My last blog post was all about the horrors of my van and trying to buy a car. I thought I would take a little time to explain a few things. Patterson Dodge only had one used Charger in stock and it wasn't what I wanted. Kernersville Dodge had more than one that I was interested in but we didn't want to have to go that far. We did find an illegally opened account on Eric's credit report. All of those things were truth. The rest was what I was led to believe so my husband could pull off the biggest good surprise of our married life.
Eric was out of town Monday and and Tuesday but first thing Wednesday morning amid talking to a score of people about the credit ooops was also taking to Patterson Dodge. He got the loan process started and by Wednesday afternoon was given the go ahead at which time he told them exactly which Charger we wanted from Kernersville. All the while he was telling me that the fraud was going to slow things down. To throw me off even more he told me that the Charger that we wanted from Kernersville was not available anymore. Well, that part was true because by Wednesday afternoon, Patterson had already made arrangements to send someone the next morning to pick it up. Wednesday night after church while I was inside chatting with friends he was outside unplugging a spark plug wire so my van would drive badly on the way home. He knew that I would never drive it like that and it gave him an excuse to get it away from the house so he could trade it the next afternoon.
He called me about 2:45 Thursday afternoon to let me know that he was headed over to Patterson so they could hook it up to their machine and see what it would say about the flashing check engine light only to call me about 10 minutes later asking me where I kept my registration. He said he had been pulled over by a state trooper. While it was true that a state trooper was indeed standing beside of him when he said it, it wasn't because he got pulled over, he just needed the registration.About 30 minutes later I hear a car in the driveway. From looking out of an upstairs window all I could tell was that it wasn't my van sitting in the driveway, thinking that they just allowed him to drive something home because they decided that the van wouldn't make it.
I meet him at the bottom of the steps to question him about getting pulled over and he says that he needs me to go back over to Patterson with him. I glance outside and it doesn't register. I figure he wants me to follow him back over there to give them their car back.I glance outside again and realize it is a Charger. Still doesn't register . "Wait a minute, where did that one come from?" I ask. He answers, "Kernersville Dodge." Still doesn't register. Then he says "Its yours." At that point I think I yelled "shut up" or "NO" as it sank in and I was fighting the ugly cry. All that was left was to dig out the title for the van and finalize the paperwork. I was so all to pieces that I couldn't even drive us over there so it was later Thursday evening before I was calm enough to drive my most favorite car EVER.
Well played husband of mine, well played.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Its a piece of junk
After my mother in law passed away in 2008, my husband convinced me that we needed to buy her van. At the time I had a pontiac montana van that I loved. Her van had less miles, leather seats, was a Chrysler town and country , and would have a better resale value he said. I relented and so for four years I have hated what I drive. For the last two we have been plagued with issues. I spent mega bucks between the summer of 2010 and 2011 on the a/c. In the last year we have replaced a front hub at least three times and nobody can tell me why it keeps eating them up. Around October I decided that if it could make it til tax time, it was gonna be history. Alas, it was not meant to be. I am done !
Friday morning I took it to get the oil changed and tires rotated. Pretty routine right? Not in my world. Forty minutes later I receive the news that BOTH front hubs are dangerously loose and need to be replaced and in the process of changing the oil a significant oil leak was found in my front gasket. By that afternoon both issues were fixed and I was on the road again. Saturday morning I went out to finish my Christmas shopping . Upon pulling back into the driveway the low oil pressure light came on and started a very annoying dinging sound. I went back out later around lunch time, stopped at a gas station and noticed anti freeze dripping from the bottom. I had reached my limit and announced to my husband that I was done, just done.
For the rest of that day I scoured the internet for cars. I no longer want to be a van mom. I want a car. Call it mid life crisis, call it whatever you want, I want a car. I have decided that I want a Dodge charger and I am pretty specific about my wants. I want it to be gray or silver. I want a sunroof, I want less than 100,000 miles and I want it now.We haven't made car payments in about 10 years so if I am gonna be paying that much for something I am not gonna settle for what I don't want. Unfortunately the universe is working against me.
Eric was out of town Monday and Tuesday. While he was gone I took some time to check his credit report. Good news is that his credit score is good, bad news is that in July somebody used his name and social security number to open an account at Carolina West and not pay the bill . Much of his time yesterday was spent on the phone talking to Carolina West, the collection agency where the account has been placed , the credit reporting agencies,the police department and Patterson Dodge, which by the way doesn't have what I want.They have one used charger on the lot but it is white , no sunroof, and its 6 cylinder not a hemi. In the words of my husband, having a charger without a hemi is like having a jeep without four wheel drive, what's the point? They say they can find us what we want and I would prefer to buy from them instead of going out of town. 1) Eric knows a few people over there and believes we can get a better deal and 2) I like to stay local if possible.
I don't think the oops on the credit report will stop us from getting a loan but it will perhaps slow things down. Even slower than that will be Patterson actually finding what I want and getting it here. I am normally a patient person but here's the deal.Patterson has already evaluated my van and gave us a trade in price. Last night after church we get in and crank it up. Eric gets very still and says, "do you feel that?" It was shaking, literally shaking sitting still. As soon as it went into drive the check engine light started flashing, not came on and stayed on , FLASHING ! We weren't sure if we were gonna make it home. Eric drove it to work this morning so I could drive his truck and hooked it up to see what was wrong with it. Well, according to the code its the computer. To top it all off the air bag light started flashing . I swear we need to call in a priest, this thing is possesed. It's as done as I am. So Patterson could say that they will still take it as long as we can get it there OR they could say, no deal. Trade in is void. I will NOT spend any more money on this van just to trade it because if I haven't mentioned it before... I AM DONE! As Si would say "This thangs a piece of junk ".
Having said all of that ...I am not stressed. I know that Eric will get it home this evening and we will park it in the driveway until we either take it to Patterson to trade or have call someone to pick it up for crushing. I am honestly happy that I never have to drive it again.I know that God's timing is perfect so I may not be driving a new to me car by the end of the week like I originally wanted but someday very soon I will. Yes, my friends, its all about faith. " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. " Hebrews11:1 I do not proclaim knowledge of how God is going to work this out I just know that He will. I'm just along for the ride.
Friday morning I took it to get the oil changed and tires rotated. Pretty routine right? Not in my world. Forty minutes later I receive the news that BOTH front hubs are dangerously loose and need to be replaced and in the process of changing the oil a significant oil leak was found in my front gasket. By that afternoon both issues were fixed and I was on the road again. Saturday morning I went out to finish my Christmas shopping . Upon pulling back into the driveway the low oil pressure light came on and started a very annoying dinging sound. I went back out later around lunch time, stopped at a gas station and noticed anti freeze dripping from the bottom. I had reached my limit and announced to my husband that I was done, just done.
For the rest of that day I scoured the internet for cars. I no longer want to be a van mom. I want a car. Call it mid life crisis, call it whatever you want, I want a car. I have decided that I want a Dodge charger and I am pretty specific about my wants. I want it to be gray or silver. I want a sunroof, I want less than 100,000 miles and I want it now.We haven't made car payments in about 10 years so if I am gonna be paying that much for something I am not gonna settle for what I don't want. Unfortunately the universe is working against me.
Eric was out of town Monday and Tuesday. While he was gone I took some time to check his credit report. Good news is that his credit score is good, bad news is that in July somebody used his name and social security number to open an account at Carolina West and not pay the bill . Much of his time yesterday was spent on the phone talking to Carolina West, the collection agency where the account has been placed , the credit reporting agencies,the police department and Patterson Dodge, which by the way doesn't have what I want.They have one used charger on the lot but it is white , no sunroof, and its 6 cylinder not a hemi. In the words of my husband, having a charger without a hemi is like having a jeep without four wheel drive, what's the point? They say they can find us what we want and I would prefer to buy from them instead of going out of town. 1) Eric knows a few people over there and believes we can get a better deal and 2) I like to stay local if possible.
I don't think the oops on the credit report will stop us from getting a loan but it will perhaps slow things down. Even slower than that will be Patterson actually finding what I want and getting it here. I am normally a patient person but here's the deal.Patterson has already evaluated my van and gave us a trade in price. Last night after church we get in and crank it up. Eric gets very still and says, "do you feel that?" It was shaking, literally shaking sitting still. As soon as it went into drive the check engine light started flashing, not came on and stayed on , FLASHING ! We weren't sure if we were gonna make it home. Eric drove it to work this morning so I could drive his truck and hooked it up to see what was wrong with it. Well, according to the code its the computer. To top it all off the air bag light started flashing . I swear we need to call in a priest, this thing is possesed. It's as done as I am. So Patterson could say that they will still take it as long as we can get it there OR they could say, no deal. Trade in is void. I will NOT spend any more money on this van just to trade it because if I haven't mentioned it before... I AM DONE! As Si would say "This thangs a piece of junk ".
Having said all of that ...I am not stressed. I know that Eric will get it home this evening and we will park it in the driveway until we either take it to Patterson to trade or have call someone to pick it up for crushing. I am honestly happy that I never have to drive it again.I know that God's timing is perfect so I may not be driving a new to me car by the end of the week like I originally wanted but someday very soon I will. Yes, my friends, its all about faith. " Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. " Hebrews11:1 I do not proclaim knowledge of how God is going to work this out I just know that He will. I'm just along for the ride.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Evil
Its one day after a 20 year old man woke up, shot his mother, took 3 guns, drove to an elementary school and mowed down 28 people, 20 of them children. I am mourning, in tears, and in shock.Being a mother of 2 , I cannot imagine the terror and then heartbreak of these families that sent their children to school yesterday morning , hopefully hugging them before dropping them off, only hours later to receive the most horrible news that their children were dead. I cannot imagine the horror that these little hearts experienced and the horror that the ones left will live for years to come.
In watching the news I have heard many debates already about how we as a nation can keep this from happening again. Its the usual stuff that is talked about after a tragedy such as this. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time something like this has happened and sadly, probably not the last. Gun control? Armed security guards in every school in America? I don't have all of the answers but , hey, here's an idea.
America isn't the only country subject to violence. Only the day before , 22 children children in China were stabbed at a primary school. Let's face it, a gun or knife doesn't hurt anyone unless in the hands of evil. Let's call it what it is ...EVIL. Where does evil come from? Does it come from violent video games, violent movies or tv? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Evil comes from a heart that Satan gets a hold of and God is not allowed into to.
I will not pretend to have any information about this 20 year old man who perpetrated such a horrific act . I do not know how he was raised , whether he attended or ever has attended church , whether any one ever talked to him about God, whether any one has ever been kind to him or if he was bullied. Here is what I DO know. He did not have the love of God in his heart.There has been speculation about whether he was autistic or had a personality disorder...that's a different story for a different day.
Let's go back to evil. We know it exsists, the Bible tells us it does. So as a parent I have to ask some hard questions. I am in no way blaming this man's mother for his actions. He was an adult and for a reason that we may never be able to understand or explain, this man was evil yesterday.Do your children see you doing more right or more wrong? Do your children see you making God a priority? Do your children see you attending church? Do your children seeing you read God's word? Do your children see you pray? Do you pray for your children, and I don't mean just for their health and well being, I mean do you pray for who they are going to grow up to be? Do you talk to your children about God and the difference between right and wrong and I mean from a Biblical standard? Do they know what the word sin means? Do your children receive love from you and see you showing love to others? Do your children even know who God is?Do you talk about him? Do you set an example of what a God fearing , commandment keeping, Bible reading, praying person looks like?
Gun control, armed security guards, keeping children away from violent tv, movies, and video games aren't going to expel evil from our society. Only God can do that. Our nation as a whole has turned its back on God and his Holy Word and we wonder why someone would take a gun into an elementary school and shoot 20 children? WAKE UP people !!!! Sin is sin, plain and simple, from cursing to murder. There is no little sin and big sin. ALL sin will be judged the same. Say the word f**k in front of your children and you are teaching them that its ok to sin.Let your children catch you in a lie and you are teaching them it is ok to sin. If you are continually teaching them its ok to sin then they will grow up to believe that any sin is ok, including murder. Want to teach your kids its NOT ok to sin? DON'T SIN !!Only people FULL of God have no room left for evil. Bring your children up in such a way that there is no doubt that they have the love of God in their hearts. You may not be able to control how your neighbor's child turns out , and even if you do everything right, you will not be able to control how your own turns out, but it will not hurt to do everything in your power to make sure that yours has a head start in becoming something other than an evil person who walks into an elementary school and murders innocent children in cold blood.
In the words of Forrest Gump...thats all I have to say about that.
In watching the news I have heard many debates already about how we as a nation can keep this from happening again. Its the usual stuff that is talked about after a tragedy such as this. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time something like this has happened and sadly, probably not the last. Gun control? Armed security guards in every school in America? I don't have all of the answers but , hey, here's an idea.
America isn't the only country subject to violence. Only the day before , 22 children children in China were stabbed at a primary school. Let's face it, a gun or knife doesn't hurt anyone unless in the hands of evil. Let's call it what it is ...EVIL. Where does evil come from? Does it come from violent video games, violent movies or tv? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Evil comes from a heart that Satan gets a hold of and God is not allowed into to.
I will not pretend to have any information about this 20 year old man who perpetrated such a horrific act . I do not know how he was raised , whether he attended or ever has attended church , whether any one ever talked to him about God, whether any one has ever been kind to him or if he was bullied. Here is what I DO know. He did not have the love of God in his heart.There has been speculation about whether he was autistic or had a personality disorder...that's a different story for a different day.
Let's go back to evil. We know it exsists, the Bible tells us it does. So as a parent I have to ask some hard questions. I am in no way blaming this man's mother for his actions. He was an adult and for a reason that we may never be able to understand or explain, this man was evil yesterday.Do your children see you doing more right or more wrong? Do your children see you making God a priority? Do your children see you attending church? Do your children seeing you read God's word? Do your children see you pray? Do you pray for your children, and I don't mean just for their health and well being, I mean do you pray for who they are going to grow up to be? Do you talk to your children about God and the difference between right and wrong and I mean from a Biblical standard? Do they know what the word sin means? Do your children receive love from you and see you showing love to others? Do your children even know who God is?Do you talk about him? Do you set an example of what a God fearing , commandment keeping, Bible reading, praying person looks like?
Gun control, armed security guards, keeping children away from violent tv, movies, and video games aren't going to expel evil from our society. Only God can do that. Our nation as a whole has turned its back on God and his Holy Word and we wonder why someone would take a gun into an elementary school and shoot 20 children? WAKE UP people !!!! Sin is sin, plain and simple, from cursing to murder. There is no little sin and big sin. ALL sin will be judged the same. Say the word f**k in front of your children and you are teaching them that its ok to sin.Let your children catch you in a lie and you are teaching them it is ok to sin. If you are continually teaching them its ok to sin then they will grow up to believe that any sin is ok, including murder. Want to teach your kids its NOT ok to sin? DON'T SIN !!Only people FULL of God have no room left for evil. Bring your children up in such a way that there is no doubt that they have the love of God in their hearts. You may not be able to control how your neighbor's child turns out , and even if you do everything right, you will not be able to control how your own turns out, but it will not hurt to do everything in your power to make sure that yours has a head start in becoming something other than an evil person who walks into an elementary school and murders innocent children in cold blood.
In the words of Forrest Gump...thats all I have to say about that.
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