Title

No, I didn't run out of ideas for the name of my posts. I'm talking about the title for my recently-defunct dung pile of a car. Back in June, I was in a wreck. Long story short, they totaled my car, sent some money to the bank and I had to pay off the rest of the loan if I wanted to keep the car. So I got a personal loan to cover the rest of the car loan. I expected to receive the title in the mail soon thereafter. It was a big hunk of doo-doo, but it ran and I needed a car.

Months passed and I didn't get the title. I kept on meaning to call the bank about it, but you know how those things go. Believe it or not, this is the abridged version.

Now I have to have the title in order to sell the poop pile to the junk yard. I finally called the bank. "Who paid off the loan?" I did. "I see here that we got a payment from Progressive." Yes, but I paid off the rest of it with a personal loan, so it belongs to me. "Oh, well it looks like we sent the title to your insurance company. I'm sorry, but you'll have to call them."

Gah. So I called Progressive and, three transfers later, I was connected to someone who had a vague idea of what to do. "You're going to have to talk to the claims adjuster, Tyson, who took care of the claim in June. I'll call his number and see if he's there." Of course, he wasn't. The customer service rep left a message. However, my cell (only) phone was out of juice and I wasn't able to get some power until late that evening. I wasn't really looking forward to talking to Tyson, because he told me that there was no way that I was going to be able to keep my car in the first place. Wrong!

During my cell phone's short period of death, a different adjuster (thank goodness!) had left a message asking me to call back between 8am and 5pm. Why is it always during work that I have to call these people?

When I finally talked to the guy about my title, things started going downhill even more. "I received a message that you had a question about your claim #---------------- (stupidly long number) on June 21, 2007. You wanted to know something about your car's title?" Yes. I want it. "You kept possession of the vehicle?" Yes. Your company totaled my car. A payment for the car was sent to my bank and I paid off the rest of the loan so I could keep the car. "If we recieved a title, then your claims rep should have sent it to you." Yeah. I don't have it. "Well, I don't see in your file that we received a title. Are you sure your bank sent it to us?" That's what they told me. "Would you mind waiting for a minute while I go get the physical file?" No problem.
(Five minutes later.) "I see from your file that the title was sent to our Houston office. They should have sent it here, but it's not anywhere in the file. I'm going to have to do some research here. I'll call Houston and try to figure out what happened."

Great. Now I'm probably going to have to go through the state agency that keeps track of these things. And of course they're only open between 9am and 4pm.

RIP - Daewoo Lanos

The good news - No more Daewoo posts. The rest of it is bad news.

One the way to work yesterday, my car stalled as I was pulling into a gas station parking lot. The check oil light had gone on the night before, so I was planning on getting it changed during my conference period. When I tried to turn the car back on, it started, but made a terrible knocking noise and soon stalled again. A kind gentleman helped me check out my oil. I had enough oil, and it looked okay. He suggested it might be the oil pump. No such luck. Another guy came over and helped push my car the rest of the way into the parking spot. I had to call a co-worker to ask for a ride and left my car at the gas station.

I tried calling around to find a local garage that would look at the problem, but apparently no one services Daewoos but one dealership on the other side of town. I wasn't willing to risk driving it, so I had to get it towed.

This morning I got the call. The engine is shot - only $5k for a new engine or $3k for a used one. The car is actually worth $0. Zip. Nada. Even with a working engine. I owe less than a thousand dollars on the car, but I can't handle another car's monthly payment at least until that loan is gone (June 1). I might have to wait until I've paid off my back taxes too. (Long story.) I'm not exactly sure when that will be, but probably after June 1 as well.

So I'm officially carless. It's not that I'm all that upset that the Daewoo's dead. I'm just very frustrated at my financial situation. Not only do I have to keep paying for something I don't have, I owe the dealership for towing and diagnostic fees. I should be able to sell it to the junk yard for about $50 and they'll tow it away for me.

Sarah has graciously offered to carpool until I can afford to buy a car. I'm very thankful for her assistance, but I just can't help but feel defeated.

President Hinckley

Everything I feel about President Hinckley has been said, so I will just say amen. President Hinckley was in the first presidency for all but one month of my life. I've always felt like he could be my grandfather. I love him and will miss him very much. I am happy that he is with his wife again. I look forward to the day when I can tell him how much he changed my life for the better.

They Walk Among Us ...

Sarah received an email forward a few days ago titled "They Walk Among Us" about those with a slower processor than the rest of us. I've got a couple stories of my own to put out there.

#1
We were in the Sam's checkout line waiting on a gentleman to pay for various items in various ways. At one point, he hands the cashier a wad of cash.
He then asks, "How much was that again?".
"$278.14, sir."
"How much did I give you?"
"$300."
"So, How much do I owe you?"

#2
Picture it. Subway. An hour before closing. An early-twenties woman rolls a mop bucket into the dining room. She begins to use the mop-wringer. Unfortunately, it is sitting on the outside of the bucket instead of inside. Water sprinkles onto the floor. She presses a bit harder, in confusion, and the whole bucket tips, making a nice puddle on the floor.

#3
Working as a Customer Service Representative for a wireless phone company was definitely a terrible job. Customers constantly screaming at you, bosses upset because your call times are too high, not being able to fix half of the problems you encounter, boring lulls on incoming calls. During one of those lulls, a bunch of us gathered as close as our headset tethers would allow. That night I met a woman who was so overwhelmed with living/working in such a huge city .... Lubbock. She came from a town of about 300 people. Once she learned that I was majoring in Computer Science, it was all over.
"So, you know about computers, huh?" she asked in her slow southern drawl.
"Yes." I could feel this one coming.
"So ... the internet ... is that just in Texas or do they have it in other places?"

There you go. Feel free to share your stupid-people stories ... or just add them to your blog!

Help Meeeeeeeee!

Ok ... so you can't help me with my laundry, cleaning my room, grading my papers, reformatting my computer, doing the dishes, or writing a whole unit on CSS this weekend ... BUT there is something that you (collectively) can do.

I need a picture. Of myself. A good one. All the pictures I have are of other people. I also have a scarily large amount of pictures of my cats. Bad sign. So if you've got one, please feel free to email it to me. Everyone who reads my blog should know my email addy (I think).

On a side note. I am officially cursed. Once again, a glass item has slipped out of my fingers and smashed into little bits on the kitchen floor. This time, I even cut myself cleaning up. Nothing huge, but a bit painful. Meh.

M&M Madness

Alright. Everyone is doing this "Make yourself as an M&M". Fine.

But mine is a two-parter.

You have to be prepared for this.

First is what you see every day:


It's "the mask" if you will.

Yet ... you must unmask eventually.

To reveal ....
...
...

THE TRUE ME!! Bwahahahahahah!!!!

Hellboy Returns!

I'm a real fan of the powerful yet tortured hero with a big heart. Thus, my penchant for Batman movies, Firefly, X-Men, Trigun (anime), Rurouni Kenshin (anime), Lord of the Rings, and so forth.

After suffering through previews for crap like Ironman and The Ruins, up pops a preview for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. I seriously did a little dance in my seat. It took me a second to calm myself. I loved the first Hellboy movie and I have loved the character since I found out about it.

Once again, Guillermo del Toro will direct and Ron Perlman stars as Hellboy. It looks like all of the other characters are portrayed as the same actors as well. They've put out a lot of animated movies since the first live-action movie, so I guess the studios finally were up to doing another one. There's a pretty steady cult following.

Guillermo del Toro turned down directing jobs for Halo, I Am Legend, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to direct Hellboy II. Wow.

I. am. excited. :D