I came across this PSA on TMZ.com. It’s oe of the most moving drunk driving ones I’ve seen. I just wished it was created under different circumstances. For those of you that don’t watch Prison Break, Lane Garrison played ‘Tweener’ on the show. The actor killed a young man while driving drunk and now faces a maximum of 6 years in prison.
Update:
My husband and I are having a bad week. Our car that we took to get repaired has an inch of water on the inside and doesn’t start. The repair shop is claiming they’re are not responsible, so we now have to figure a way through this. The agreement was for the shop to call us when they finished replacing the clutch, as it was expected to take longer than a day. We’ve been to this shop before and never had a problem with this arrangement.
This time they did not call us on Saturday when it was done. Instead they took it off their property and moved it to a city street. The rain accumulated on the street and water got into the car. They say it was an ‘act of God’.
We say it was their negligence of not calling us and then moving the car off the shop (which is elevated). It didn’t go well this morning, so here’s what we did so far.
1. Contacted BBB to file a complaint. I filed a complaint with my local chapter to get this on file. I tried to be as specific as possible. Here’s a snippet of what I submitted to them:
It was approximately an inch thick inside the car. The mechanic told my husband that the engine and clutch were fine and it merely had to be dried out. The car started and after no more than 1/4 mile from the station it died. The engine would not restart. Immediately my husband called the mechanic and they assured him that it would be fine if he let it ‘dry out’. Later, we tried to start it again (I had gotten off of work and went with my husband). It didn’t start. I called the shop( still 7/30/07), but the cashier said the manager and the mechanics were not in. I was told to check in the morning if I wanted it towed to their shop.
This morning (7/31/07) both of went to the shop to speak with the manager. He was belligerent and completely disregarded our concerns. First he said that the water would not cause the engine damage and then when I pointed out that there was still water in the car, he changed his reasoning. He said he’s not responsible because it was ‘an act of God’. After I pointed out that the whole thing could’ve been avoid by just calling us, he refused to answer anymore questions regarding his insurance. He was hostile and didn’t want to discuss anything further.
All we wanted was for them to tow our car back to their shop (at their expense) and fix the problem. Please contact us as soon as possible.
2. Called our insurance company. I basically had to answer the same questions, but it was much less stressful, believe it or not. The customer service representative was cordial. I’m not waiting for the claims adjuster to call back.
3. Contacted the local media. I’m preparing the paperwork necessary to submit this to one o our local news stations.
4. Keeping all paperwork and notes in one file. This incident has to be documented completely. We’re not taking any chances on this situation.
There’s a couple of other options that we are investigating and as they either come to fruition or not, I’ll post the results on the blog. Any suggestions, please leave them here.
Update: We won our court case and we got the money reimbursed.
This was a very long weekend for me. I was helping my uncle move and while going south; my friend and I got caught up in several storms. Looking at my receipts for this weekend, I noticed where I spent my money.
I spent money this weekend on junk food that I really didn’t need. Some of it was unavoidable as we got caught up in several storms and were delayed around 3 hours.
It would’ve been better if I had stuck to my plan and just packed my snacks ahead. That way I would’ve kept my blood sugar pretty stable. Instead it kept dipping and spiking, leading me to make irrational decisions like go to Burger King, order a combo meal, and then only eat 3 bites.
I’ll post my total amount spent tonight.
We’re helping my Uncle move today from New York to North Carolina. We got up 4:45am and hopefully will be on the road soon. It’s going to be a long, long weekend. I’ll try to log in by tomorrow morning with a diary of how money money this trip costs us.
I decided to use Money’s Debt Planner tool to see how long it would take to pay off two debts:
I looked at all three of their options: pay by a certain date, pay a set amount per month, and pay the minimum balances.
Here are the results I got for paying it off in 2 years:
| If you pay $309.40 a month, it will take you 2 years to pay off your credit cards. | |
| Based on your current combined balance of $6,550.00, you will pay a total of $895.51 in interest. |
Here are the results of the $350/month plan:
| If you pay $350.00 a month, it will take you 1 year and 9 months to pay off your credit cards. | |
| Based on your current combined balance of $6,550.00, you will pay a total of $771.88 in interest. |
Finally, here are the results if I only pay the minimum balances:
| By making minimum payments only, it will take you 10 years and 3 months to pay off your credit cards. | |
| Based on your current combined balance of $6,550.00, you will pay a total of $2,504.66 in interest. |
Just looking at that I realize that I have got to be more aggressive about paying these off as soon as possible. Try using that calculator and notice the huge difference between the payment plans for yourself.
I was looking at the news today and I noticed this story. I thought I’d share it.
“Oscar the cat makes his grand entrances just as life is about to leave. A hop onto the bed, a fastidious lick of the paws, then a snuggle beside a nursing home patient with little time left. Oscar’s purr, when keeping close company with the dying, is so intense it’s almost a low rumble. “
I took my car into the shop this morning because it was cutting off at red lights. Needless to say this freaked me out and I had nightmares of the car stopping on the highway or something. I went to start the car this morning and it was completely dead. I couldn’t even open my doors with the button key chain. My husband was about to give the car jump, but then my car started. I immediately headed to the shop down the road. I described in detail every problem I’ve had with the car for the past week to my mechanic and within 30 minutes it was repaired. I was relieved to find out it was a minor problem with my fuse box.
This repair got me thinking about how to cut costs if you own a vehicle. It is definitely good to have an emergency fund for unforeseen car repairs. The best thing, however, is to keep up with your routine maintenance on your car. We all think we’re saving money by not constantly going in for oil changes, but in the long run were damaging our car. That lazy habit, in turn, means higher costs at the mechanic shop.
It’s good to check your car’s fluids on a weekly basis. You don’t have to be mechanically inclined to do this; just put the matching fluid into the right hole. It sounds too easy to save money, but it’s one of the biggest things you could do.
One overlooked way to cut costs when repairing your car is to be as specific as possible with your mechanic about the problems you’re experiencing. It might seem silly, but I have repeated sounds to the best in my ability to the mechanic. Believe it or not, a good mechanic appreciates that, because it saves them time from fiddling with your car. I am fortunate enough to have a reliable mechanic. If he can fix the problem within half an hour, then I only get charged for the part (usually $10).
When you are detailed, the mechanic can diagnosed problem quickly, saving you labor costs. The average for mechanic here is $75 an hour. You can see how even cutting one hour can save you big bucks. Save yourself some heartaches.
A piece of advice that I always hear is that you should not wait on getting things fixed with your car. It is something that needs to be repeated because many of us don’t do that simple thing. How many times have we heard this little sound and keep ‘forgetting’ to take it by the shop and then find out that more extensive repairs are needed?
Of course, if you live in a city where public transportation is reliable and cheap, then have in a car may be an unnecessary expense on your budget.
I’ve been awake off & on for the past couple of hours because of my cat. I like to think of him as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some nights he just sleeps peacefully, without any interruption. He snuggles with you in the morning to get some food. Other days, he’s just plain crazy. For example, he kept biting my husband and clawing at the bed. We swatted him away (pillow by him, not actually hitting him), but he also came back doing the same thing. Finally when he ran away for the whatever time, my husband closed the door on him.
All is well, right? Wrong.
My cat decides he’s going to attempt to try and open the door by jiggling the knob. If he would’ve just pushed while jiggling the knob, he would’ve been in. My husband gets up and squirts him with water, which usually stops him. He just ran away and came back every 15 minutes. I got up at my regular time and decided to post about it. Any suggestion, just leave a comment. Thanks.
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