Let's just pretend we're friends, having a cup of coffee.
Saturday, October 16, 2010 at 8:57AM Here's the thing: Bob and I have an unspoken rule: don't bitch on the website unless you can be funny. Actually - it's pretty much the way we roll in life as well. It has taken me this long, my friends, to find the humor.
Not that we've had a horrible time back in LA at all. Not at all! We are so very happy to be back among our tribe. But bad people have done bad things, and we've been the suckers born that particular minute, and it has cost money and time and a lot of anger on my part... Want to hear about it?
WELL... We bought a car. An old, ugly car. We were so delighted! We spent very little money on it, and the mechanic said it checked out under the hood, and we thought we got a really great deal. We were all smug and happy, driving our POS car that looked like crap and drove like a dream - for the first 50 miles or so.
Turns out we got suckered, as only a Smug Sucker can be. We got suckered by Omar Gonzales, who lives on Kecker street, in the Garvanga district of LA. I know where he lives, because I've been there a few times. Once when we bought the car, and once, when after I realized how he'd rolled back the odometer over 100,000 miles, flipped the thing without registering it a the DMV, and he was refusing to return the many phone call we made to him, I went back to his house and TALKED TO HIS MOTHER!
"Are you an honest woman?" I asked her, looking deeply into her eyes.
"Yes I am." she said, holding my gaze.
"And have you tried to raise honest children, as I have?"
"Yes I have."
We had a moment. A heartfelt moment. I told her how very sorry I was to be standing there in front of her, how I could only imagine how I would feel if someone came to my house and told me that my son had done such things. She promised me, tears welling, that she'd have her wayward son call me that very night.
Never heard from him.
We replaced the water pump when it broke a week later, but not the 2 inside door handles that have broken off since. Our neighbors think this family has very courtly maners, what with everybody getting out of the car and opening the doors for everybody else.
Bad Thing #2: Owen's birthday present (an IPod Touch) got stolen from the mailbox service that we paid to receive mail while we were gone. We suspect an inside job, because when you Google the Ojai Business Center, in Ojai, CA - you read about a lot of things being 'lost', and a lot of people really unhappy with the owner, Mike, who, by the way, has hung up on me during 3 different phone conversations. Turns out - he's under investigation by both the local police and the postal service. I got the low-down from the Postmaster when I called to ask for advice. Not a big deal in the global scheme of things, but enough to really piss me off for a week or so.
Here's to Amazon.com, for hearing the story, and replacing the IPod Touch happily. I love good customer service, and Amazon went beyond...
OK - so there's the stupid crap we've been dealing with. Now that I've gotten this off my chest I can move on. Next time I'll be funny and exciting, and I'll fill your day with wonder and laughter. Shock and awe. Joy and mirth. In the meantime, thanks for listening to me bitch.
Reader Comments (16)
OMG! I'm so sorry to hear all that!
I've been subscribed to your blog since before you left and have been following your journey. I've been moved by your posts and your adventures and sort of living vicariously through them. Thank you for documenting it.
I can only imagine the disappointment to come back to this though.
My heart goes out to you.
Sometimes I yearn to live in a place that is like "Leave it to Beaver" where everyone is honest and by the time you go to bed you have learned a lesson that makes you a better person. Unfortunately, the world we have created is not exactly that.. Spent 2 years yelling at Best Chevy in Hingham Massachusetts every time they serviced our car something broke. Guess what? Nothing has broke the last time they serviced the car in May when we decided to go to another dealer. This world is not an honest place. Thats why our health insurance premiums keep going up and why we are taxed to death. But we keep working as hard as possible to try and feed and nuture the 4 growing children we have. Beginning to think you should just go back on another vacation for a year or two and forget about this place we once called America...........
A run of crap luck, for sure. Things will get only better and betterer, they will. They will. Your good humor will always win. Sending love and kindness.
"Let's pretend we're just friends..." Oh dear, I thought we actually WERE friends! And while I don't drink coffee anymore (I'm willing to pretend the coffee part) that's a mighty big cup!
Not to trivialize your frustration and pain, but I half expect to see photos of Owen bowing Brenna out of the car in an Emmy gown...Eleanor (or Bob) exiting through an open window...
Your wealth will always be in love and humor and you, dear, dear Redpaths, are truly wealthy!
(I lived for over a year with a car door that locked itself whenever you opened it - don't forget those keys! - and it wasn't even Omar's fault!)
Still, love having you back in town.
Aloha,
Nicole.
Bad s@#$%t happens to good people. It sucks! I believe though in the end good people prevail. It's not naive, it happens ALL the time.
The universe ALWAYS requires balance. Your flip-side is coming.
There's a better car and a better deal on the way, promise.
That's terrible! I'm sorry to hear about your bad luck.
I wonder (and this not meant as a criticism, but as a possible downside of all the traveling), are you maybe off your game? Could your BS meter have taken a hit on your trip?
Dear Brenna, I'm so sorry about your recent experiences. Good for you on being proactive about it all. I'm sending a lot of light to shine on your whole family. I'm sure that it's a huge adjustment to be back in L.A. and I wish you all the best. Love Chris
Aw, and there I was inviting you to a singalong in Edinburgh in the hope that maybe you guys were going to swing by here this Christmas and sing some more carols with us. Oh well, hope it is warm and sunny there, anyway!
Lovely post.I'm sending a lot of light to shine on your whole family. I'm sure that it's a huge adjustment to be back in L.A. and I wish you all the best.
Once in a while, rotten luck simply hits us, hope good luck hit you next. Waiting for the lovely next post:)
Just came across your blog. Can't wait to learn more about your family's adventures. Until then... sorry to hear about the car and the Ipod.
I have a similar experience, it really gets down to the nerves.
Things happen and sometimes its hard to makes things funny that are really bothering you after all you are human!
Got to be a real pain in the @ss experience.
Oh, well, things happens at times, things that are not what we've been expecting of and things that are sometimes not good. What we can do is as you mentioned, just move on and also treat it as a learning experience, after all, experience is the best teacher.
Wow. Your week sounds as crazy as mine has been! And I can definitely appreciate you and your husband's dedication to not complaining unless its humorous. When you have weeks like that, it can easily turn into a giant complaining fest. This is my first time on your blog and I noticed on the homepage you mentioned homeschooling? Assuming you were referring to your child, what kind of curriculum do you use?