12-10-2006, 10:39 PM
My Prius died on Friday night after only four years of moderate abuse. It was a dramatic death. It's a bit of a long story, so bear with me.
I got home from a show around 2 AM Friday morning to find Stacy on the phone with her doula client. She told her to go to bed and call in the morning. Being wound up from the show, I didn't sleep much and that client called again around 6ish, so Stacy left. So I took Tara to school, called my coworker to pick up a visiting master from SFO who I was scheduled to pick up for a shoot that morning. At work, there was a lawyer's letter threatening lawsuit because someone called his client a ninny on our forum (this happens a lot - a constant botherof my job) along with some other assorted chaos, but I managed to push it all to Monday and just focus on the shoot. That went ok, all things considered - shoots are always a lot of work but it's fun and creative, so it's a mixed bag and very challenging on little sleep. By the time that master left, I had to rush to pick up Tara for her swim class so I had to forward some work home via email, an email blast that needed to go out that night. We got to swim class and Tara mentioned I had forgot her goggles, so we rushed home, couldn't find them, started to freak out, then she said 'oh you can just borrow them from the school' and I was like 'why didn't you say so?' so back we rushed. She was in the water only 5 minutes late. Class went well for her and I got to catch my breath for half an hour - at this point, I figure I'd been on the go for some 30+ hours with only that short nap between doula client calls. Then we went back home to get Tara fed, bathed and to finish that work item. As I was just about to email it, thinking 'ahh, finally, I can rest' Stacy called saying she had got separated from her car - it was parked at her client's house in Daly City and she was now stuck at the hospital in Burlingame. So I wrap Tara in a blanket (she was already in her PJ's) and plunged into the worst traffic ever - Friday night, first big storm of the season. Almost there, and my Prius warning lights go off. I pick up Stacy and as we leave the hospital, the Prius computer system totally crashes. I swear it looked like the deck of the Enterprise when the Klingons attack - screen flashing warnings, then blinking on and off, then black. I lose power and have to push the car up into the driveway of an old folks home in the pouring rain. The car is dead and it's an ugly storm. My family stays in the car as I call AAA and I'm thinking about that Kim guy who just died in the snow. I get a tow truck, but in the storm and at that location, there was no where to go, so we convince the tow guy to take us to Bart and leave the car. Oh, Stacy left her wallet in the car and I spent my petty cash on this visiting master. I'll get reimbursed, but Friday was payday and I left for Tara's swim class before getting my paycheck, much less cashing it. So we're counting change to make it the next step. We bart to Daly City and have just enough for cab fare to Stacy's car. It's cold, I'm soaked to the bone, and very late for Tara, who is only in a blanket and pjs. What a brutal night. I barely slept at all that night. I was so freaked out from the experience.
The next morning, Stacy dropped me off at the car and it started. I drove the car with warning lights blazing to a dealership a few miles away, where it now awaits a tech to arrive on Tuesday.
Now, I'm just trying to get through Xmas, a season I've always disliked since adulthood. Bah, humbug. I'm so done with Toyota. I had such hassles with that Camry earlier this year, and then hassles with the dealership over a reimbersing a rental fee (it just got solved last week, ironically) and the way that Prius gave out was just terrifying. My plan is to fix it, sell it, and get a normal car - one with minimal computer systems that anyone can work upon. The Prius still has decent blue book, assuming I can get it working again cheaply. I just fucking weatherized it too - new tires and an 80,000-mile check up. Of course, we're already in debt because of buying that stripped down Civic this year, but I just don't trust the Prius anymore. That failure was just too damn weird. I don't want to get caught like that again. Had that Prius given out on the freeway, with Tara, in the rain, that would have been such a nightmare. It was a nightmare as it was, but at least we came out of it ok.
I feel like the guy who jumped on the grenade, who took one for the team, who invested in this new technology and helped forward it, only to be stuck needing to get a second new car for 2006, right amidst the Xmas stress. Actually, this is only the second issue I've had with it since the steering column failed in August, but I'm just tired of being stuck with the damn Toyota dealership. The main one I've used is in walking distance of my office, but since they've made so much money lately, they've expanded and I've had nothing but negative experiences with them over this entire year. My Prius is at the Burlingame dealership now, but frankly, if I can live the rest of my life without ever stepping in a Toyota dealership again, that would be grand. This was my fourth Toyota. I've been a Toyota man for over two decades. I'm done now. I still support hybrid technology - it was the right thing to do for the environment and all Al Gore says, but I can't stand being stuck with the dealership anymore. Hell, I'll still use energy saving lights and compost. I've done my part with hybrid technology.
I'll find out what the damage is Tuesday probably. Until then, I'm hitching rides from my coworkers and family.
2006 has been an astoundingly bad year for me.
I got home from a show around 2 AM Friday morning to find Stacy on the phone with her doula client. She told her to go to bed and call in the morning. Being wound up from the show, I didn't sleep much and that client called again around 6ish, so Stacy left. So I took Tara to school, called my coworker to pick up a visiting master from SFO who I was scheduled to pick up for a shoot that morning. At work, there was a lawyer's letter threatening lawsuit because someone called his client a ninny on our forum (this happens a lot - a constant botherof my job) along with some other assorted chaos, but I managed to push it all to Monday and just focus on the shoot. That went ok, all things considered - shoots are always a lot of work but it's fun and creative, so it's a mixed bag and very challenging on little sleep. By the time that master left, I had to rush to pick up Tara for her swim class so I had to forward some work home via email, an email blast that needed to go out that night. We got to swim class and Tara mentioned I had forgot her goggles, so we rushed home, couldn't find them, started to freak out, then she said 'oh you can just borrow them from the school' and I was like 'why didn't you say so?' so back we rushed. She was in the water only 5 minutes late. Class went well for her and I got to catch my breath for half an hour - at this point, I figure I'd been on the go for some 30+ hours with only that short nap between doula client calls. Then we went back home to get Tara fed, bathed and to finish that work item. As I was just about to email it, thinking 'ahh, finally, I can rest' Stacy called saying she had got separated from her car - it was parked at her client's house in Daly City and she was now stuck at the hospital in Burlingame. So I wrap Tara in a blanket (she was already in her PJ's) and plunged into the worst traffic ever - Friday night, first big storm of the season. Almost there, and my Prius warning lights go off. I pick up Stacy and as we leave the hospital, the Prius computer system totally crashes. I swear it looked like the deck of the Enterprise when the Klingons attack - screen flashing warnings, then blinking on and off, then black. I lose power and have to push the car up into the driveway of an old folks home in the pouring rain. The car is dead and it's an ugly storm. My family stays in the car as I call AAA and I'm thinking about that Kim guy who just died in the snow. I get a tow truck, but in the storm and at that location, there was no where to go, so we convince the tow guy to take us to Bart and leave the car. Oh, Stacy left her wallet in the car and I spent my petty cash on this visiting master. I'll get reimbursed, but Friday was payday and I left for Tara's swim class before getting my paycheck, much less cashing it. So we're counting change to make it the next step. We bart to Daly City and have just enough for cab fare to Stacy's car. It's cold, I'm soaked to the bone, and very late for Tara, who is only in a blanket and pjs. What a brutal night. I barely slept at all that night. I was so freaked out from the experience.
The next morning, Stacy dropped me off at the car and it started. I drove the car with warning lights blazing to a dealership a few miles away, where it now awaits a tech to arrive on Tuesday.
Now, I'm just trying to get through Xmas, a season I've always disliked since adulthood. Bah, humbug. I'm so done with Toyota. I had such hassles with that Camry earlier this year, and then hassles with the dealership over a reimbersing a rental fee (it just got solved last week, ironically) and the way that Prius gave out was just terrifying. My plan is to fix it, sell it, and get a normal car - one with minimal computer systems that anyone can work upon. The Prius still has decent blue book, assuming I can get it working again cheaply. I just fucking weatherized it too - new tires and an 80,000-mile check up. Of course, we're already in debt because of buying that stripped down Civic this year, but I just don't trust the Prius anymore. That failure was just too damn weird. I don't want to get caught like that again. Had that Prius given out on the freeway, with Tara, in the rain, that would have been such a nightmare. It was a nightmare as it was, but at least we came out of it ok.
I feel like the guy who jumped on the grenade, who took one for the team, who invested in this new technology and helped forward it, only to be stuck needing to get a second new car for 2006, right amidst the Xmas stress. Actually, this is only the second issue I've had with it since the steering column failed in August, but I'm just tired of being stuck with the damn Toyota dealership. The main one I've used is in walking distance of my office, but since they've made so much money lately, they've expanded and I've had nothing but negative experiences with them over this entire year. My Prius is at the Burlingame dealership now, but frankly, if I can live the rest of my life without ever stepping in a Toyota dealership again, that would be grand. This was my fourth Toyota. I've been a Toyota man for over two decades. I'm done now. I still support hybrid technology - it was the right thing to do for the environment and all Al Gore says, but I can't stand being stuck with the dealership anymore. Hell, I'll still use energy saving lights and compost. I've done my part with hybrid technology.
I'll find out what the damage is Tuesday probably. Until then, I'm hitching rides from my coworkers and family.
2006 has been an astoundingly bad year for me.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
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