Bleeding Roger Bundy

Jimmy loses brakes, I don’t care, eh? Hmm. About two hours after I wrote that post, I called the mechanic and they said it would be ready in time for me to go to work. I missed a day of work at the shipping depot because of that damned Jimmy? Now I care.

I’ve been able to function properly because I follow a routine. While the routine itself is flexible, there are core realities that cannot change. Every morning when I wake up, I have to go to work. That didn’t change. I also wake up knowing that I have a way to get to work. That changed, and it screwed up my entire mindset. I had to call off working at the shipping depot Friday night, and it infuriated me. I went home and couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I was losing money with every hour that went by. I tried everything I could think of to shake myself out of it. I even watched one of my favorite movies, The 25th Hour, and I couldn’t even focus on that. Usually, movies that center around NYC put me in a better mood, especially one as well written. But, within 30 minutes, I turned it off and was walking around the batcave aimlessly. I lay in bed staring up at the wooden beams and cobwebs lost in thought. I couldn’t focus my thoughts and barely got sleep.

On Saturday morning, I called the mechanic and they said the car still won’t be ready, probably until Monday. They said they were having problems connecting all the new parts to the GMC Jimmy’s rusted frame. My mind was completely fucked up. I started texting Ola or Sha to see if they could drop me off at the shipping depot. I never ask for help, but I was too messed up to remember my precious "my fault" philosophy. Once I collected myself, I texted them saying that I found a ride and not to worry. I ended up renting a car for $40 per day, a late model Dodge Charger, to take me to work. The ride was great (or at least much better than the Jimmy), but I could barely enjoy it because I knew I’d have to wait until Monday to stop bleeding all this money! $40 per day means I’ll have to pay $120 to the rental company IF the Jimmy is fixed by then. After this, I’ll probably have to pay an extra $300 on top of the $1000 for the extra labor those idiots did. I can’t take much more of this.

I know I can’t prove this, but I started to suspect whether they deliberately screwed with my vehicle when they inspected it the first time. The very notion of the possibility that they may have scammed me out of my hard earned money sent me into a rage. Using the “My Fault” philosophy, I should have taken my vehicle elsewhere. In 2013, I’ve done a much better job of asking the people that get paid from my hard work for advice/help (tax guy Ross and lawyer Marvin Wassle), and I should have used Angie’s List to find a reliable mechanic. But what could I do now? Without proof, I can’t get revenge on those guys at Monro. I can only make sure that I never go to Monro Brakes again, and I won’t. That still wasn’t enough to satisfy my ego. Then I remembered a promise I made in October of last year, and I was finally in the situation to carry it out—Hector.

Everything went as I planned it, except that I didn’t know how to turn off the headlights as I was driving by his house. The Charger is also lower to the ground than I thought, so I actually had to get out of the car to get good aim. That, and some iced cream with extra Oreo's and sprinkles from Friendly’s the next morning, took my mind off my money hemorrhage and I felt a little better.

Gotta do something

Today I have to sit and wait for the call from Monro to let me know my car is finally ready. I realize now that I may have to wait until I purchase PPC #3 before I can go to Brooklyn to get a better car, as mortgage companies generally don’t like when applicants spend a huge sum of money during the mortgage process. I have to hope that, after they fix the GMC Jimmy, it won’t give me any problems until closing. Ugh, I hate that vehicle. You know, I’ve had cars that were worse. I used to own a 97 Chevy Blazer that would simply turn off while I was driving 60mph on the highway. I hated that vehicle too. Now I can look back and laugh about those times. Maybe after a couple years of driving a reliable vehicle, I can look back on my time with the Jimmy and laugh about it. But for now, I just want this ordeal to be over so I can get back to routine.

P.S.: I was tempted to take a picture of what happened Saturday night, but I decided against it. While it would be nice to have a picture of that on this blog that would make me smile every time I see it, posting a picture of a crime (no matter how petty) goes beyond even my level of stupidity. By the way, I went online today and found the full names of the three guys that I dealt with at Monro. I sent the names to the P.I. in Brooklyn that I use from time to time to get their info… just in case I get proof. Scam Roger Dodger out of $45 and bad things might happen to a window or two. Scam me out of thousands? Please...