Hi. I'm starting this blog to spare you my email avalanche. I need to vent, especially since my laptop crashed and I can't play Sid Meier's Civ5 or even online poker (for other reasons).
You might find it redundant/boring as I revisit my history, but that's because I might turn this into a book and publish it someday, and just in case, in the meantime, some victims stumble across this and find it more interesting than their Soaps.
For this moment, it's the email I won't send you, period. The random victim stumbling into my insidiously diabolical trap will have to stay tuned for context, or (in lei terms), wtf I'm talking about.
Well, I was set to get fixed and out of here tomorrow before noon tomorrow.
I wasn't at all surprised when Chris from Freightliner called me today:
"I really don't want you leaving here with your clutch. You could be getting towed in 2,000 miles".
The oil leak bled onto the clutch and saturated it.
I've liquidated my IRA--all 3.6k of it. (Ok I might have 160 or so left, but the positions are so small the commissions would wipe them out).
I owe my agent Korena 2.6k...or thought I did (more on that later). I owe YOU 8.6k, but fortunately, you are a freaking Saint and will wait. I owe my carrier a little, as I pay never less than 250 and average around 550 to fill my tanks, and pay never less than 300/week for insurance and other stuff...and because after pulling out of here last time I got exactly one trailer and load in before coming back here.
I came here for an oil leak which freightliner Latrobe had allegedly fixed last month...
Aww crap this is for you, so anybody else will have to stay tuned:
Chris is a good man. He was sincerely trying to help. As it is, I have 800 tomorrow and 100 more Friday to pay for what I thought might be a 1400.00 tab, and he said he'd work with me on it. The clutch and labor adds another 1350-plus to that.
I walked 2 miles from my hotel to Freightliner so I could face Chris. He showed me the clutch. I wasn't planning this blog yet, so I didn't take a pic of it. But it was bad. The plates are paper thin, and the bearing is shot.
Then Chris tells me, Korri's credit card got rejected from my last visit here where I had to replace the transmission, and this was added to my bill.
I wrote down on paper and handed Chris a note: I can pay 900 this week. If I get tf out of here tomorrow, I can pay up to 1600 by 11/20 and any remaining balance by 11/26.
That went on paper. Chris understood that I was including the 1600 they didn't collect from korena, and that letting me leave without a new clutch could prevent me from paying them.
In fact, I SAID "If I get towed for this in the next 5,000 or so miles, I'll have to sign the truck over for it."
Chris isn't a mercenary bastard like his boss Tom is, and was going to bat for me anyway. I said that to him to give him ammo.
It turns out that Korena's card rejected them because, contrary to our agreement, Freightliner tried to charge her over the strict 1,000/day limit, and did it repeatedly, which shut down the card.
It doesn't matter to me. This is all on me and I have to pay for it anyway.
It doesn't matter to me who I pay, except that I'd prefer not to lean on Korena.
Only I'll need 2200.00 before the end of November to pay my road taxes and plates, and she knows that, so she WANTS to pay.
She says the carrier is withholding her pay til I'm in the black. All 8%of 12 drivers. I will get her paid with my first delivery...
She's been through hell over me, bro. I know I said before how ruthless she was; how she only wanted to keep me because I produced when healthy, and said she'd take every penny I made til she had hers again, but I was too hard on her.
The carrier is all over her. Her husband is all over her. Like a drowning person, I've dragged her to hell with me.
You got out. Personally, I think a nice round 10 grand would be a more sensible "no more money for you!" Cutoff point, but who could blame you...ya tightwad!
I mean you're my brother! Doesn't that mean you're supposed to subsidize me for infinity?
Anyway, Chris said he'd "take care of" me, including my clutch.
Korena immediately wanted to know every detail, but I left before I could INTERROGATE and piss him off.
Korena isn't diplomatic, nor is her lawyer sister Kate.
This guy doesn't have the authority to commit to a big financial liability himself. He's sticking his neck out for me. He tells me: "Ill get it done" with FREIGHTLINER on my terms (a miracle!!!) and the sisters are frustrated that I can't tell them exactly how long it will take and stuff.
Chris is a fantasy football guru. He's the one that told me screw the 25 cent multi-entry BS and do the single-entry stuff (for a whole DOLLAR, or even MORE!!!)
YOU resented me fooling around in Draftkings. Korena went nuts.
Well in 10 weeks I put 50 bucks into this, and at 5 bucks/week alone you both need to check yourselves. But last week I WON. (Not much, but I got half my 50 back).
AFTER I'd talked business with Chris, I thanked him for his advice. Both of us trying to pull away from each other, we talked fantasy football. Distracted. Spontaneous. I left when the leaving was good.
When 2 people share something they're enthusiastic about, they kinda see through each other. As weird as it sounds, I believe this is why Chris is sticking his neck out for me.
Well, I'm in a BAR now, getting impaired. Might cost me 30 bucks.
It's ok. I got Ritz crackers, hoarded 4 packets of cream cheese, 2 yogurts, and some milk from the breakfast buffet and had reheated biscuits and gravy for lunch. I also got a little summer sausage and a cup of Raman noodles left so BITE ME.
I've been here 7 days, and this is my third in a bar. I mean come on, man!
You can't accuse me of no budgetary discipline. I mean, the 800 I promised Freightliner was 100 less than I can expect to have. I will NEED 50 bucks or so to buy the stop-leak I'll need to fix my heater-core leak if the black pepper I bought at the dollar store doesn't work...and around 25.00 for 2 gallons of undiluted coolant, since my own is diluted lots and it's getting cold and my emergency measures might not work all the way...
Dammit Ed I might not have told you, but I remember having my gas cut off and staying alive with a carefully placed space-heater. I've made dandelion and garbage-scrap stew.
You want me all the way back THERE before playing fantasy football or visiting a bar is ok?
The clutch is 1,048 bucks and I ballpark the labor at 3 hours times 110/he or 330...oh DAMMIT between my kindle and blogspot this paragraph was carried down.
Never mind it might make it more interesting... Somehow I don't care YOU get it.
Where was I? Oh yeah I'm still human so far. Fantasy football won't delay my debt repayments by a week, but could move them ahead of schedule.
If I'm to become a tea-totaler as well, this might get you repaid maybe 6%sooner (allowing for tips).
Leave me this, until I'm homeless.
For any new readers: my bro Ed loaned me 8.6k in 5 increments to fix my truck. I kept calling. He kept sending money.
He isn't Donald Trump, so he had to cut me off. I mean he HAD TO, and I get it.
KORENA, my agent, and her sister Kate, have also bailed me out a lot, but unlike Saint Edward, demand payment in full asap (usually).
Anyway due to this tendency, when I liquidated half my IRA, I lied to Korena so that I could help pay for my last repair. I told her I had won 400 bucks in fantasy football.
She wasn't relieved or grateful. She scolded me for "gambling" with "my money", and repeated it after I told her it had cost me 25 cents.
Ed ain't that bad....I don't think. I THINK he was irked, on the heels of his latest loan to me, to hear me talking about throwing money around, before he knew it was 25 cents.
Ed, its 50 bucks since week one. Thanks to advice from Chris at Freightliner, I got half of it back last week.
Ed is my fraternal twin. We're a lot different.
Stay tuned.
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