I have such a headache.

Today started with a third trip to the car repair place. The first one last week resulted in the mechanic telling me to take the car to a dealer because wheel bearings shouldn’t go out this early so it should be covered under warranty. The second one resulted in the dealer’s mechanic telling me it was more than just the bearings going out, that it would all be covered under warranty, but that they didn’t have enough time to complete the work so I’d have to come back. And so I came back. I had an appointment for a drop-off this morning at 9am, and they had reserved a rental car for me to have during the day (since when don’t they do loaners?).

And that was where the day started veering off in the wrong direction.

It was after 11 when I finally got to my office, after having been kept waiting, then told they didn’t have a car for me after all but could get one from Avis, then having the Avis guy take forever to show up from a mile away (like, half an hour or more), then being taken back to the Avis place to fill out paperwork there, then finding out that no one knew who had my drivers license and insurance card, then finally finding it in the rental guy’s pick-people-up van while he was on the phone with a friend making vacation plans, then sticking up for myself (rather uncharacteristic) by suggesting that making me pay for the day’s rental was so ludicrous as to be laughable. (That sounds very brave, but I think my actual words were, “Uh… I really don’t want to pay for this rental.” Said with “Seriously, I want you all to die,” in my tone.)

Great morning.

The early afternoon featured me being testier than necessary, followed by a phone call from the dealership saying that they’d broken the speed sensor on my wheel, that they’d overnight a new one from their distributor in Iowa, and that they’d already heard about my morning’s terrible experience, so they’d give me another day of free rental. (You better BELIEVE they’d give me another free day of rental.) After having my courage worked up for me by a friend, I called their manager and secured a promise that the car would be done by noon so that I could travel as I’d planned, though even this isn’t great because it means that I either put off my travel plans by about 3 hours or I take all my luggage (including the cat) with me to work and then up to the dealer. What a mess.

While I was on the phone with the manager, someone called and left a message that she wanted help with a program that’s far beyond her computer literacy skills. She’s wanted the same help with it every day since Friday. After half an hour on the phone with her, carefully describing (from memory) the steps she needed to take and buttons she needed to press, I finally went over to her office and spent an hour there being very, very patient. VERY patient.

By then I’d had enough, so I went home a little early, only to find a message from my doctor of which the only memorable phrases are “could be caused by a tumor” and “CAT scan.” I’m supposed to call him tomorrow to arrange that. That’s when the headache kicked in.

Two good things happened today. 1) My co-worker brought me some eggless pumpkin cookies, and 2) the dealer called to grovel quite a lot, offering me a 25% discount on all rentals through them forever, giving me the general manager’s cell phone number which I can call “for any reason” (the mind boggles), assuring me that there have been several high-level meetings about my case today, and saying that there’s good possibility the rental manager can get the service manager to give me a free routine service next time I come in.

So tomorrow I have to see about this CAT scan thing, attend a meeting I really don’t want to attend, deal with the car thing, and travel for 6 hours.

What a day.