car | But I Smile Anyway...

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #241 Storm&Fierce

Ronovan’s weekly haiku challenge:

Today, my haiku will be more of a senryu with a backstory attached… (rant to follow the poem!)

A storm is brewing
Reining in fierce reaction
Someone's gonna pay!
Ritu 2019

Right, so, if you read my Chai update yesterday, you’ll know that I had a rather trying week last week, and the hope was that this week be more of a relaxed affair.

Yeah right!

So, my car needed to go in for service and MOT and I used a company which I had a positive experience with last year, Servicing Stop.

They are a centralised company who manage bookings and get your car picked up and dropped off to a local garage, for a supposedly, respectable price, and the convenience is what sells it.

This year my reminder came up so I booked a day in, during the half term, so I had no need to be anywhere urgent. Perfect.

We walked to the dentist, came home, and I Marie Kondo-ed the heck out of my attic and called the company for an update.

I was told, after a few moments, that oils need flushing from the engine and new oils to replace it – that’s fine, usual things. Oh, and there was a fail on the MOT…

What?

Okay, so can they correct the fail (At my cost, obviously) and redo the MOT?)

No.

Apparently, a wheel locking nut was missing from the front tyre and you can only get that from Mercedes Benz.

Get the part and rebook so we can do a retest…

I was all afluster. I needed my car for the rest of the week. Lil Princess’s birthday plans rested on me being able to go places with her, in the car. And I had a whole load more stuff to get to the charity shops!

I called a garage here, who hadn’t got the parts and was directed to a Benz dealer who was about half an hour away.

“Yes, madam, we have the parts. that would be another £85… But why did they fail your MOT on this nut being missing? Having one of our ones is not a legal requirement? They could have replaced it with any nut and you could have got an official one later…”

Grrrrr!

So, my car now needed to go back somewhere, when it hadn’t actually needed to if anyone had used their noggin!

I called the company and relayed them what I had been told and he contacted the garage again and came back to me saying “Yes, I can see your frustration, but they have done the other stuff, and the car is actually on it’s way back to you now. Just get the wheel nuts and we can rebook you… Oh and while you’re on the phone, would you like to sign up to spend £15 with us monthly. It won’t lessen the cost of your next service, but will count towards any work and parts that may be needed next year?”

Er, no thanks, I am not giving you any more money than I have to. I just want my car sorted!

I paced around, getting antsy. Called the Mercedes dealer again to confirm that I don’t actually need their specific nuts, found out I could get cheaper replacement ones from Halfords and spoke to Hubby Dearest, who was also getting frustrated.

The car duly arrived and the lovely man who had picked it up came to hand me the keys, with a frown on his face.

“I’m not angry at you,” I said to him, “but, as you can see, there has been a bit of a palaver with my car today.”

“Yes, I can see that,” he said, ” And what’s more annoying is that it could have been sorted, and I don’t know why it wasn’t.” And in addition to the failed item, there were two other items that needed replacing which hadn’t even been mentioned to me by this company… which could have been actioned, had they told me!

He said, ” If you had come through the garage directly, they would never have sent a car back like this. We are tied to a contract with this Servicing Stop, and can’t do additional work unless they tell us the customer has asked for it.”

I told him how livid I was, that it was my daughter’s birthday, and I didn’t know what I was going to do, and he asked me to leave it with him so he could find out more at the garage and he promised a call back within the hour.

The worst thing though, was when we both looked at my Wheel Lock Nut Key box, there was not only a key but spare nuts in there! All that needed doing really was them using one of those, passing the MOT and telling me that if I wanted a special Locking one, I’d need to order it! (FFS!)

In the meantime, I fired off an email expressing my extreme disappointment to the company, Servicing Stop. (DO NOT USE THEM, PLEASE!) Still waiting for a reply…

The garage man called back, and said (to fuel my already frustrated self) that when they had been called by the company, to get an update on what had been done, and what needed doing, they were able to give a basic breakdown, without a chance to give suggestions, and the person rung off, without hearing the full issue list, hence me not being able to authorise any extra work to be done!

He had arranged, via the garage direct, and not the company, to pick my car up AGAIN, today at 10am, get the parts replaced and a new nut into the wheel, and the car back by mid-afternoon. I’d have to pay for parts obviously, but they wanted to help me out.

I gratefully accepted the proposition and sat at home with a car I was legally unable to drive now. We needed to get to the in-law’s house as we had a visitor arriving.

Preparing to walk, with the kids, my father-in-law offered a lift, so off we went.

Hubby Dearest got there and announced that his cousin, who we were expecting, had broken down around 20 minutes from the house. ALL the electrics in his fancy car had failed! (What was it with cars and our family yesterday?) So he went off to rescue him and bring him back home.

It ended up being a fraught, but lovely evening catching up with someone we hadn’t seen in a couple of years, and then the idea was thrown around that they all come back to ours, and stay the night.

Our house is open to any of our friends and family to come whenever they want, but to be honest, when I am in the process of ‘sparking joy’ it wasn’t going to be looking pretty.

Added to that was the fact that due to no car, I hadn’t got many provisions in either…

Still, happy hostess that I am, we all came back home and ended up not sleeping until past midnight.

So last night I had two brothers-in-law sofa surfing, the kids wanting to take the mick and stay up way late, and a Hubby who was happy to have his family with him, but worried about a meeting he had in the morning!

I was up at the crack of dawn (because I forgot to switch my school alarm off) and unable to go anywhere as all rooms were occupied by sleepy heads. Time to read, at least!

Hubby Dearest finally surfaced and went to work, with his brother in tow, leaving his cousin with me and the kids. He has now been picked up to by his brother, so they can rescue his useless car, and get back home.

So, right now, I am still car-less, still shattered, unable to get anything done with Lil Princess, as per our birthday week plans, today at least, and trying to rest up… yeah right!

Once I get the car back, I will be making a formal complaint to Servicing Stop. It was because they didn’t listen to the garage correctly in the first place, that half the info wasn’t relayed to me, and has resulted in two days of mine being ruined!

Grrrrr!!!

Okay, rant over.

Have a great day Peeps!

RonovanWrites #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge #241 Storm&Fierce

The Day I Shut Down the Motorway -#angelsdoexist

Saturday 25th February 2017.

That’s a date I won’t forget in a hurry.

It was a hard enough day, attending the funeral of my cousin, then I had to drive back home, 3 hours to normality… or so I thought.

Basically, I’m lucky to be here writing this post.

As I sit here, still in Birmingham with my Pops, sore as anything, I can’t help but flash back to what happened yesterday.

I had an accident. A pretty big accident, on the Motorway, the M6, not long after I left here.

In a nutshell, I lost control of my car, possibly a burst tyre, or a sudden gust of wind (remnants of Storm Doris), and went careering into the central reservation. I tried to turn the steering wheel to get back on the road, but it started to spin around.

Hitting the barrier on all sides, it spun round into the middle of the busy motorway. Somehow I didn’t hit any other vehicles, and no one went into me.

I sat there in shock. A

few cars went past, and some stopped to help. A young Eastern European man asked if I was ok, and went to call an ambulance. Another couple of Asian men came to my door and encouraged me to get out if I was able.

Two other cars stopped. A young British couple and an older British couple.

I was given hugs, and reassurance and the younger lady brought me a drink from their car.

Standing there at the side of the road, adrenalin coursing through my veins, I couldn’t quite believe what was happening.

The next thing I know, the police had arrived, to cordon off the road so they could clear debris, and an ambulance arrived.

In the space of 5 minutes, there were five squad cars, an ambulance, Paramedic car, the Doctors on Call car, a Fire Engine, and even an Air Ambulance on the scene! They tried to get the helicopter to not land, as it wasn’t needed, but the message arrived late, so it touched down, then went straight back up in the air again!

And I had, single-handedly, shut down both sides of the M6. Debris strewn across both sides of the M6…

My poor car… It took a hell of a beating, and I fear I will be saying goodbye to my precious Bebe. The bumper came off, it crumpled, the sides and boot were all hit severely, all the tyres burst, but it looks like Bebe took the brunt of the force, leaving me still standing.

I was checked over, and the paramedics were worried about my spine as I had tenderness around the spinal area of my neck. Next thing I know I was in a neck brace and strapped to a board so I couldn’t move. Precautionary, of course.

I had called Hubby Dearest who was at home with the kids, and contacted Pops, who hared over to me, as fast as he could, considering I had caused a huge traffic jam.

My basic luggage (and Lil Princess’s lunchbox, strangely enough!) was rescued, at my request, and I had my handbag, but the rest of my stuff is still sitting in Bebe, in a garage somewhere…

As I was being strapped down, the Policeman turned the radio up and said “Here, listen, you’ve made the news!”, as the details of my accident and the hold up were announced on the traffic alerts.

Pops arrived as I was being prepared to be driven to the hospital. He was so worried and nearly ran across the road, after parking the wrong place! The Paramedic joked “Is your dad in a blue car? He nearly got himself in a pickle there! Your BP seems fine, but his may now be sky high! Tell him we don’t do 2 for 1 on the ambulance!”

The Policeman said Pops needed to turn around and come back. He was hoping to get some stuff from the car. By the time he arrived back, the car had been towed, and the ambulance had also gone!

I was taken to Accident and Emergency, where the staff were so great. X-rayed quickly, by which time Pops arrived. The result came in, no bone injury, thankfully, and the doctor checked me out. I was ok, nothing broken, but I was to expect soreness, and tenderness, and shock.

I was then released and sent home, so Pops and I left.

I spoke to Hubby Dearest and the kids, who were all very worried. Lil Man was concerned about the stuff left in the car, especially the chewing gum! As I explained that we probably wouldn’t see the car again, he said, “Rest In Peace Bebe!” Hubby Dearest was distraught being so far away, and unable to be there for me, but someone had to be there with the kids, and I had my Pops, after all.

Speaking to a cousin of mine after, she recalled when something similar happened to her, but her mum was in the car with her. She prayed that the car get hit on her side, not her mum’s and as they spun across the road, and went up the embankment, she continued to pray. The car came to a stop as if it had been parked up ready to go again, and she realised that miracles do happen. No injuries… and a good thing too, as she was getting married the following week!

She said to me, ” I realised then that angels were with me, protecting us. Ritu, you had your angel by your side too.”

And she couldn’t have said a truer word.

Someone was looking down on me, protecting me from something that could have been so much worse… Maybe it was my cousin…

And now… I am sat here waiting until 10 am when I can call the insurance and the garage up. Hopefully, I will be able to go home today. Hubby Dearest will get me.

But, you know what Peeps? I am so grateful to be here, able to write this post. And I will never take being alive, and able to do so much, for granted again.

Thank God I was in that car alone. The children weren’t in the car with me.

Thank God no one else was involved.

Thank God for the wonderful, compassionate souls who stopped to make sure this idiotic Indian woman was ok and reassured her.

And thank God for The Paramedics, the Doctors, the Police, the Air Ambulance, the Fire Service. They were so amazing, working so fast and efficiently, to help me and make the road safe again for the rest of the drivers.

So here’s to a less eventful Sunday… ❤