This day has been rough so far, and I’m hoping that it improves quickly.

Starting in the wee hours of the night, I dealt with feline frustration at having no food in their bowl. This was because Siobhan was scheduled for her dental cleaning this morning and was not allowed to eat any food after 8pm the prior night.

Well if Siobhan can’t eat, the boys can’t either, because I really don’t have a good way to separate them at the food area. So back and forth they wandered across my belly, trying desperately to get me to wake up and give them food at 2am. Then Siobhan started pulling at a plastic bag with her nails, creating that annoying crinkly plastic sound that is oh so enjoyable at 3:13am.

David finally crawled in bed around 4am, because he made the mistake of drinking a huge cup of iced coffee around 10pm and couldn’t get to sleep.

As we approached 6am, Lasher decided it was time to get more aggressive, so he walked back and forth up to my face and swatting his tail into my nose. I pushed him away over and over again, but realistically I was not going to get much sleep.

I woke up around 7:30am, showered, and got the carrier ready to take Siobhan out to a vet in North Highlands, which was recommended by Banfield, because their have a cardiologist on staff. Due to her heart issues, I needed to find a place that could use the appropriate anesthesia that would be easy on the heart. Originally, I had gone to UC Davis, but had a very negative experience there and decided not to go back.

So…we’re in the car heading north when Sio starts making the sounds she makes when she’s got to use the bathroom. I had prepared for this eventuality - she did this the last time she rode in the car, so I pulled over to the side, wiped up the carrier, and replaced the little towel with a fresh one.

Unfortunately, when I got back into the car, I discovered that none of the buttons on the driver door were functioning. I could not raise or lower the windows (the two back windows were down about 3 inches), could adjust either mirror, and could not lock or unlock the doors. Even as I pulled back onto the street, my driver door did not auto-lock like the others did. I even tried to use the window button on the door behind me, but the window would not move. A complete electrical failure of the door systems. This car is cursed.

Great. Just yesterday I had noticed that the outdoor temperature display in the car had gone on the fritz. It either displayed —, or -40F. Obviously, in the Sacramento summer it’s not -40F. Something was wrong, but I could have dealt with a faulty temperature gauge, not with a much larger electrical problem. I tried to run the a/c, but apparently it felt that if the temperature outside was -40F, regardless of whether I had the a/c button on, it needed to put out hot hair. Lovely.

Off we went to the vet and I dropped Sio off for her dental, which she desperately needed ($650 that I wouldn’t have had to pay if Banfield had a cardiologist), and made my way down to the Volvo dealer, having called them ahead of time to tell them I was on the way.

Thankfully, the dealer found a loaner vehicle for me, and I was able to get back home and back to work.

So a cat’s at the shop and my car’s at the shop. Let’s hope that both come back better than new :-).

Update as of 2:08pm: The doctor found some type of crack in Siobhan’s lower jaw, while she was under anesthesia, and he will be putting a wire around two teeth to pull them closer together to help fuse the crack. He has no idea what caused it or where it might have come from, but said it should be ok within 4-6 weeks.

Pulling your phone away from your ear before you make a left or right turn, then putting your phone back to your ear to continue talking, does NOT make you a safer driver.

Thanks.

Today’s Daily Snippet

Incident Type: Traffic Hazard - Loose Animal
Location: SB BIRD LANDING RD JSO 113
info as of: 2/13/2007 8:21:04 AM

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

7:33AM RP ADV HER EMPLOYEE WHO WAS DRIVING TK CONTINUED, DID NOT SEE WHERE COW LANDED
7:31AM UNK IF COW IN RWY
7:31AM RED 3 AXLE WORK TK VS COW
7:31AM LEFT TURN AT STOP SIGN TOWARDS COLLINSVILLE 2-3 MILES ON CURVE TOWARDS JERICO

Don’t you just love how it sounds like a Mortal Kombat event. Truck vs. Cow. Choose Your Destiny! Animality! Truck WINS! Waaaa ha ha ha ha!

Apparently the truck driver hit the cow so hard it flew and landed somewhere outside their field of vision. Who hits an animal on the road and doesn’t stop to see if it’s ok??

I remember one evening in college, I was driving home from work, and at the time, I lived about 10 minutes away, down a long dark highway…THUMP THUMP!

What the hell was that? Turns out it was a rabbit…I could have cared less about any damage to the car, I was just sick that I’d hit something and probably killed it. Unfortunately, it was so dark that I could not see into the ditch areas to see if the animal was there. There wasn’t any evidence on the highway, other than what I had seen as it ran in front of the car.

A cow is a bit different. I would venture to say that if you hit a cow, there’s going to be significant damage to your vehicle, and there’s no way you could “lose” the cow in the process. There will be plenty of evidence, and likely the cow hasn’t gone very far, given the fact that most of them weigh enough to not remain airbourn long.

I’m the kind of person who saves drowning worms in a rainstorm…call me crazy (and you probably just did), but if I hit something, I’m sure as heck gonna stop and do something about it.

SACRAMENTO, California - A Sacramento man issued a scathing admonishment to drivers using cell phones today. “I don’t like them,” said Heath Buckmaster of Sacramento. As a long time resident of the East Sacramento area, Heath says that he has experienced, first hand, the dangers and distractions caused by rampant cell phone use while operating a vehicle.

“Not long ago, I witnessed a horrific accident, caused by a cell phone user. One car was at a complete stop waiting for their turn to turn, then the celler [sic], that’s my own personal word I used to describe her, slammed into that poor vehicle. I mean she must have been going at least 4 or 5 miles an hour because she was way too busy talking on her phone to realize there were other cars on the road. And do you know what she did? She just drove around the stopped car and took off! She didn’t even stop to see if the person was ok, or if there was any damage to the car. So you know what I did? I took off after the celler. I snapped pictures of her car with my camera phone, and I called the police as we chased her. Now mind you, I was in the passenger seat, where it’s safe to use the phone while riding.”

California, long known as the crazy state, has been reluctant to pass legislation legislating the use of cellular phones, or “mobile” phones as they are more popularly called by intelligent people.

Business consumers and teenagers alike, have lobbied for continued access to their voicemail and text messaging services while driving, despite an sharp increase in cell-related injuries over the past 10 years.In fact, injuries have increased so dramatically since the advent of the so called “smart phone”, automobile manufacturing companies are considering supplemental airbag systems in vehicles, that activate when cellular signals are detected.

This, Fujimuti company spokesperson Karina Marina says, will provide an “extra measure of protection for phones that could go flying into a windshield during an accident. Consumers make a heavy investment in their cellular technology, and auto manufacturers need to do their part to ensure safety of the phone in the event of a crash.”

Starting with the introduction of the “connected cellular phone”, those phones which were tethered to a large bag in the car via a 5 to 6 foot curly-Q cord, drivers and passengers alike have enjoyed the convenience of staying in touch while driving to the grocery, for example.

“What happens if your partner or spouse forgot to put milk on the list? They should be able to call or text you so you don’t have to make an extra trip! Plus it helps us save the environment because I use less bags. If you came back in for milk, that’s another paper or plastic bag I’ve got to give you. People don’t recycle those things you know. And what about people who get paper in plastic, or double bag? Talk about wasting bags! Text messaging is the future of last minute shopping and it’s environmentally responsible,” exlaimed Kip Davis, a surprisingly well-spoken bagging attendant who works for Raley’s and Bel Air grocers.

In today’s society, where technology evolves on an almost weekly basis, mobile phones come in hundreds of varieties, including those that provide access to videos, music, emails, text messaging, digital cameras, and personal assistants. Some technologies even provide document storage and viewing, allowing the corporate driver to review PowerPoint slides or Excel spreadsheets on their drive to work.

“When I’m late for that 8 o’clock meeting with a client, I couldn’t survive without a quick glance at my slide deck while heading to the site. Sometimes you need to get a last minute look at those numbers to make sure you can speak with intelligence. Sure I’m driving, but we’re talking about millions of dollars at stake for this job,” exclaimed Gerome Martinique, managing owner of Piggy Wiggy Manufacturing, Inc.

Obviously, there are some benefits to cell phone use, but the question remains, are they safe for use in cars. Heath Buckmaster certainly disagrees. “I don’t like them.” Strong words, but Buckmaster says they are justified, because “this problem is plaguing our country and we have to do something about it. It’s just … wrong.”As this reporter left the interview, our driver had to take an urgent call from the studio about a breaking news story in progress. We were stunned as a 30-something year old man, dressed in a smart suit jumped out of the Lexus in front of us and ran back to our van. Through the open window, he let out a tirade that we were able to get on tape.

“I don’t care if you are a 15 year old out on your drivers exam, or a 55 year old CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a reporter out covering some useless story on the advantages of Post-It ™ Notes in corporate culture. If you can’t keep your hands on the wheel of your vehicle, then you have no business driving! Talking on your phone is just like driving drunk! If you come barelling up behind me while gabbing with your best friend about how awesome you thought Matthew Perry was in his latest made-for-TV-movie and slam into my car sending me hurtling into the airbag and giving me back trauma and whiplash, I’m going to sue you for everything you’ve got, and make sure part of your penalty is that you can never use a cell phone again. You know how they make hackers not go within 50 feet of a computer when they get out of prison? It’s just like that. You’re cut off from ever sending a text message again. Consider that! How many extra trips are you going to have to take to the store then huh?“

We were so busy laughing at recording him, none of us realized that he hadn’t put his car in park when he jumped out to yell at us. Fortunately, it was stopped by a very large Verizon van that was driving past.© 2006 The Conglomerated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Ok…so a couple days ago, my vehicle experienced some “errors”. This is the continuing story…

This morning I woke up to call CAAA to have the car towed down to the dealer. Since I have AAA+, it’s not a problem, but I was sure to tell them that the car is in a VERY tight spot, being all the way in the back of my driveway, and since the steering is locked, I can not turn the wheels to push the car down the driveway, as it’s pointed to run right into the fence.

So the tow guy shows up…and already I’m thinking, great, this company really has got to have some customer service consulting. I get about two words from him…”Your card?”. So I show him my AAA card, and that’s when he warms up…sort of. Actually he was very professional, just not a people person. He evaluated the location of the car, and massiveness of his tow vehicle, and determined there was no way in HELL he was going to be able to get my car out of the driveway. He would have had to remove the chimney from my house, and the fence between my house and the next in order to come even close to reaching the car.

So he calls his supervisor, who recommends I call the dealer to find out what to do. I advise the dealer of the situation and the tow guy asks to talk to them. They speak for a while about the tightness of the driveway and the inability to even put wheels on the front to push the car out - due to damaging the vehicle with the jack. I reminded the dealer that I had said over and over again that the car does NOT have a lot of a space around it in its current location - they seem to be ignoring this fact.

Anyway - service guy escalates to service manager, and tow guy leaves because there isn’t anything he can do without damaging the car, and he isn’t willing to take that risk. Service manager calls me back to understand the situation, so I once again repeat what is going on. They offer to send a shuttle bus up to get me so that I can at least have a loaner vehicle while they determine how to get the car to their facility.

I know they can’t just go make house calls, but this is a very irregular situation - so I said, why don’t you just send a tech to my house, I don’t live that far from you. I didn’t say it sarcastically, but I did say it a bit “hello i’m the customer”-esque…he said he would figure out what they needed to do, and he was very polite about it, and much more proactive than anyone else I had talked to.

Anyway …it is exactly 8am PST and I am waiting for the shuttle van to get here and take me away to loaner vehicle land. More to come…

Update as of 12:29pm - the 2nd tow truck has just left, the dealer called them and apparently coordinated them to come out here. I got the loaner vehicle just fine, and have been at home in meetings. No surprise, the truck couldn’t get in the driveway. No one is listening to me when I tell them the driveway is narrow (and I expressed this to the company when they called).

The roadside assistance company is now calling the dealer to find out what they should do next. I have repeated that the driveway is narrow about 43 times, and have already asked twice for them to just send a tech to the house - but alas…customer service is dead in this country. My neighbor reminded me that if I owned a Lexus, it would have been fixed right now because they would have sent a tech right to the house. Lucky her - and it’s not that I don’t have a nice car. It’s a Volvo S40 with less than 6000 miles on it, and the dealer I’m working with is the same place I bought the car…it astounds me that the customer service I’m experiencing (or rather not experiencing) is this poor.

So I am now waiting for the dealer or the roadside company to call me back. I really have no time to deal with this as I’m in phone meetings all afternoon - so I think they are just going to have to work within my schedule, not me with theirs. Maybe that will get them to start LISTENING to me when I tell them the same thing over and over again.

Roadside assistance just called, and they are sending out tow truck #3 - who has said that he will have no problem getting into the driveway (which they now think is 4 feet wide…don’t ask me why they think this, but I laughed when they said it, I said, um, 4 feet wide??? - what car would fit in a 4 foot wide opening? not even a Minicooper…..) anyway…Manuel is on his way.

More soon (I hope)…

Update for 2:10pm PST - the 3rd tow truck has been here, and successfully got the car down the driveway and onto the flatbed…it took almost an hour of shifting, jacking, pulling, shifting, but with no damage, it got done. The car is now on the way to the dealer for repairs…we’ll see what happens next.

A comedy of errors this morning.So David is back at the company again, with a contract working in Risk and Security, or something like that…so we’ve been doing the carpool thing to save some gas, some money, and to drive in the carpool lane. Really, driving in the carpool lane is the biggest benefit of the deal.This morning I went out to my car to pull it out of the garage, to discover that the immobilizer had activated. Basically the message screen said “IMMOBILIZER - SEE MANUAL”, then flipped over to “STEERING LOCKED - SERVICE REQUIRED”.Great…so I tried a couple times, same error, looked in the manual and it said that it’s caused by having both remotes next to each other in the car…well the other remote was in the house, so that wasn’t the issue.

Anyway, I told David he was going to have to drive. So we get in his jeep, which was basically on 0 miles before empty (you can see where this is going right?), and off we go. We got about 2 miles down the road, and chug chug chug, it ran out of gas. Thankfully we were about 100 yards from the gas station, so we both hopped out and pushed the VERY heavy jeep grand cherokee to the gas station.

We gas’d up, while I talked to the dealership about the error on my car…they were very surprised that something like this would happen with a pretty much brand new car, and they provided me a remedy suggestion for when I get home…

Alas…I got my workout for the morning pushing the jeep up the street…thank goodness it wasn’t a hill.

Incident: 0621
Type: Hit
info as of: 3/20/2006 12:20:56 PM

ADDITIONAL DETAILS
12:12PM NO INJURIES
12:12PM SV - TAN JEEP CHEROKEE HIT RP S GRANDMOTHER S HOUSE

Can you imagine….running into your grandmother’s house? Certainly her fruit cake isn’t THAT bad…