A Harrowing Day

Well, it is now nearly 10 PM on a day that started somewhere before 5 AM and I am beat. The day started with Ben heading off to work very early and me sneaking in a load of wash (and they talk about the gay agenda=HAH). I headed to work, and the fun began. There was NO work coming in and we soon found out that the much awaited and dreaded outsourcing had occurred over the weekend -- good bye American jobs. The temp agency agent was onsite and we knew something was up. Row by row in our section they gathered up five or six folks and took them to the conference room where they got the bad news that they were no longer needed. One of my new friends was among the victims and she was quite shaken by it. The rest of us sat with concern as we waited. What was next? They came and got about six more of us and took us in the conference room. As irony would have it, just as we were settling in for whatever lay ahead, I got a call from the car dealer with the news that my loan was approved at a better rate than I had negotiated elsewhere (Still not a great rate in today's market, but do-able -- more on the car in a moment). I asked if we could chat in a little bit, and hung up. The next thing I heard was, "This announcement should be more pleasant than the last one." That meant we weren't getting the axe - yet. Then one of the bosses asked, "Who is willing to take on a new assignment?" The obvious effect of a negative response would have been to join those who had just left. So tomorrow I start training for some new and exciting task in the organization that continues to shaft people and outsource US jobs. How exciting. After the hub bub of the announcements died down (a little) I contacted my salesman and arranged to be at the dealership at 5 PM. I called Ben and he met me at work and off we went to pick up "Little Red." We arrived at 5 and FINALLY left with the car at 8:30. It seems that lots of people bought cars on the holiday and all the sales people arranged for delivery this afternoon and evening. AND they had ONE finance and insurance manager on duty for these multiple deliveries. Finally about 7, we asked for keys (they had taken the keys for my "trade" along with my driver's license) so that we might get some food. We headed to McDonalds where 00 wouldn't you know it -- they screwed up an order. Not our day. We headed back to the dealer and proceeded to wait another half hour for the F&I guy to finish up with another customer (who happened to be a former co-worker of Ben's who managed to keep her temp job when he lost his-- seeing her buying a NEW car really made him bristle, but my ever diplomatic sweetie went up and chatted with her for a few minutes as she was finishing her deal and getting the hell out of the way so we could finish up and go home. (See -- Im not nearly as nice as he is LOL). We sat down and finally I got to see and hear some actual numbers -- I HATE CAR DEALERS. The number I heard made me nearly get up and walk out -- that is NOT the price that the salesman had quoted us yesterday. Well, my beginning to balk at the deal -- even after three hours of sitting around waiting for them -- got some attention. They refigured things and took out the check they were "giving" me to add cruise control. What they did was add the amount of this check to the price -- duh! I told them that I could pay for the cruise without their check and they revised the paperwork accordingly. Then I got to turn down credit life, extended warranty, GAP coverage, roadside assistance, and some other fancy add ons. Finally we were done and leaving with the new car. It's great. I still need to go back to the dealer tomorrow and pick up additional keys (they are part of the security system, computer coded, expensive, and controlled). I still cant figure why they couldn't get them made today, but that's car biz. We headed home and Ben medicated the cat and headed to bed in anticipation of a 4:30 AM alarm clock. So that was Tuesday. Wednesday will hold BS of its own, so I think I will close and get myself snuggled in next to my sleeping man. Have a good one and say a prayer for us to enjoy the new car.