Friday, March 5, 2010

The One Where Everything Went Wrong

The title is no exaggeration, everything that could possibly go wrong lately has gone wrong. Let me explain.

If you've followed along, you know that car trouble to me is regular occurrence. So when the car I've been driving (my mom's white convertible) started breaking down AGAIN, I thought to myself, "I really need my own car ASAP!" So I started car shopping. Before you know it I'm at a dealership signing papers for a 2005 Toyota Corolla. I had looked at this car forever online and in a whirlwind of activity at the dealership, it became mine...kinda...see after I drove off and the reality set in, I realized that the car didn't have everything it was advertised as having. No keyless entry, no power seats or power windows and no MP3 hook-up. Shocked at my discovery, I (along with my friend Sam, but it was mostly Sam who did the talking cuz I am a baby) brought it to the attention of the dealership that they falsely advertised their car, to which they responded "Too bad so sad" (I am paraphrasing).

Their rude behavior and deception was too much! On top of it all they were unable to deliver a low APR as promised. So I did what every 24-year-old who is in over their head would do. I called my parents. For days it was a back and forth phone-call marathon between my mom, me and the dealer. The dealer would call and bug me relentlessly at work, my mom would call them to get some answers and I would just cry, all the time, but mostly at the most inconvenient times like at morning work meetings (awesome). The situation was out of control, my mom threatened to get a lawyer and they pretty much laughed in her face. Finally, having reached the end of her rope, she handed the phone to my step-dad. Now, if you have ever met my step-dad or been unlucky enough to make him mad, then you know, this is just not something you do. The dealership had the nerve to imply he was a bad parent by not being there with me when I was there buying a car so it was his fault or something. Insanity!! That, rightfully so, made him really mad, so my step dad said, "You take back the car, give her all of her money back with no fees or I will see you on Monday with my attorney!" And he meant every word and I think the dealership knew it because before you know it they agreed to take back the car and give me all my money back! Hooray!

So after that headache was over it was time for the next one. Since the whole reason I bought a car was due to the fact that the convertible thought it was fun to shut off randomly while in use, I brought her into a Mitsubishi dealer for the diagnosis. $740 later, she runs great (for the time being) and it bought me a little bit more time to shop for cars until my mother takes the car back to Minnesota for another summer.

With the car fiasco behind me, I felt like it was only UP from here but I was wrong, Oh so wrong. I had about 4 days in between the end of car-gate (like watergate but not...lol) and my trip to the ER (say what!?!?) Yes the ER And in that 4 day time span, my computer decided to up and get a virus because my life was getting a tad too easy and that's just not OK I guess but let's get back to the ER story.

The pain started on the Wednesday of my work week (not an actual wednesday, just MY wednesday aka the 3rd day in my work week). It basically felt like cramps but times 100. Seriously. I worked through it but when it came to my Friday night, I was in so much pain. My friends Jon and Shanelle were in town from Nashville (yay!!!)  and Jon was planning on purposing to Shanelle during fireworks at the Magic Kingdom (triple yay!!!) , so despite my pain, I couldn't miss seeing that! It was magical and amazing and she said YES, obviously, but I headed out ASAP!

When I got home I tried to just relax and sleep it off or something, but I was in so much pain it was impossible. I was literally laying in bed just crying because it hurt so much (mostly in my lower back but not my back per-se but the organs located in that general location were clearly not happy for some reason). Fearing I had a kidney infection or that my appendix was going to rupture or something else awful, I went to the Emergency Room. After about 3 hours, a doctor finally saw me for about 5 minutes. He diagnosed me with a bladder infection and told me to come back if I throw-up (kidney infection sign) or if pain on my right side worsens (appendix gone awry sign). Well in the next few days I did throw up and I did feel pain on my right side and I tried to get into a doctor without going to the ER again and I had an appointment and wouldn't you know it? The doctor canceled on me. So I waited it out for another day because I had no other choice and now we are caught up to the present. I am writing this from my sick bed. I attempted to blog earlier on but my nausea was so bad I got dizzy looking at the letters fly across the screen as I typed lol. I had to call into work because I couldn't stand for 5 minutes without getting dizzy and I figured that me fainting while doing a survey isn't so magical so I'm best staying at home. The antibiotics and pain killers seem to be doing their job but I fear that some of the things I've been experiencing (nausea, dizziness, fatigue, etc) is actually because of the meds! So I am waiting until I am back at 100% before I get back to work and the earliest the doc could squeeze me in was Wednesday (like 4 days away!!) So pray that my appendix doesn't explode before then I guess... (really bad joke, I'm sorry, I don't think it will).

lol But to be honest, the severity of my car situation and my health situation, really put life in perspective. What may seem like the end of the world is actually a very manageable problem usually.

If you know me at all, you know I always try to look at the bright side of every situation. With an avalanche of "bad" thrown on me, it has been hard to keep my sunny outlook on life but the amount of friends and family I have had help me through each situation has shown me beyond a shadow of a doubt how many great people I have who care about me. When I didn't have a car for over a week due to car-gate, I didn't miss a day of work due to the help of friends and co-workers who either brought me to work or switched with me so I could ride into work with a roommate who was also working at the Magic Kingdom. My mom, dad, stepmom and step-dad were all there for me the best they could be from Minnesota My roommate Will brought me to and from work AND waited in the ER with me. My roommates Emily and Jessi both let me borrow their cars in a pinch. My co-worker Tracey let me sleep at her place, bought me dinner and brought me to work the next morning. My friends Jon and Shanelle drove me home when the meds I was on made it very dangerous for me drive. And my friend Michelle pretty much did everything under the sun from driving me places, picking me up, sharing her mom with me, letting me stay over, not getting mad that I threw up on the side of her car....lol...gross, I know, and that's just the beginning. I am so lucky to have so many people care about me and I can only hope that I can be there for you guys as much as you've been there for me. So while I still don't have my own car yet and my computer is in the process of backing up files as I type and my body can't decide if it's healthy or sick still, I know everything will eventually work out just fine. And to ALL my friends and family, I love you, thanks for being there.

Bonus Features:

1) On the way to return the car a really funny thing happened. It was raining and the paper temporary license plate the dealer put on the car was falling off because it was completely soaking wet. I knew this already because Michelle, who was following behind me, called to tell me so. But just as I was at the light to turn into the dealer's lot, a nice man in the car next to me on the right started waving at me, he looked all concerned and yelled "Your tag is falling off!!" but, since I didn't have power windows and couldn't reach the window to roll it down, I just waved back and tried to mouth "I know!" but I was smiling because the whole situation was so ironic that I think he thought I didn't hear him right! But I did, and I laughed.

2) This is probably the worst news of all my bad news: My FAVORITE BAND in ALL OF FLORIDA - MARK & JAMES - SPLIT UP! I probably got sick because the news of this was so distressing. I loved going to see them play like whenever possible and not gonna lie, pretty much thought James was the coolest guy ever. Alas, no more. I seriously listen to them (along with the Fray and some Jon McL) every night before bed. I am sad that the last time I saw them play, James was tipsy being socially awkward and I am sad to think about never hearing "Just Because" ever again.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Allie...I never realized you wrote a blog! Lol that's a good way to keep up on what's all going on! I'm sorry everything has been happening all at once! But you're right...when everything in life just starts sucking family and friends are always there! As I'm writin this just thinking about how much friends and family are there for u when u need them the most makes me cry...I'm about to go through probably the worst thing I ever have had to go through ( watching Phil leave for 14 months) and luckily I'll have people out here and my dad coming out to help me get back home! Anyway..keep writing the blog! It's fun reading it! Hope u get better really soon! And figure out the car stuff! -Vanessa

Post a Comment