Shady Salesmen

I awoke at 6:30 am, wished the wife a happy birthday with a kiss and a card and some precious jewels, and took the Rally Orange in for it's first oil change. Now as sure as I am writing this we were told when we bought the car that the first oil change was free. Therefore I paid $26 for it this morning. Grrrr! Then it was off to breakfast at one of the last remaining "greasy spoon" diners around. Nothing beats the character of an old breakfast joint, with the endless coffee, the foul-mouthed waitresses, the peeling wall paper, the old-timers sharing stories of yesterday and the delicious artery-clogging grub. Six bucks gets you stuffed and stoned on caffeine. Amen.

Then it's off to the car detailer for the wife's new remote car starter. Now I won't go so far to call this guy an asshole, but Mr. Personality he is not. Now I know his competitor will install the same device for $160 but they are booked solid. So first this guy tells me my keyless entry won't work when the car is running so I need to buy a new one. When I question this fact he tells me I am wrong and basically challenges me to go out and try to start the car and I would see the key-based lock/unlock system wouldn't work. I don't think he actually thought I would go investigate. Well lo and behold he was wrong/lying. He tries to act suprised but you can bullshit a bullshitter. (Do I get points for that one?) Then he tells me I need a transponder since the car won't start without it. This brings the price up to $249. I question such a markup and he snidely invites me to use his phone to find a cheaper price elsewhere. I so don't like his attitude so I respond "Just install it already, and it better work without a hitch." I have a strange feeling that the keyless entry won't funtion properly once they get done with it but that's just my cynical side enjoying the worst case scenario. It does that on occasion. You can just envision my delight when I am told the vehicle will be ready is about five hours. Yippee! Now this place is in the middle of nowhere so what to do? "Mom is home" I think to myself so I give her a jingle and she says she'll gladly pick me up, Of course I gave her the option of talking to me for five hours so she chose wisely. Naturally my father is the one to show up, looking most displeased that he was the one "selected" to venture out in the cold rain. Ahh, good ole Dad. Now here I am waiting for the phone call undoubtably explaining the problems they had with the car and it will now cost even more. Cynics, unite!