Thanksgiving Misadventures

I should have seen it from the start. The day started with making a breakfast that Krista doesn't like. Whoops. Then I forgot to buy eggs so I couldn't make the pies I promised for the Thanksgiving meal we were going to. Luckily Kevin found an open grocery and rescued the day.

All of this, though, pales in comparison to the misadventures that awaited us in Indianapolis. We plan to go to Indy every Friday after Thanksgiving so that Kevin can coach a clinic with his mentor. So, Friday came, and off we went. The drive up was smooth. We had planned to take Krista to downtown Indy to see the greatness that is the city. BUT it was the night that they were lighting their city so it was CRAZY!! Parking was nuts, people were singing off key at every corner, and cold and crowds were in abundance. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. We did want to eat some where that's an Indy original and ended up at Aubeulo's. (Sp?) Grandpa's house and my stomach did not like each other. It was NO GOOD!

Saturday was pretty quite. Kevin coached. Krista wrote a paper. I slept and did some work. We went out with some of the other coaches for dinner - a fun time was had by most. There was a coach there that had a little too much beer and the more he drank the louder he got. The rest of the evening was a blast though.

Sunday - the day of all days. Kevin went back to coaching. Krista and I thought it'd be a great day to go shopping so off we went to this cute outdoor mall. It was good - except that i was sick, AGAIN. Oh and it was miserable outside - cloudy, and wet and nearly snowing. When we had all that we could take of looking at things we couldn't afford we decided to go to Barnes & Noble and get coffee. Warmed from the coffee goodness we decided it was time to go and get Kevin and hit the road. My car had other ideas. We got in and turned the key: nothing. Tried again still nothing. So, I opened the hood, grabbed my hat, scarf, and gloves and looked for some jumper cables. But they are in Kevin’s car in Nashville. If your car doesn't start - it's obviously the battery. So I was quickly and rudely welcomed to the North. Hood up, tears welling, i asked numerous passer-bys if they had jumper cables. No, no, no. Finally a cop pulled into the parking lot. So, Krista mustered her courage and asked the police officer if she could give us a jump. To which she replied, "I'm not obligated to help. But I can call a tow truck." Thanks a heap coyote ugly!! After about another 30 minutes someone FINALLY came and offered to give us a jump. But they didn't have jumper cables. So they went and found some and came back. But it didn't work.

Another 20 or more minutes pass with people walking by, not caring. Finally a nice gentleman came and pulled out fancy jumper cables and wanted to help. He tried to jump the car. It didn't work. He asked me to turn the headlights on. They came on with ease. "sorry, but it's not your battery." GREAT!!! I call Kevin and he suggests I ask someone for help. ARG!

Frustrated beyond tears i turn to the owner’s manual. It turns out there was a light in my dashboard indicating that someone tried to steal my car. I knew that means that the car was in lock down. So I try to call the dealership that I purchased the car from. Closed. So, I 411 a local dealership. Closed. So I call the number in the owner’s manual. CLOSED!!! Finally a nice lady that tried to help me in the parking lot offered to Google the problem and see if she could find something out. She also let me know that all dealerships in Indiana are closed on Sunday - it's a law. (What state has so much free time in its legislative season that they can take time to vote on whether dealerships should be open on Sundays and then make it a law?!?!?)

Finally, the caped super hero found the number for Dodge's road side assistance. Such a kind lady! So I call. They agree - the light means my car thinks that someone tried to steal it. So...3 hours after this whole ordeal began a tow truck appeared to take my car away. He let Kevin, Krista and I CRAM ourselves into the cab with him (half way to the place he was kind enough to let us know that we could have ridden in my car.) Once we got to the dealership we ask the tow truck driver if he could give us a ride to a nearby hotel. He wasn't obligated to help either. So we gathered our luggage, left the keys at the dealership and started to hike. We literally hiked up hill in the snow to a Steak N Shake where we grabbed some dinner. Then we continued on our trek to the hotel. Wet, unhappy, and tired we arrive at the closest hotel - a crack motel apparently. So we locked ourselves in for the night and tried not to touch too many things.

With morning came a sense of optimism. I called the dealership to see if they had a shuttle service. The receptionist told me no. So, we gathered ourselves and our luggage and stepped back into the snow to walk the 1/2 mile back to the dealership. We arrived soaked and found at least some free coffee and danish. While munching on our goodies a nice, older fellow popped his head into the waiting room and asked if anyone needed the shuttle service. I'm pretty sure that at this point the Holy Spirit lent me all the patience and self-control that I needed. Because if i wasn't a christian I would have gone and smacked the receptionist with all my might!!!

Turns out that the wireless key module in my car was fried. I don't know how or why. But it did. So they didn't have the part in stock and had to order it from Chicago - which meant we were stuck for another day!! Apparently, Indiana is not the friend of the auto-mechanic or the stranded tourist. So, luckily my car is still under warranty. The nice warranty company paid my bill AND gave us a rental car. No more hiking in the snow. So we went back to the nice hotel we originally stayed in. They were nice to us and gave us free laundry soap (b/c I'm not an over packer like some we had run out of clothes) and a reduced rate for the room. SWEET! So we hung out in the room, mostly defeated. Had to go to Cracker Barrel for dinner - comfort food and sweet tea! And, after not really sleeping since leaving TN we bought me some Nyquil and I got to sleep! Ten lovely, sleepy hours later I woke up, late.

Quick showers were had and things were thrown into suit cases. We shuffled back into the car and headed back to the dealership. They gave me new keys and a bill. Then the cashier, who apparently couldn't read the big post-it note on the bill charged me for the ENTIRE COST! I literally snapped at her and made her take it off my debit card. 10 minutes later we were all back in my car - two days and hours of frustration later than we had planned - we were headed back to Nashvegas. Never thought I'd be so happy to see the TN boarder in all my life.

Today I had a moment of panic. It turns out that the cashier (whose nametag should have read "Incompetent") processed the $630 bill on my card anyways! I called the dealership - I think they knew it was me, they didn't answer. Then I called my bank. She also processed a credit, but it was taking a while to show up. The cashier is lucky because at this point I was ready to drive back to Indianapolis just to kick her!

Now, I'm ready to stay home and have no more adventures.