Jennifer Plesko

You ever have one of those weeks? I just did. I’d been waiting patiently for over a month to get my car back as I navigated the Metroplex in a giant bathtub. Originally, they said it would be the 22nd. Last Tuesday, they said it would be Monday. Monday, they said it’d be Wednesday. So when they still said it would be Wednesday on Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday was the last day I could have my rental car anyway, I decided to make the 200-mile trek back to my hometown right after work on Tuesday. About halfway through my drive, I got another call.

“Ms. Plesko? This is ___ with ____ Paint & Body.”

“Hello.”

“Well, ma’am. We took it to the alignment shop and it looks like one of the airbag sensors is broken, so we’re going to have to take it to the dealership tomorrow. Depending on how fast they get it done. We’re looking at Thursday. I realize Wednesday is the last day you can have your rental before you pay out of pocket, so I am more than happy to pay for another day.”

“Well, you’re a little late. When I called at 3:30, someone told me it would be ready some time tomorrow, so I’m already making the drive down, and I’ve taken the day off from work tomorrow.”

“Oh ma’am. I so sorry about that. We’ll try our very best to get it done tomorrow.”

Spectacular. I had a feeling that was going to happen.

So I made the best of it and spent all day Wednesday seeing friends and family and hanging out with my dogs. It was odd being there in the middle of the week when everyone was at work. It was almost like living there again. Around 4:00, I decided I’d go ahead and take the rental car back before Enterprise closed, so my dad met me there and gave me a ride. We were headed to the coffee shop when the body shop called again.

“Ms. Plesko? I am so so sorry. But the dealership found another airbag sensor that is missing from the driver’s side airbag. And we don’t have it here; we have to order it from Georgetown. I can get it here first thing in the morning and it’ll only take about two hours to install and we should be getting your car back to you tomorrow afternoon.”

Soooo, I called my boss and explained the situation. I told him I could work from there on Thursday using my dad’s laptop (I didn’t have mine; thought I was going to be gone for 24 hours) or I could borrow my mom’s car and drive back. Fortunately, I have a nice boss. He let me stay there.

Again, I thought I was only going to be there one night, so I packed really light. If they pushed me back to Friday, my clothes might start to get a little ripe. Not to mention, my one-year performance review was Friday, so I was contemplating grand theft auto if they tried to pull this one more time.

I got my work done on Thursday through a combination of “borrowing” my parents’ neighbor’s wi-fi connection and using the free wi-fi at Hastings. When I still hadn’t heard from them at 3:30, I was getting annoyed. I finally called.

“Well, that part that was supposed to be in first thing this morning just now showed up. I’ve been on the phone begging and pleading with them all day to get it here. I’m going to call a shop across town to see if they can install it today. I know you’re in a bind, and I’m so sorry about this. I am going to try my very best to get it done.”

He called me back about fifteen minutes later to tell me my car was en route to the place across town and that they were going to start on it as soon as it got there and hopefully get it done today. At 4:00? Nothing like cutting it close. I think I might’ve been molting at that point. You see, I have some control issues and this was triggering them all.

Apparently, the guy they took it to must’ve worked in a pit crew at some point because when he called me back at 4:53, the car was done and on its way back to the body shop. I almost laughed out loud when he said, “Are you picking it up today?”

I got on the road back to Dallas at 6:45. I’d been hearing all day about the terrible rain Dallas had been having. I was just hoping that I wouldn’t run into it until I was almost home. Well … wish in one hand and crap in the other, I suppose. I hit the rain in Fairfield and spent hours driving through a blinding downpour with powerful gusts of wind. I was driving between 40 and 50 mph because each time I tried to accelerate much over that, I would start to hydroplane. My car had just spent more than a month in the body shop from an accident that happened on a rainy night, and I was not about to risk it. So one giant 18-wheeler after another sped past me, sending a tsunami over the top of my car. What should’ve been a three hour trip became a four hour trip. I walked into my apartment about 10:45, and I don’t think I even turned on the light. I just left a trail of clothes and luggage on my way to the bed.

So far, I’ve spent my weekend laying around being completely worthless - except for the effort I exerted getting that pedicure I had today. I hardly ever spend money on those, but this week - or rather this month - I think I’ve earned it.