So I was up at 6:30am, though I couldn't call the car rental place until 8am. So I jumped on the computer and started editing my next Knights of the Guild podcast. At 8am I called Enterprise and told them that I had a reservation today and that I needed to be picked up. They asked where I live and I told them. They then said.. "oh we don't pick up from that city". I said excuse me? It's only 10 miles and you are the closest one to me. The apologized but said they could not pick me up. I said okay I guess you don't want my business I'll see if I can find another car rental place and hung up. I called around to Hertz, Avis and other rental places and they all said they don't do picks up, so I'm back to square one. Sometimes living in a very rural area can be a huge negative. Well around 9:30 my phone rings and it's Enterprise saying, "oh I have a driver coming in at 11am, I can send him then if that works for you". I was desperate and said yep that would be great.
I had about an hour and a half to kill so I continued working on my next Knights of the Guild podcast until my avid started acting up again and finally just stopped working all together.. gonna have to try and figure out this problem soon.
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| First favorite color - Lime Squeeze |
While I waited I emailed several friends to see if they wanted to go car shopping with me this weekend but unfortunately one is going to be out to town and the other might have plans with a lady he is pursuing. I then remembered that my former boss over at High Noon, Stephen mentioned that he'd go with me to get a new car as he's the king of hagglers. So I emailed him and he was available and willing to help me out. We talked and discussed what kind of car I wanted and all I know is I want great gas mileage but it can't be more then $15,000. I was thinking used (only a few years) but he actually convinced me that I should go new as you get a better finance percentage rate (0 to 1%) and in the long run you play less for the car. He also mentioned that I should be looking at a Ford Fiesta as they are great on mileage (almost 40 miles to the gallon), they are very reliable, tiny and the look very sporty now. So I check it out online and I have to say I am impressed. They also are priced right between $13,000 and $17,000. Oh and they have really awesome colors.. so I think this might be my next car.
So 11am came and I didn't get a call.. I called them at 11:15am and they said oh the guy is just now leaving he should be there shortly. He arrived around noon (it should have taken him only 20 minutes, but I guess he got lost). Anyways it's noon and I'm finally on my way to rent my car.
I get there and of course they didn't have the car I requested (economy), but instead they had a mid-size car (which is two levels up from what I wanted). He said it would normally be about $35 more a day for this car but he would only charge me $2 (so generous of them). I really didn't care as I just wanted to get out of there and get to work. So I signed the paperwork and headed to work. I stopped by Wienerschnitzel and grabbed some lunch while I drove into work.
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| Second favorite color - Ruby Red |
Once at work it took a few hours just to catch up on everything. But while I was working my friend Joyce contacted me over Facebook and asked if I was going to get a Ford vehicle. I said I was really considering it and then she said that her Dad is a retired Ford employee and that the employees of Ford get a limited amount of what they call X and Z plans (a kind of employee discount for friends and family). She offered to talk to her dad to see if he would help me out. And guess what.. he is. I talked to him over the phone and gave him some personal information that he needed to to apply for a X plan. I gave him all the info and he said he will contact me tomorrow with my "pin" number that I take to the dealer for the discount (I don't know what kind of discount but he did say it's below what the dealers pay for it), there is also no haggling on the price, it is what it is, no less, no more. I can also get any other incentives that are offered as well. I was super excited and this kind of sealed the deal that I will be getting a brand new 2013 Ford Fiesta SE Hatchback. This will be the first time in my entire life that I have purchased a brand new car.. I can't wait until this weekend. Thanks Joyce for offering me this fantastic discount and thanks to you Dad Art for making it happen.
So what started as a horrible day and what has been a few rough weeks it looks like things are finally turning around. Of course now that I have said that I have jinxed it all and things will fall apart.. luckily for me I don't believe in things like that. :)
