name. So, we name her Grainger after the Honda dealership. We eat lunch and I offer the keys to Megan so she can drive.

"Are you sure? The last time I drove your car it broke."

"Megan, it's fine. We got here no problem. They fixed it, you should be fine."

"Ok."


We fill the car with gas and begin our trek home, when all of a sudden the radio goes dead. I mean turns off. Not like we lost the signal...it turns off. All the gauges go to 0 and we lose power steering and brakes.


YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME RIGHT!!!


We manage to get the car into a Taco Bell parking lot and I call Robert while Megan begins pacing the parking lot more out of boredom then worry.

"The car died." I explained to him what happened.

"Can you start the car?"

I don't know...so I turn her over. IT STARTS!!! HOORAY!!!

"Can you get the car here?"

"I don't know, but I'll try."


I yell to Megan, "Get in!!!"

I drive the car around the parking lot, thinking this will be a good test to see if the car is ok. We are good. So, I take her out on the road. We pull into the turn lane to get onto I-95 south and tragedy strikes... SHE DIES AGAIN!!!


Well ,I call the dealership and tell them the situation. This time I know exactly where I am and Grainger Honda is sending service men to come save us. As we are waiting, we are upsetting many motorists as they have to go around us to get on to the interstate. Megan made up a song that we sang, "Go around us, we are stuck." All while we are hanging our arms out the windows waving people to go around.


Megan also asks me, "Why did you have to be a hero, Shannon?"


We had several offers for help and were also informed that we should turn on the hazard lights...ummmm they were totally on, but what ever was wrong with my car would not allow them to flash. Are you kidding? We are most certainly going to die in Pooler, Ga. I decide to call 911 and attempt to get police help so that someone did not smack into the back of my ca while we wait to be rescued.


After about 30 minutes, I look into my rear view mirror and I see a Blue Honda Civic pull up behind me with a Grainger Honda plate on the front. OUR RESCUERS!!! 2 service men get out of the car and Megan and I go into the wonderful air conditioned rescue vehicle. We watch as they try to jump the battery and then they throw the car into neutral and push it across 2 lanes of traffic. HOORAY!!! the car is now on the side of the road.


We now move all of our stuff from my car into the new civic and the cop arrives. This is now the 5th time we have moved our stuff. Now think about it...2 woman have packed one car for a week. This has been no easy task to move. We leave my car on the side of the road and head back to the dealership.


I call my mother and I am hysterically laughing because the delirium has hit me. She thinks I am kidding when I first tell her what happened. Then she realizes that this is not the case. OMG!!!


We arrive at our home away from home, Grainger Honda, and Robert looks at me and says the following:


"Ms. Finnegan it is your alternator. Take the came you came in (the blue civic) and go home. I will have your car fixed and I will have it brought to you in Atlanta."


We leave. We dance to music in traffic. We entertain fellow drivers and we arrive home.

I now have my car back. It was brought to me on Thursday morning while I was at work. It is fine and driving well, even though I 'm convinced that Murphy is living in my trunk, because there have been 2 more mishaps that I will write about in the coming days.

Megan and I have also come to the conclusion that we should never drive again on any of our trips... I am willing to risk it as long as we take her car. HAHAHA!!!

Until then, drive safe.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Quote

"Milk is just cheese in a glass."
Student today

Monday, April 4, 2011

And the Diagnosis is...

I had my oil change last Monday...they did not put the oil filter on properly so oil has been leaking ever since.

Now, I need a new Engine. Yes a new engine.

Now, the place that I had my oil changed at is taking care of all the details and will be covering all expenses including the rental car. I should have my car back for the trip home on Saturday. Megan and will have to pick the car up on our way home.

Tomorrow we will be returning the current rental to Savannah. We will get a different one from Enterprise. Megan has already tried to contact our friend Patrick, but he is not responding. Oh well!!!

I will keep you all posted as things occur.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Spring Break 2011 (part 2)

2 hours later...

Looking in the rear view we began to see lights. Was death approaching? Was this the proverbial light we hear about when death approaches?

No it was even better... It was the TOW TRUCK!!!

When the tow truck arrived, we met Raymond. Megan and I piled out of the car and gathered all the essential belongings. Purses and the computer...can't leave home with out the laptop. Megan and I made the long trek to the tow tuck and proceeded to climb on in to the cab of the truck, which smelled like a saloon. As the car was being loaded onto the bed of the truck, we were literally rocking and rolling in the truck. It was similar to begin on a ride at Disney where you are strapped into a seat and the platform moves and you watch a video. Super fun!!! Megan decided that she need to put on her seatbelt because we have now decided that we would now die in the tow truck.

Then we were off. Bouncing down the road. And I mean bouncing. Now those of you who know Megan and I, know that during this trek to the Honda Dealership we tried to entertain our new friend. We told him all about our adventure and our future plans. We also told him that we were planning on building ourselves a town next to the car when we thought that we may be stuck there. Well, we eventually got off the highway and Raymond took a wrong turn. So, instead of doing a safe three point turn, he decided to hook a U'ey in the middle of a road. In the process, he drove over a storm drain and landed the truck on the road with a thud. Megan (being addicted to caffeine) had a coke on her hand as we took this turn of death. The coke was in the can one moment and then all over Megan's shirt the next. For the love a Pete!!! Really?!?

We see the Dealership... I do believe the heavens opened up and angels began to sing the Hallelujah chorus as we pulled in. And of course sitting, waiting for us, were the car salesman voltures. Three of them to be exact. They were sitting in a golf cart and you know they were thinking, "Now they NEED a new car."

Megan climbed out of the truck followed by me and we made our way into the building. Raymond was instructed as to where to take my poor car. Megan made a B-line to the restroom, remember the coke and the storm drain.

In the mean time, our newest friend David is hunting for the number for Enterprise rent-a-car. Called the number...closed!!! Are you serious?!?
David got another number for another Enterprise.... OUT OF CARS!!! Now, how does a car rental place run out of cars.
David got another number...closed!!!
Now he hands me the phone book and says, "Good luck!"

We called Avis...they are first in Alphabetical order. They are open and HAVE A CAR!!! We book it and now we have to get to the Savannah International Airport. Call a cab!!! The first cab company I pick, by the picture of course, the number was no longer in service. Are you starting to see a trend here? The next one I pick, again by the picture, knows where we are and is on the way...

30 minutes late NO CAB!!! Now, Megan has made friends with on of the sales guys, Patrick. He has now offered to take us to the airport to get the rental...We call the cab company and they assure us they are in the way...

20 minutes later NO CAB!!! We call again. The cab stopped for gas an turned the wrong way on the street where the dealership is. Apparently, the cab driver and Raymond, the tow truck driver, got their directions from the same place.

Finally, the cab shows up and we get to the airport and get the car.

We bring the rental car back to the dealership so we can put of luggage and other various junk into the rental. As we are unloading the car, I spot a business card stuck to the driver side window. It's from Patrick and it says, "If you are ever in Savannah and need a ride give me a call." I burst into laughter and hand the card to Megan who also bursts into laughter. We decide that we will text him and harass him. Hey he gave us his number.

Also in the process, I forgot that we had opened the case of coke Megan had brought for the trip. Remember I told you she loves her some caffeine. So when I picked it up coke cans went leaping into the parking lot. We had two fatalities and Megan ran them to the dumpster as they are spewing soda all over her. She was determined to be wet and sticky by the end of the trip.

The trip to Florida took 13 hours and it should have been 6. We arrived at my aunt's house at 10:30pm and we left at 9:15 am. Weew. Glad that is over and now we are tan. We are also taking part in all types of vacation type activities ;-0

Spring Break 2011

"I've never ridden in a tow truck before!" The was just one of the many sentences that were shared between a coworker (Megan) and myself yesterday as our 6 hour drive to Florida turned into a 13 hour trip.

Cruising down the road and jammin' out to a favorite hits was on the menu for the day. We were 2 and a half hours away from our finial destination when it happened...
"Shannon, your car just died."
"What?"
"Your car just died!" Megan calmly tells me as she is pulling off to the shoulder of I-16 in Pooler, Georgia.
Now, Megan and I are pretty laid back and calm in most situations... on the outside, but the inner monologues were running rampant. I called my mother who was headed to the same finial destination, but was an hour and a half ahead of us. The calling of the parent is always a good choice. They for sure FREAK out when their children are in crisis. She pondered for a while as to whether or not she should come back to where we were located, but in the end decided there was nothing she could do and continued on.

At this point in out epic tale, I have now called the motor club and told them that we are NOT in a safe place. They told me that they would send a police officer to help us. Sweet... "I hope they send a cute one." This never happened. NO police officer ever showed up. Remember, we were not safe.

Now the next question for the motor club was, "Where are you?" My answer, "I am not sure." I told them we were on I-16, going east and we were west of I-95. If we could have seen into the future, we would have payed closer attention to the signs and mile markers. But since we happened to leave our crystal balls at home, we did not pay that close attention to the signs. I gave them some other information from the GPS in an attempt to be located. Well Raymond, the tow truck driver, could not find us. So, what was supposed to take a half an hour took 2 hours!!! We sat in the hot car for two hours...so what did we do, read. We each pulled out books and read. This was all while Megan was stress eating cereal. Oh the ways to cope with stress.

In between Raymond finding us and the first phone call to the motor club, I have called back twice. Apparently we were not where we said we were and I was getting fussed at... Now remember what I said earlier...I told them that I did not know where we were. Megan offered to get out of the car and walk the half mile to the sign we could not see, since it was being block by a tree.. When the motor club heard this, their response was, "Do not let her get out of the car!" Ok... she didn't.

M: "We might die here."
M: "We may have to build a shanty town on the side of the road. I will be its mayor."
M:"Who will I be? The resident Umpa Lumpa?"

To be continued...