November 12, 2021
Dear Everyone:
My new car arrived
yesterday. It took a few
days longer than the sales rep had supposed, but you have to remember to
take anything a salesperson tells you with a large grain of salt
(“Richard” and “Alice” excepted, of course.)
Back when part of my
job was shopping for records management software, if you asked the sales
rep, “Does your system do FIB (Fill In Blank)?” the answer was always:
“Of course it does!
Better than anybody else!”
Then, after you buy
the system, you’re on the phone with Technical Support and they’re
saying, “Yeah, there’s a way to do that.
But first you have to duct tape a tricycle to your forehead…”
In any case, the
sales rep called me yesterday morning to say that my car had arrived
(“It’s just coming off the truck now”) and would be ready “in a few
hours”. Later, he called to
say there had been a delay, but it would be ready “real soon”.
A little before 4:00 pm, he called again:
“I’m on my way!”
He arrived at my
place with a folder filled with papers to sign, which I did in my living
room. Then he drove us both
back to the dealership where the financial person made sure that
everything was signed properly, and had both checks (the down payment
from two weeks ago, plus the cashier’s check for the balance) and made
copies for me.
By the time I drove
home in my brand new car, it was full dark.
I had made sure to take the remote with me for the gate at the
“Welcome Center”, so I drove straight through and parked next to the
rental car in front of my building.
Then I found that I
had to dig out my cell phone to use as a flashlight to find the button
that unlocks all the car doors.
The new car is very similar to my poor,
only-two-and-a-half-years-old, crunched-up car, but I couldn’t be sure
that all the buttons are in the same places.
Bear in mind that I’ve been driving the rental for a month now.
So far, I’ve been too
busy with other things to do more than a quick glance around at the new
car. It’s going to take some
time to get everything set up the way I think I’d like it.
I haven’t even got it on my insurance policy yet.
Thankfully, I can do that online tomorrow.
In the meantime, I’ve
decided to name it Iolaus. (Eye-uh-los)
For those unfamiliar with Greek mythology, he was a nephew of
Heracles (also known as Hercules) and one of the Argonauts.
For more information, check Wikipedia, one of my favorite
websites. I could spend
days there…
Yes, Iolaus has that
“new car smell”. Not one
that I prefer. If I get a
chance tomorrow, I’ll leave all the windows open to replace it with
“fresh autumn day”.
Love, as always,
Pete
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