…well, more of a resounding 'thud'. I woke up at 4:15 this morning to the sound of my darling hubby snoring less than an inch from my ear. Unable to go back to sleep I got out of bed to let the dogs out. From then on the morning went downhill.

Willa refuses to go outside by herself (she is afraid of the dark) so I followed her out, still groggy and wearing only a bathrobe and socks. Unknown to me Willa, being the 'good' dog she is, decided to shave a few minutes off of her morning ordeal and proceeded to poop on the walkway. Discovering this was not at all pleasant…especially not while in stocking feet.

I did mange did get in a few more minutes of sleep before the alarm clock went off. 10 to be exact. I dragged myself around the house, taking so long to get ready that I was in danger of being late for my 'late shift' (I have flex time at work - I can start at 7, 8 or 9 depending on my work load). As I approached my Jeep I noticed a large dark stain on the cement drive. It couldn't be an oil leak - my car didn't leak and I just had it checked out (inspection, oil change, etc) two days ago. I looked under the Jeep only to find yet another large stain on my drive. Looking at the underside of the Jeep itself I could see there was fresh oil covering the transmission, the pan, the nut…the nut itself was so loose it could be turned by hand.

I was fumed! After the mechanic took three hours to work on my car he claimed the hold up was due the fact he had to remove parts to get to the oil filter. WTF!!??!! It is a Jeep Wrangler for Pete's sake - I can slide under the vehicle and reach everything necessary to change the oil without the benefit of a lift. After tightening the drain plug I called the office to let them know I was going to be in as soon as I had my car looked at — just incase anything was punctured by the idiot mechanic who had to dismantle my Jeep to reach the oil filter.

Cro and headed to Gwinnett Place Mall to return the Jeep to the Sears Auto Shop. Traffic headed north of us is a breeze during rush hour. Despite this fact I still had two close calls. While riding alongside a dump tuck I was almost sideswiped. The driver of the dump truck jerked into my lane to pass the car ahead of him and I had to jerk into the lane next to me to avoid being hit. Not more than five minutes later a 4 foot by 2 foot piece of sheet metal flew out of the back of an 18 wheeler in front of us. I had to hit the breaks and swerve sharply to the right to avoid it. Jeep Wranglers are not made for high speed maneuvering (I *was* speeding) and it took a very long couple of seconds for the jeep to stabilize. If I had been just three feet further ahead the sheet metal would have hit the driver's side of my soft top. We sped up to the truck's side to tell the driver he was losing scrap metal out of his load. He pulled over, losing one more piece of scrap along the way.

After the Jeep was up on the lift and the underside was cleaned up Cro took a look to see if any damage was done. At first it looked as if both seals (both old and new) were seated under the filter but after closer inspection it was apparent the mechanic neglected to tighten the oil filter as well. Fekker.

To say I am pissed is an understatement. Not only did I have an oil change Sunday but I also had my brakes inspected (which DOES require a certain bit of dismantling.) I plan on taking the Jeep up to the dealership the weekend for a once over. I am concerned about other parts possibly being left loose…or not replaced at all.

Now it's off to work…hopefully the day picks up.
–via Sidekick II

This entry was posted 2 years, 9 months ago on Tuesday, January 31st, 2006 at 6:12 pm and is filed under Miscellany. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.