Forgotten

I posted this in the comments of my last blog.....

A very long time ago, my dad had a horrible accident. It almost killed him. After a long stay in the hospital he finally came home. He had promised himself that if he made it out of there alive, he would do all those things he put off for "someday". 

Those things you always say you are going to do but for whatever reason it lacks priority..... 

So he came home, 

he let me get a dog, he bought a brand new car for the first time in his life, we moved house, etc. There were a lot of little things but they were "things".

Shortly thereafter someone made a jealous and hateful statement along the lines of "must be nice, blah blah blah, I hope you lose it all....."...

Then a few other bad things happened. My dad decided that there will always be those who can not see past the THING to see the reason behind it. He realized that there will always be those who see what you have and undeserved and unearned and therefore be jealous and even jealous enough to wish evil on you. He immediately put voodoo dolls on everything he could and things got better....

We have done it ever since. We treat them well and they look out for us. 

Then I realized that I had not shared the whole story here as to why this is on my mind..... 

So as I think you all know (or maybe not, I have been a terrible blogger lately) I recently bought a truck.  I had to.  My car was in a state where I could not trust it but yet I have to drive for work.  I was going to trade my other truck until I realized that it might be 21 years old and have a quarter million miles on it but it is the more reliable vehicle.  So I bit the bullet and sold the car and bought another truck last month.   When the old truck gets to that point, I will trade it on a car, until then two trucks for me.

It has more on it than I need but in order to get what I did need, it came a bit fancified.

I do not need all the chrome trim, wheels, and power whatever but I got it anyway.  And got a good deal when the dealer realized that I was serious about not wanting it. 

Anyway, I drove it home and it was mine.  Subsequently, I drove it to work and immediately started hearing the "must be nice", "you must make too much money", and other comments.  I passed them off as harmless ribbing. 

I should not have.  I had moved everything out of the car and into the truck and just gone about my business forgetting one crucial thing.

Flash back to shortly before everything started breaking on the car...  It was a mess and needed cleaned and waxed badly.  I was going to do it but then the detail shop down the street from the house had a special... it was cheaper to have them do it than I would pay in water to do it myself.  So I head them do it. 

Turned out to be a big mistake.  During that visit someone either accidentally cleaned/vacuumed up or stole my doll out of the car.  I noticed it almost immediately and made them look for it.  No such luck.  I swore to myself I would replace it right away and then didn't.  I would forget, not have time whatever.  A week later, I would get hit in the car.  They didn't do a lot of damage but enough.  Then little things started to go wrong with the car.  The windows stopped working one by one, something odd with the engine, the truck latch went wonky, two tires developed leaks, then finally the whole thing with the valet service killing the battery...

Now this did not happen all at once or I might have realized my mistake.  It was a slow trickle that turned into a flood.  So I bought the new truck, moved all my stuff and went about my business.

Flash forward to this week.  Tuesday the dog leaped off the bed in the middle of the night and attacked the front windows like crazy.  I came to the front and saw nothing.  I went back to bed and finally she did too.  I got up in the morning and went about my day.  As I got ready  to pull out of the drive I noticed the driver's mirror was folded up.  I grinned as I thought that TIM must have bumped it the night before when he was over.  Then I reached for one of the "gadgets I don't need but have come to enjoy" and pushed the button for the power mirror.  It began to fold out the driver's and I looked to the right and realized the passenger's had a problem.  I put the truck in park and got out.  Sure enough, someone had ripped all the chrome covers off the mirror.  Then I connected the dots. 

They must have been after the driver's when the dog went nuts and scared them off.  I called the cops who came and wrote a report and proclaimed it drivable, and then I went on with my day.  I called the dealer and they assured me that I could get NON CHROME covers to fit for $30 each or so.  I decided I didn't need to deal with the insurance.  the paint is scratched but it is all in the clear coat so no big deal to live with or buff out.  They also gouged the mirror body but again I can live with it.  I can switch out the covers so this won't happen again.

Arrived at the dealer and confirmed the cover purchase... then thought to ask  if this was all I needed.  The dealer is great so the parts manager stepped out to have a look.  Then made a face and shook his head.  "damn kids" he muttered " they steal the chrome to avoid buying it but take the whole cover every time." 

When I questioned what he meant by that he explained.  The mirror cover is two pieces.  The chrome is the top.  They stole the chrome which is replaceable and exchangeable to put "the bling" on their cars for free.  This is the part that is either chrome, paint to match, or black and comes standard as black..... stolen as well was the bottom which is black and not sold separately from the mirror.  My $30 repair just became $310.  Then when questioned he told me that YES my door panels have to come off to replace the mirror and YES that does require a special clip removal tool not yet available for sale to the public.  My repair just became $600.  I could get the mirror in black and then would need the extra black one for the driver's side total now $630 plus tax. 

He saw I was near to tears and patted my shoulder.  Before you do all this, maybe check with warrantee or service and see if maybe they have a full cover set on a defective mirror also try craigslist and ebay to see if someone has them for sale.  I thanked him and drove home.  I decided best short term answer was to park inside the gate so they didn't take the driver's until I figured out what to do. 

So I pulled in the drive inside the fence and came in the back door.....Where I noticed that doll hanging.  I literally did the "face palm" thing.  I realized that not only had I neglected to replace it in my car.... my new truck didn't have one either.  So now it does.  Now if only I can find the mirrors/covers for a decent price.