The above photograph is not a picture of my Acadia. Clearly, the license plate says 'Dealer'. So why is it parked in my carport?
I woke up at 4:30 this morning, not wanting to oversleep because I needed to be in Lake City at Ronsonet Buick by 8:00. I dozed in and out and finally at 5:30 A.M. I told myself to get up, shower, and get dressed. I was anxious because I knew I had to drive my Acadia through school zones and stop at many stop lights, and turn right on red if need be. I wanted to give myself enough time to arrive at the car dealership by 8:00 A.M. just in case my car stalled.
While on the road, I breathed in and exhaled to calm myself. If my car suddenly shut off during a school zone or at a red light or while turning right on red, I would have a slew of early morning drivers shouting expletives at me, or possibly rear ending me. But, I made it safe and sound to my destination.
I took a book to read and a crossword puzzle book to occupy my couple of hours wait, if need be. HA! While the mechanic worked on my Acadia, I waited and waited and waited and waited. My back grew stiff sitting so long; therefore, I would occasionally walk to the picture window and watch cars, log trucks, and police cars zipping along Highway 90. "Lord, Almighty," I muttered. I moaned and I groaned for almost four hours, when finally . . . yes, finally, my car was fixed. I had other things checked out in my Acadia as well. Tires rotated, oil changed, filters changed, and alas, my beloved car was fixed; plus, I was starving because I had not eaten breakfast before I left home. I figured two hours top, then on to Hardees for the breakfast platter. Boy, was I wrong!
I wrote the check for service done and exhaled one big exhale, climbed into my car, and drove out to Highway 90. I accelerated and the car moved about four feet and then the unbelievable happened. My car shut down! "NO!" I screamed. Luckily, no traffic was headed near me, so I threw the gear into park and restarted the engine. Then I threw the gear into reverse and backed two lanes back into the Ronsonet Buick parking lot.
I pushed open the service door, my hands shaking and voice quivering. I was on the verge of tears and the personnel knew that. "It did it again!" I blurted out. "I could have been killed!" Immediately, the fellow who serviced my Acadia was summoned and he said, "I drove it to the airport this morning and it didn't stall on me." What kind of look do you think I gave him. Not a pretty one, I'll tell you. "Fix it! I need my car!"
Then I told the office personnel I needed food, not candy bars or Cheetos. So one of the car salesmen drove me two blocks to Shirley's Restaurant for a home-cooked meal. A friend of mine called and said she would gladly pick me up and take me home; but that wasn't solving my car problem, so I declined and said I would wait until the car was fixed.
I walked back to Ronsonet Buick after lunch, all along, fearful that someone might snatch my purse off of my shoulder (I'm a big scaredy cat), but I made the three blocks back safely. Then I sat and sat and sat and watched Dr. Martin Luther King's speech multiple times on TV. I was mentally and physically exhausted because, by now, I had been there for six hours.
Finally, I was told it might take several days of running many tests on my Acadia to solve its problem. Technical support from GMC faxed a long list of things the mechanic was to perform. Ronsonet Buick gave me a loaner car (at a small cost per day of course) . . . the Buick Encore in the photographs.
Now, here is the strange part. I love this little Buick Encore and might try to negotiate a deal to purchase this and get rid of my Acadia. The Encore is pretty little black thing, uses regular gas, gets great gas mileage, has the screen that shows if anything is behind you when backing up. She has On*Star and XM radio and other features I haven't figured out yet. I almost named her. You can tell I like this car because I've already assigned her a gender. But, I felt safe this afternoon driving home, where I immediately collapsed. It was a very long day!
P.S. Mom and I ate canned chicken noodle soup for supper because I didn't have another muster- up in my soul.
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