Deciding to eschew a dysfunctional family gathering, mrsgnu and I drove our three dogs down to Disneyland for a little holiday on our own. We had dinner reservations at Club 33 on Friday.
Early Friday morning, in the midst of putting the dogs in Disneyland’s kennel, our newly purchased 2005 Honda Element broke down. We were able to drive it to a nearby Honda dealership a cast member found for us, but we were stuck. We didn’t get back to Disneyland until noon, after a $30 cab ride. We moped about, unable to lift our spirits until dinner. Good food and good wine helped.
The parts for the broken rear axle joint would have to be ordered, and worse, the repairs would have to be approved by the third-party warranty company before work could be done. We were stuck until Monday at the earliest. We rented a car, but otherwise did very little on Saturday.
Sunday, when we should have been driving home, we decided to return to Disneyland. Knowing nothing could be done on a Sunday about the car, we dropped the stress off at the gate. It was a great day and the one bright spot during the ordeal.
Monday we expected the work on the car to start in the morning because the parts showed up late on Saturday. However, the warranty company didn’t want to approve the work. They objected to the cost of the part and insisted on approval from the sales manager of the original dealership. That portion was surprisingly easy, props to that manager for getting his part covered within ten minutes. It took some yelling at the warranty company to get their end squared away, and by that time the work had to be pushed to the next day. More missed work, and another job I have to dump on my coworker.
Tuesday work on the car finally started, but we still had to check out of the hotel and turn in the rental car before it was finished. I ended up in the customer lounge looking homeless with two dogs and our luggage, while mrsgnu returned the car, taking the third dog and sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for the dealership’s shuttle. After even more waiting for another part that never arrived (for a related, but not crippling problem), we started home at 4:00pm, not getting home until 11:30pm.
It was a long and very stressful “vacation.” Thanks for letting me vent.