We've Got Soul

The Christmas season has passed us by one more year. This was a great Christmas. Family to celebrate with and plenty of laughter. Blessed to have all of that in our lives. We wish the same for all of you. 

So two days after Christmas Day, I'm out working as per usual. About halfway through the day Terry texts me and let's me know Kia finally called! Our silver baby is ready for pick up after over a month's time of sitting in the shop again. I was so excited and apprehensive at the same time. Part of that is my anxiety and part of that is that this is the second time around this flag pole. 

My husband also informs me that Mallory is coming over to join us in our adventures of driving to Eugene and back. He posted the invitation to join us afterward for a dinner at Texas Roadhouse once we picked up the car, but everyone in the family was still reeling from the whirlwind of Christmas and our gathering. Totally understandable! I'm still holiday drunk myself. Too much of a good thing can offset the typical day. I loved every minute of the holidays though!

*** 

Mallory comes over, we load up, and off we go to pick up the beautiful baby. I love that car. I have grown into the familiarity stage and moved beyond, into the "this is comfortable" phase. I have everything just right. The phone connection, the seats, and even the seat warmers are set to a perfect setting. I have a nice little world set up inside that car. When it is gone for over a month, I'm missing it, badly!

We arrive at the dealership in Eugene. The drive was good. We turn in the keys to the Groaner Loaner, my friend and buddy over the past month. While I enjoyed the black Sportage loaner, it was gutless and just wasn't our car. I missed the seat warmers and the settings I had figured into the drive experience. It was ours and it was perfect. I felt blessed to have the loaner though. The first breakdown I didn't have a loaner. Stuck in the house without a car to at least run to the store was wearing on me. But this time I did have the Gutless Wonder. 

We walked outside. I spotted her immediately. The car looked different, yet the same. I was growing used to seeing the black and our car is a beautiful silver. She was shiny and ready to go, dog hair on the seats and a bit of garbage in the back seat, but it is our dog hair and our garbage. 

Snuggling into the seat, I felt at ease, at home. All was right with the world again. I love this car. 

We drove to Barnes and Noble where we all split up and checked out books and magazines that interested us. Terry and Mallory were looking throughout the store, but I found a cookie cookbook. I picked it up, sat in the chair, and got comfortable. Amazing book. 

Eventually we had our fill of books and drove across the street to the Texas Roadhouse, steakhouse and bar. Seated in a booth immediately, we began to search the menu for our favorites. Mallory and Terry told the waitress to start them off with a pina colada. Why not? I was driving. It was good. I ordered a club soda with lime and so the night began. 

We all ordered steak and our favorite side dishes. I had the chicken fried steak as usual, but this time I had some steak fries with it. Mallory ordered a steak with steak fries as well, and Terry decided on a steak with a baked potato. Perfect choices, although I don't think you can go wrong with anything at this place. 

Dinner complete, we drove back home. It was a nice trip to and from and we enjoyed our dinner. But the idea of having my car back thrilled me to no end. I climbed into bed and snuggled up with a smile on my face. Tomorrow's deliveries would be grand in my buddy, my pal, my awesome car. 

***

Work hours didn't seem as long now that I had the car under me again. I was so happy. Ecstatic to be exact. It was taking a bit of time to get used to everything again. The black Sportage loaner car was about the same, but our car has all the bells and whistles while the loaner was a stripped down model. We have a hybrid and the loaner was not. This made a big difference in terms of gas. About 10 miles per gallon difference. 

But I had the silver beauty back. I was back in the saddle again, so to speak, and able to stop to take photos along the day's travel. 

One of the first discoveries I made was how high the Umpqua was now. The rain seems to be never ending lately, so the river has taken on its fill. While this is nice to see since it remains so low through some of the year, it's also a bit worrisome as we do have a flood warning for this area. 

Thank goodness the banks of this river are fairly high or at least along this portion of the river. 

The river is so brown and muddy in the present state. With the overflow of rapidly moving water, mud is dredged up from the floor of the river and is mixing into the water. This is the same with any river going through the rougher, wintry movement with so much rain falling and the depth growing. Still beautiful though! I love waterways. 

***

After three days of delivering since our trip to Eugene, I was headed home to take a quick break before I completed deliveries for the day. Stopping at a red light, I was daydreaming about the past few days with the gathering of family and the fun we all shared. I truly love my life. I snapped out of the images rushing through my mind to focus on the green light and actual driving I needed to do. I stepped on the gas...

Nothing happened. I stepped down harder. My silver baby wasn't moving. After a minute she began to roll forward but would not get past 28 miles per hour. I wanted to stop in the middle of the street and cry. Oh, please! Not again. 

***

Here we go again. Three days into her return and she has to be towed into Eugene one more time. Terry called Kia. Once again they gave us the roadside assistance number and we began the usual routine. Terry asked for another loaner car for me so I wasn't stuck at home since we know, deep in our soul that the car being in the service department means at least one more month. 

Shocked at how quickly the routine came to be, I figured the car would go again, stay about a month, and then would either be fixed or would fall into the Lemon Law category. Once you have allowed a dealership to work on a car three times and it is still not fixed, they owe you a new car. 

Now, call it the stubbornness of a Capricorn or call it a love for the car I drive now, I don't want it to go. I knew that if it died again that I probably wouldn't end up with that car. I hate this. 

***

The following morning, Terry had asked if I could get a loaner and the dealership returned his call with an, "Of course you can. Let's see what we have." Terry suggested I come and get the car during that afternoon and that maybe Mallory could give me a ride. I talked with Mallory and she agreed. It was all coming together nicely, until it wasn't. 

I received a call from Kia Roadside Assistance and they informed me nothing could be done as nobody had accepted the task of towing our car to Eugene. They wanted to "schedule" me. I thought that's what had been done, but I'll play the game. They scheduled me for a later time during the day. 

At 2:00 in the afternoon, I receive another call from someone. They inform me they still cannot manage to find a tow company to take the car and since it's so "late in the day" and that they would have to schedule me for the following day. I informed the heavily accented, and not easily understood person on the other end that it was only 2:00 and I cannot believe that a tow company would not be open. "Oh. I didn't realize it's only 2:00." Um, duh. I get that it may not be where you live, but Kia should devise a way to show them the time before they cancel stuff. 

Okay, it's now 6:00 AM. That's 6:00 AM. I didn't know a time of 6:00 AM existed. What in the Kia world are you doing? My car was scheduled for 8:00 AM and I was prepared for that. But call me at 6:00 in the bloody morning and tell me that you can't find anyone to complete the task? I informed the person on the other end that while I do understand it's not their fault, this is really getting ridiculous. I asked if they can read into the future to call me two hours earlier than I'm supposed to be getting a tow to tell me it can't happen. They had no clue what to say. I got a lot of, "I'm so sorry. Are you in a safe place though?" Um, yeah. Since this happened a couple of days ago. But thanks for asking. 

So Monday continued with the same phone calls and blah, blah, blah. Add nauseum. Finally, in the afternoon (1:00), that they are canceling the service request due to the lack of finding anyone to handle the tow. I replied, "I get that, but it's only 1:00 in the afternoon. Isn't there a good chance something might open up between the afternoon today and tomorrow?" The reply I heard then did nothing but piss me off. This was getting so ridiculous.

"You have to contact a tow truck yourself and then sign up for a request for a refund. If they accept your request, you'll receive your money." This was all said in a strong accent again. The one that kills me is a Middle Eastern accent on a woman calling me, introduces herself as Mary. Um, yeah. Doubt it. I've heard the guys introduce themselves as Tyler or Dave. Give me a break. I get you don't want your name shared, but give yourself a number or something. I have nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing against anyone outside of the United States. It's not their fault. They are being given a script of what to say. They are simply trying to make a living the best they can. But those who train them or are bosses, stop with the names that sound ridiculous and give your workers a damn world clock so they can tell what time it is where they are calling. 

Now, back to our discussion. Hell, no, I'm not going to pay for it myself when Kia is the one that sold us the lemon car. Not our fault. Not our issue and definitely not our money going to pay for anything on this car. Not happening. 

That being said, I received six more calls with messages left, letting me know they cannot locate a tow truck to pick the car up. Terry made a call to Kia and asked if I could just come and pick the loaner car up. Kia responded with a, "Yes," so off Mallory and I went. 

My husband also spoke with a man who is taking care of the Roadside Assistance stuff. I had put in a second claim. That was also canceled and I was told they were going to schedule it on Thursday, after the holiday. We dropped it there. I'm to the point now where I don't care. I'll keep it in my driveway where I can at least look at it until you people can figure it out. I'll own a new one soon it seems like, so do what you have to. 

***

After some joking with the folks at the front desk, I was being asked to sign papers for the new car. I was excited and yet a bit sad. I wanted my car. I saw a silver Sportage sitting in the lot and figured that would be my loaner. This boosted my mood a bit. 

The woman helping me had me sign in a couple of places and then went to bring the car up and to check on the gas. She returned, informing me there was half a tank and it was ready to go. I asked if it was another Sportage. Turns out, it wasn't. Definitely not. 

She led Mallory and I out to the car and returned to the front desk. I stood looking at my new loaner, with my mouth hanging open. Are you freaking kidding me? I wanted to cry. I was embarrassed and missing my silver baby badly right now. I repeatedly told myself that I was blessed to have a loaner at all. But the words, "This is bullshit" cut through the feelings of blessings at the moment, being the human being that I am. Meet my new loaner that I am blessed to be driving:

The car itself even looks pissed off. I don't think it's any happier to be coming home with me as I am to be taking it home. I guess I can say that we've got soul, and it shouts it out all over town with that nasty color. Every cop in Roseburg will know we also have soul or a Soul. To me, this car screams, "Please, watch my speed and make sure I get a ticket today!" Even though I keep my speed down and even set cruise control at 35 MPH, this sucks. 

Now, before I get hate mail, I know a lot of people who love red. That's great! It's just not my thing. Not my color at all. I've never wanted a red car although I have had a couple. Not by choice. 

I mean, compare the two:

I mean, silver or that pukey red? A Soul or a Sportage? 

Then, I remind myself that while I love the Sportage over the nasty red Soul, I have to be grateful. At least the Soul is running properly. 

I feel blessed to have a loaner car. I am blessed to have a loaner. I am blessed to have a loaner. But it's red. (insert crying here). I am blessed to have a loaner. I am blessed to have a loaner...

I am not ungrateful, but wow. I don't understand what is going on with that car. Missing my baby, I drove the car home with Mallory close behind. We stopped to grab some food for all three of us, as Terry was waiting
at home. During our walk out to the car at the dealership, nobody did a walk around with me. I stepped out at the eatery to lock up and go in, when I spotted something on the Soul. 

While it's not huge it is still there. I am not going to be held responsible for this too. 

As you can see in the photos, the car is pushed in and a chip in the paint is apparent. 

***

So, off we go into the new year! Mallory came over and we watched some TV and munched on pizza and other munchies. Tomorrow is the big game! The Oregon Ducks will play in the quarterfinal game against Ohio State, to declare who will play in the national championship game on the 20th of January. 

Mallory left about 10:00 and we waited until midnight, gave each other a long, sensual kiss before we tipped our glasses in cheers to the new year as we watched the ball drop in Times Square. Our toast was to a good year, one filled with love, laughter, and joy. It dawned on us that this is actually our third New Year's Eve we have spent together. Doesn't seem possible. Still happy after these three years and wish for more to come. 

Our wish to have a good year also meant throwing some abundance in there and the vehicles all working well again and we've got ourselves a nice year to come! Oh, and no more falling or injuries. 

I was having a lot of fun toasting in 2025 until I saw the sponsor's name listed under the 2025 ... Kia. Of all the sponsor's in all the world ... welcome 2025. Let's make this one count!

We will leave this weekend's joys right here. Until our next post, we wish you an amazing 2025, with lots of blessings coming your way. Love and happiness to all of you and thank you again for reading A Psychic and a Poet Walk Into a Bar. 

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