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My car's day
Jul. 29th, 2005 11:14 pmWell, that was pretty good considering.
At 6:30 I call AAA to give them an hour's warning so that I can get my car towed at 7:30. They assure me they'll give me a call 5 minutes in advance so I can go to where my car actually is (1/2 mile away). Five minutes later they call, to tell me they'll be there in 30 min. Well, ok. Under five minutes later, naturally while I am in the bathroom, they call again to tell me they are at my car, and to ask where I am.
(This is not the good part.)
I rush out the door and sprint to my car, where I breathlessly explain to the truck operator my situation. He winches my car onto the flatbed, and we drive up the street to the nearby repair shop recommended to me. It's 7. They are closed, with no posted hours and no sign of life. The driver suggests using the repair shop associated with the towing company, and I warily agree.* We get there, I fill out the papers, they seem non-dodgy, and I make them swear they won't start work without confirming with me, giving them my cell phone number. I walk the mile or so home, noting on the way that I apparently live around the corner from 6 auto repair shops. Huh. (Although, in truth, they are mainly leaned towards body work, so not optimal.) It's nearly 8. I get in touch with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dkapell who agrees to drop me off on his way vaguely past my office, finish getting ready for work, and we head out. That all goes fine, except I realize just as I get into work that I have dropped my cell phone in dkapell's car, so the mechanic won't be able to reach me.
(This, too, is not the good part.)
The day passes, all my stuff works, we have our final build for the afternoon's release (did I not mention that today was our release date? Timing).dkapell returns, I retrieve my cell and find that the mechanic has left me 3 messages. Persistent guys. I call them back. It's the alternator, ~$350 to fix, I say go ahead; he says "it's getting pretty late to get done today - it might run into tomorrow." It's 4:45, so I think "well, duh" but so it goes. We hit Waltham again, meet up with the requisite people, screw around, and head out to dinner at the asian place that kindly let me leave my car in their parking lot overnight. It's getting towards 7. The repair place calls me up to say they're done, and I can pick it up any time before midnight. Normally they close at 6, but they stuck around specifically to finish up my car.
(So, that's the good part.)
Turns out they do decent work. Pro Tech, in Waltham, on River Street. Somehow we never noticed the gas station/convenience store/tow dispatch/repair shop before. I recommend them.
*See, my regular guys are really great at body work, and my other regular guys are pretty slick at tires/batteries/etc, but I don't really have a good, close, internals mechanic. So I was taking a bit of a gamble with anyone, I just wondered about his impartiality.
At 6:30 I call AAA to give them an hour's warning so that I can get my car towed at 7:30. They assure me they'll give me a call 5 minutes in advance so I can go to where my car actually is (1/2 mile away). Five minutes later they call, to tell me they'll be there in 30 min. Well, ok. Under five minutes later, naturally while I am in the bathroom, they call again to tell me they are at my car, and to ask where I am.
(This is not the good part.)
I rush out the door and sprint to my car, where I breathlessly explain to the truck operator my situation. He winches my car onto the flatbed, and we drive up the street to the nearby repair shop recommended to me. It's 7. They are closed, with no posted hours and no sign of life. The driver suggests using the repair shop associated with the towing company, and I warily agree.* We get there, I fill out the papers, they seem non-dodgy, and I make them swear they won't start work without confirming with me, giving them my cell phone number. I walk the mile or so home, noting on the way that I apparently live around the corner from 6 auto repair shops. Huh. (Although, in truth, they are mainly leaned towards body work, so not optimal.) It's nearly 8. I get in touch with
dkapell who agrees to drop me off on his way vaguely past my office, finish getting ready for work, and we head out. That all goes fine, except I realize just as I get into work that I have dropped my cell phone in dkapell's car, so the mechanic won't be able to reach me.(This, too, is not the good part.)
The day passes, all my stuff works, we have our final build for the afternoon's release (did I not mention that today was our release date? Timing).
dkapell returns, I retrieve my cell and find that the mechanic has left me 3 messages. Persistent guys. I call them back. It's the alternator, ~$350 to fix, I say go ahead; he says "it's getting pretty late to get done today - it might run into tomorrow." It's 4:45, so I think "well, duh" but so it goes. We hit Waltham again, meet up with the requisite people, screw around, and head out to dinner at the asian place that kindly let me leave my car in their parking lot overnight. It's getting towards 7. The repair place calls me up to say they're done, and I can pick it up any time before midnight. Normally they close at 6, but they stuck around specifically to finish up my car.(So, that's the good part.)
Turns out they do decent work. Pro Tech, in Waltham, on River Street. Somehow we never noticed the gas station/convenience store/tow dispatch/repair shop before. I recommend them.
*See, my regular guys are really great at body work, and my other regular guys are pretty slick at tires/batteries/etc, but I don't really have a good, close, internals mechanic. So I was taking a bit of a gamble with anyone, I just wondered about his impartiality.
