A Day At The Garage
I wrote 85% of this on my cell phone while getting my car worked on. I like to go into great detail because I think that it puts the reader right there with me. Enjoy!
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It’s 7:15 a.m. and I’m leaving my condo to take my car into the garage to get fixed. It’s a very overcast day. We are supposed to get rain and probably won’t see the sun at all. As I pull out of the condo complex (making a right turn), the clicking sound appears when I hit 15 mph. Before, it was happening when I hit 20 mph and up. As I come up to the green light to turn left, I have to wait as two cars go westbound. I make the turn and get into the right lane. I’ll stay in this lane until I get closer and then move over to the left lane. I decide to move over one main side street before my next turn. There is a huge curve in the road as I pass the light. In the past, I’ve taken this turn a little too hot. You’re supposed to only go 35 mph. There’s a guardrail and once you pass it, the Police Department is on your right. There’s no traffic at this hour. I come up to my next turn and I only have to wait about thirty seconds before the light turns green. I’m the third car in line. Once I round the corner, I’m at the garage. I pull into the parking lot and see that there are no free parking spaces in the front. I head to the side of the building. There is ample parking on the side. This is where I parked the first time I came here. That time, it was something minor. This time it’s not. I park near the back. I get out of the car and walk toward the front of the building.
The garage doors are already raised up. They are open for business. As I’m walking toward the front door, I see a woman waiting. Someone on the other side unlocks and opens the door. I’m still a good distance from the door but then something unbelievable happens. The woman holds the door for me. I start to run up toward the door and tell her thank you and grab it. She says you’re welcome.
She steps up to the counter first. She’s wearing jeans, cowboy boots, and a red and white blouse. She’s a regular customer chatting with the service guy Jeremy. This time she says it’s her car. Before it had been her husbands. She tells him that her check engine light came on when she left the courthouse the day before. And it was also doing something else. She’s on the right side of the counter.
Just then, Don comes in and sits down and we talk about what I need done. He’s on the left side of the counter. I had been having a clicking sound when I pressed the gas pedal. It was happening when I hit 20 mph, 30 mph, and 40 mph. It was more when I pressed it harder. I could get away with it not happening if I was gentle on the gas pedal. I had gone online and looked up the causes and there were a myriad of things it could be. Also the air conditioner was not functioning properly. There was no cold air. He had given me price quotes on everything when I emailed for an appointment. He talked about that again. I told him that I would be waiting.
I turned around and went into the waiting room. It is located on the right when you enter the door. The counter is on the left. The waiting room consists of six gray leather chairs. It has a blue and white checkerboard floor. Some of the chairs are very worn with holes or splotches on the seats and arms. On the north side, there are two chairs. There is a table with a battery on it and a plant. Between the two chairs, there is an off-white magazine rack. In the rack are various magazines including Departures, People, Homes & Land, HOG, and a car magazine. They also have a book for kids. I looked at the HOG magazine and found out it was all about motorcycles. I was there for awhile so I perused the car magazine, the travel magazine, and the Homes & Land. On the west side, there is one chair. Also on the north side, after the last chair, there is a door labeled “Employees only”. Next to the door is another table that is high in the air with a battery on it. If you look to the south, there is a large window. On the south side, there is a waste basket and the other three chairs. At the end of the last chair, there is a large television suspended from the wall and near the ceiling. Under it, there is a plastic container containing building blocks, something for the kids.
I sat in the chair that was on the north side next to the table with the battery. There is a window that you can see through to the counter area, inside the western wall. The view I had was out into the front parking lot and out onto the main roadway. As I sat there, I saw people walking on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. First it was two women and a child. Later it was a man on a bicycle. I could also see a man working at a loading dock at a business. It’s a food distributor. A truck was backed up to the loading area. Another guy appeared and was handing the first guy wooden pallets. He was placing them on top of a large garbage bin and pushing them to the dumpster.
About an hour into the wait, the service guy Jeremy came in and let me know what was going on. He said the freon in the air conditioner was down to nothing and that they would add some in and then test it. The clicking sound was related to the timing belt. He told me that the tech sprayed something on it and it went away. But while he was diagnosing the problem, he noticed that oil was leaking out around the cam seals. I have no idea what those are. He asked me when the last time the belts were changed. I told him I wasn’t sure but at least ten years. He said that he would recommend changing those because it needed to be done and that would permanently fix my clicking sound. When he gave me the price, I was astonished. I knew I had that much in my bank account but it was a huge amount. Stay tuned for that. He told me he would have to order the parts and it would take a week. Later he came back and told me he could get them that day and he could get started on the car at 2 p.m. I would have to stay until then. I didn’t want to do that. How was I going to have lunch? Granted, there was a restaurant next door and one down the street. I asked him if I could bring it back another day because at that time I wasn’t sure if I was going to be going into work for a few hours to cover someone else’s shift. Plus I told him that I didn’t know my schedule for the next week until Saturday. He said that was fine and we could set up a day and time.
While they are finishing up the car, Guy #1 walks into the waiting area.
At 9:15 a.m. I get a text from my manager telling me that I can’t take the rest of his shift.
Around 9:45 a.m., Jeremy calls me up to the counter to pay for the air conditioner freon fix. I fork over a lot of money. And he starts telling me that as long as he orders the parts by 11:30 a.m., he can have the rest of the car fixed. I told him that I found out that I didn’t have to work and could I bring the car back into him this afternoon. He says yes. I’m scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
I go home and start writing something I’ve been working on (not this post).
1:45 p.m. my cell phone rings. It’s the garage. It’s a bad connection and I tell him I can’t hear him. A few minutes later, it’s Jeremy and I can hear him. He tells that he has the parts and I can bring the car in right now. He tells me it will give the car time to cool down. I tell him I’ll be right there.
At 1:55 p.m., I walk in the door and hand the keys to Jeremy. It tells me welcome back.
I turn around to go into the waiting room and Guy #1 has stolen my seat. How dare he! Previously, he had been sitting on the other side of the magazine rack in the other chair. I can’t believe he’s still here. I had left 4 hours ago.
I have to sit in the first seat on the south side up against the main window. This proves to be a good seat as you’ll see. I can see everything and I mean everything.
I notice that there is another guy in the seat that Guy #1 was in earlier. We’ll call him Guy #2.
Let’s talk about Guy #1 first. He is in his seventies or eighties. He’s wearing a red collar shirt with one button undone. He has a silver cup and a red cooler with a white top on it. It’s a small cooler. He uses a cane. The cane is bronze coated and shiny. I’m sure you could see your face in it. He’s on the heavy side. What I wish I knew was what was in that cooler. He wears a black watch with a silver bezel. He has black sunglasses tucked into his shirt in the front. There is a pocket on the left chest. He produced his black cell phone out of it. He sure likes black. He’s wearing a silver bracelet on his right arm.
After awhile, the cooler has been opened. Hurray!!!! He took bottled water out. I can hear plastic moving around in there. Does he have something else in there or is it just more water? Does he have ice in there or snacks?
Guy #2 is in his sixties. He’s got a gray and black backpack. The black is on the underside where the straps are. He is wearing a black shirt that buttons up in the front. He is wearing black jeans. He has stud earrings in each ear. His gray and black hair falls to his shoulders. He has vacated his seat and is now sitting outside in front of the business on the black metal bench. I think he got tired of the freezing cold in here. In his chair, he’s left behind another phone and a clipboard with a thick set of papers. That’s right folks, he’s got two phones. While he’s outside, he lifts his leg up right when I look out the window. He has black sneakers and it looks like no socks. The sneakers are Nike. There is a white plastic container with some kind of dark liquid in it beside his chair. He hasn’t used it since I’ve been here.
With all this talk about what people are wearing, you’re probably wondering what I was wearing. I had on khaki shorts, a red collar shirt (guy #1 didn’t check with me, I swear), black Under Armour sneakers, below ankle white socks with a hint of red, and red,black,gray,white boxers (I know TMI). I won’t let it happen again. Maybe. LOL! I’m also wearing a khaki hat with the DaytonaUSA logo on it.
Another guy has now entered my story. We’ll call him Guy #3. He’s in his sixties and wears black sneakers with white trim on the bottom. They are Sketchers (thank you for turning). He wears faded jeans and a gray shirt. He has short gray hair. He sports a tan like he’s been out in the sun. I hope he’s been using sunscreen. He is now sitting at an angle so he can see the goofballs that are on TV doing stupid tricks (more on that later). He wears a black leather looking watch. The watch face is blue in color. He wears a gold wedding ring on his ring finger. He has on white socks. They look to be full length.
Guy #2 has returned inside and is back in his chair.
TV Travel Guy
There is a gentleman who travels on the TV now. I’m going to give you a quick quiz here. He has traveled to a certain country. This is what he buys: 2 pieces of food that have noodles in them, a cab ride, a skull cap, prayer beads, a haircut, and 3 coconuts. He spent the U.S. equivalent of $9.95. Can you guess the country? You’ll have to read to the end. I’ll post it in the conclusion.
Goofball Tricks
All I had to do was search for these guys in my search engine and I found their YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/@howridiculous
Back to our Story
I’m wearing my mask on and off. Now that there are four people in here including me, I’m not comfortable leaving it off. If more people leave, I’ll drop it.
The phone is constantly ringing at this place. Jeremy picks up the phone and it is someone he knows. The person wants to find out some information. He’s telling him to call the office phone because he’s going on vacation. He tells Jeremy that he’s driving a car with a trailer on the back from Sunrise, Florida to Dublin, Ohio for his daughter and son-in-law. Jeremy tells him, he got the short stick.
It’s now 2:44 p.m. and Guy #1 hasn’t had any food, just bottled water. Oh, he’s getting a phone call. I think it must be his wife the way he’s talking. He tells whoever about his car issues which include them saving the gas tank. I just noticed he’s wearing brownish with tan accent slip-on shoes.
Guy #2 and Guy #3 are sleeping. They have their eyes closed. Maybe they’re just resting. Guy #3 is moving his legs now.
Little do they know that I’m writing about them right now. And that a large number of people will be reading about them.
Now all three of the guys are sleeping. Everyone except me.
I don’t know why I didn’t notice this but Guy #1 has a mustache.
It’s a torrential downpour right now. Hopefully it stops before I have to leave.
A guy walks in to collect his vehicle. Now I know why Guy #1 and possibly the others are here. They had their catalytic converters stolen. There are up to nine vehicles in one area that got ripped off. Someone on the phone wanted to drop their vehicle. They were told to drop it off on Monday because they don’t want the vehicle’s converter to be stolen like the others.
Guy #3 is getting up and has to brace himself with his right hand. He almost fell over. He goes over to read something on the wall. It’s a thing about AAA.
It’s not as cold over on this side.
Guy #2 has a logo on his shirt that is something like RODS. It’s blue in color.
Guy #3 leaves at 3:30.
A woman walks in and wants to know if she can get an oil change. She hasn’t been here before. Her boyfriend walks in talking on his cell phone. He’s wearing a red shirt advertising a lawn and tree service. He must work there. Then, I notice something unusual. He’s wearing light colored pants that are see thru. Near his ankle is an ankle monitor. I wonder what crime he committed.
Guy #2 has small black socks under the ankle instead of no socks.
Guy #1 has a pill bottle in his cooler. He takes one pill out and drinks some water with it. It appears to be something over the counter. It might be something to take if you don’t have food.
Guy #1 pays $1,800 and leaves at 3:49 p.m.
Another person came in to get their car. Their catalytic converter was also stolen. They were told the police were investigating. It happened within the same area as the others. He paid $2,525.72.
A woman enters the picture. She’s wearing a black baseball cap on backwards. She’s in her 50s. All black shirt, black leggings to just past her knees, Asics gray sneakers with light blue insignia,red phone, two bracelets on left arm, necklace all gold, black ankle socks, fanny pack around neck. She’s in for something and she talks on phone with someone. They’re done with her car in 10 minutes and she’s shocked and thanks the mechanic.
Guy 2 gets up and pulls his zipper up and seems to re-adjust himself. Then he disappears. Then I see him coming back from the bathroom.
The nice woman that held the door for me in the morning is back. I find out her name is Sarah. No one is at the counter, so she sits down two chairs from me. She is constantly watching something on her phone and rotates from side to side. I can hear that and the television at the same time. Eventually, her car is brought around and she leaves.
Guy #2 leaves at 5:10 p.m. His van is brought around to the front just like all of the other vehicles have been. It is parked outside the window and I can see the logo now. It is on the van. It is RCDS which stands for Resource Center for Disability Solutions.
I leave at 5:20 p.m. Good thing because they close at 5:30 p.m. I fork over some more money. More money than I thought I would when the day started.
Conclusion
Remember the quiz I gave you about the items. Did you guess the correct country? The country was Senegal.
My final bill for the freon for the air conditioner and the timing belts was over $800.00. Pretty pricey for just one trip. But it was good to get it over with. The heat index temperatures have been in the 100s the past week and I couldn’t go much longer without air conditioning. I was driving with the windows down. And the clicking sound scared me. I didn’t want to get stuck somewhere plus needing the car for work, it needed to be done right away.
I hope you enjoyed this little piece of my adventure of going to get my car fixed. I had fun writing it. There were a few things that I hadn’t written down that I remembered as I was writing it. I knew I had to put those in because it wouldn’t have been a complete story without them.
Feel free to comment. I always enjoy the comments that come across from my readers.
Until next time, happy reading.
-Matt
Oh, Matt! Your art is perfect - wonderful, in fact!
And this post - almost in the form of a checklist of observations - is SUCH a delight. Loved it!
My car had to go in this past week for its MOT (obligatory annual inspection) and service. Needed two new tyres, but I'd braced myself (and budgeted - oh yes, I'm on it!) for that already, so no biggie. The garage has recently moved from JUST down the road (a 2-minute drive) to somewhere else further off - not only did they offer to come and collect (and return!) the car, but they even WASHED it for me!
I feel like I've got a new car, pretty much!
Such a delightful post, Matt - I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I was right there with you at the garage!
Hello there! I often see your name pop up in relation to Rebecca’s posts. I finally subscribed to you and this is my first post since then. You are clearly a man who appreciates details. And I LOVE your art!! Thanks for sharing your day with us. I’m sure that writing this helped the day go past much more pleasantly than it would have if you’d just been sitting, snoozing, like the other gents. Have a lovely day. 🤗🤗