Sunday, February 04, 2007

I have been meaning to post for about five days now, but I have been stuck in a vortex of hellish problems in real life.

Well, nothing so serious...just annoyances. The biggest problem has to do with our car. It is only a year and half old and thus it's still under warranty. From day one when the temp drops to around 20 degrees or colder at night, it makes a strange grinding sound upon start-up the next morning, just as the engine turns over. I asked my local mechanic about it and although he didn't hear the noise first-hand, he guessed that the starter might not be disengaging quickly enough. Sounds like something that would probably be covered under warranty, right?

Well, have you ever tried to get work done under warranty when you live an hour and a half from the nearest dealership? And when the problem is one that has to be checked first thing in the morning, meaning that the car needs to stay there overnight? Let me tell you, not fun.

A couple weeks ago I finally finagled the dealership into reserving a rental car so that I could drop off the vehicle one night and return the next day and pick up my (presumably) fixed car. This was all with the understanding that if the problem was not one that would be covered under warranty, I would have to pay for the rental vehicle (which would only be $30, so no biggie). I made the appointment to drop off the car this past Friday night.

Well, Friday night was the first night in about three weeks that the temp did not drop below 30 degrees! Hence they did not hear the noise on Saturday morning. So I spent 6 hours driving back and forth, and I may be on the hook for the cost of the rental car, and my car still isn't fixed. They said I should bring the car back Monday night
since it will be much colder(no word on whether I could get another rental that night or whether they would pay for both rental days). But that means another 6 hours of driving. And G has to report for jury duty on Monday, to make things extra-convenient.

Yup, I'm loving life right now. I think no matter how this gets resolved, I need to send a nasty-gram to corporate headquarters. Am I the only one that finds stress relief in writing complaint letters to companies (only when warranted, of course)?

Plus, I'm dealing with trying to set up a public hearing on a project for my work. It is a huge, stressful pain in the butt!

Oh well, enough griping. I did manage to finish Sheldon the turtle, and he's so cute that he might actually cheer me up!And, it's a great kickoff for Project Spectrum, what with his happy blue shell!
Project Notes: Sheldon from Knitty. Knit in Plymouth Dreambaby DK, colors 117 and 122.

As I mentioned in a previous entry, I love this yarn. It's so soft and cuddly! It did have a tendency to split during the fiddly DPN parts of the pattern, but on normal needles it was awesome. And speaking of which, if you don't like fiddly patterns, this is one to avoid! Not to say it wasn't fun, just not for everyone. I imagine most stuffed animal patterns are like that though, given all the shaping and little details and such. The pattern was well written, although I did make some minor alterations due to the yarn I chose not being a perfect gauge match. All in all, no complaints from me!

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17 Comments:

At February 04, 2007 9:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sorry you have to deal with the car problems. I get so stressed about broken down cars and having to get them fixed. I feel like a clueless idiot.

That turtle is indeed quite cute :)

 
At February 04, 2007 10:14 PM, Blogger Prachi said...

Awwwww, Sheldon is *cute*!!! I must try one of these, this one might have converted me to the idea of knitted toys. And I'm so sorry about your car and work stress; mechanics are the worst - after doctors and lawyers. But I couldn't help smile at the "only when warranted" after reading about the car being under warranty!

 
At February 04, 2007 10:27 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ack! And think of all the adorable Sheldons you could be knitting during the wasted hours to and fro. Sorry about that. May it soon become a repressed bad memory.

 
At February 04, 2007 11:09 PM, Blogger Zonda said...

I hate car problems! Hope they get resolved soon!! Cute lil' Sheldon! Hope you have a better week!

 
At February 05, 2007 6:42 AM, Blogger Jana said...

Car problems are the worst! I feel like I don't understand cars or car problems, and this just always exacerbates the situation! Ugh!

Sheldon is so cute though. Most of the toys I've knitted have been much fiddliness and little knitting enjoyment. But they are usually small and overly cute which is gratifying enough to keep doing them. Well, once in awhile...

 
At February 05, 2007 11:53 AM, Blogger Kelly said...

hey there! sheldon is wicked cute! the only thing cuter than a turtle is a knitted turtle!

What a bummer about your car troubles. You guys just got that car, too! What a pain. Hopefully it's all resolved soon. And maybe they'll send you something cool after they receive your angry letter!

As for the yorkshire line, I was bummed about rowan discontinuing the yarn, too. It seems like it just came out. You can get some wicked cheap from Janette's Rare Yarns on Ebay, though. I have been stockpiling! I laughed that you asked G about "domer," too. I would have never thought about it (until I tried to make him a hat, that is!).

sorry for writing a novel in your comments...

 
At February 05, 2007 2:04 PM, Blogger C+SK said...

Oh I'm so sorry this has been a hard phase. I hope things turn for the better soon!

Oh I love Sheldon! I think I may have to knit one too! :-D

 
At February 05, 2007 4:02 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh I hate dealing with cars, if there's anything more annoying then car dealership and getting a car fixed, I haven't found it yet.

Sheldon is absolutely adorable!

 
At February 05, 2007 5:20 PM, Blogger Brahdelt said...

Sheldon is the cutest turtle I've ever seen! This blue is amazingly beautiful, I think I'm starting to like blue more and more nowadays, with many cute blue things surrounding me. ^^
Good luck with the car problems!

 
At February 05, 2007 7:05 PM, Blogger Casa Pearl said...

Sooo sorry to hear about your car woes - my Lola is not happy to start in the morning these days either but she's 8 years old so she has an excuse. Do you have a tape recorder of some sort that you could record the sound without making the drive to the dealership? Good luck and good luck with getting the hearing scheduled and your DHs jury duty. Say warm!

 
At February 06, 2007 7:01 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Lobstah, I saw your comment over on BrownPants about the yucky increases on the Panta. I'm having the same problem! What was the increase style you found found that looked OK in the pattern? Thanks!

 
At February 06, 2007 5:43 PM, Blogger Opal said...

Oh I just love Sheldon! He is too cute for words! I am so sorry to hear about your hassles with the car. Write that complaint letter. It's unbelievable what hoops they're making you jump through. I really hope you can resolve it all quickly and as painlessly as possible.

 
At February 06, 2007 8:31 PM, Blogger Mary, Mary... said...

Sending you hugs and positive vibes for a fixed car. Jury duty, public hearing, why does everything come in threes? Write that letter--you'll feel better and you may get some kind of recompensation. In the meantime, you could knit a rabbit for Shelden to race with!

 
At February 07, 2007 8:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hate car problems. I hope they will go away soon.
Sheldon is sooooo cute!

 
At February 07, 2007 4:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can not for the life of me find your e-mail address. Could you e-mail me at basilbirdy@hotmail.com so I'll have it.

Thanks! And thanks for being willingn to help with the Blanket of Hope for Sonya and Kevin.

 
At February 07, 2007 11:12 PM, Blogger Kirsten said...

Sorry about the car troubles!
Sheldon is a cutie! Hope he helps to keep a smile on your face!

 
At February 08, 2007 3:33 AM, Blogger BrownPants said...

*scream* how frustrating! I write letters on everything! Go for it! (even write a really nasty one and don't send it! that makes me feel better!

 

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