random ramblings

notice the past tense ? ..   according to this CNN article

Didn’t get a good sleep this past weekend.

I went to bed past midnight on Friday, as usual, but woke up unusually early for a Saturday at 8AM.  Jamie, Karthik, Andy, Kathy, I, and a bunch of others went on a 6-mile canoe trip on Saturday.  It took us more than 3 hours because the water was a little calm.  We took a lot of pictures, but we used a waterproof one-time use camera, so I’ll have to get the pictures developed sometime this week.  I am definitely not an outdoor person -  the last time I went camping was in junior high, and whenever I go home I always refused to go hikings – back home my parents & relative are active in some weekly/monthly hiking club, and the Sun is my enemy — BUT this canoe trip is not bad at all. Actually I’m already thinking next time I want to try the kayak ( for 1 person ), canoe is a 2-persons-boat. 

So we came back in the afternoon, and after a nice long shower I went to bed and didn’t wake up until around 8 PM? Sure enough at night I couldn’t sleep until around 2.30-3AM.

Again, I woke up at 8AM on Sunday, and left for brunch in the Tudor Room @ IU Memorial Union in Bloomington. Food was excellent. The ambiance was great.  Magda asked if it’s like Golden Corral.  Of course NOT ! I read that for the annual Thanksgiving brunch, reservations is usually sold out by October.. it’s that good! We stopped by the mall for a little bit afterwards and when I reached home it’s already late in the afternoon.  Tired so I took a nap again, bad decision because at night I couldn’t sleep again until 3.30AM this morning.

Really didn’t feel like working this morning…  I probably had enough sleep (quantity-wise), but the timing is so messed up…

When I reached the office, there’s this one email from Patty asking what had happened on Sunday, she said I already left when she got to my place.  I was confused at first. Oh no.. we accidentally "ditched" Patty for the brunch. We feel so bad.  Wouldn’t have happened if my cellphone was working!

Last Thursday I finally was approved a 3rd line with T-mobile ( I already have 2 lines, Hendrik’s and Lung’s  under my name ) so I made the switch. I found out Friday afternoon that my Verizon cellphone was no longer in service. I am keeping the same number so they probably had to activate the new SIM card with my current number before they ship it. They shipped the phone on Thursday night. It’s supposed to be a 2-day-Air delivery, but I was unlucky since UPS doesn’t deliver on weekends.. thus I was phoneless for the whole weekend.

so what happened was ..
I sms-ed Patty (through the web) Sunday morning asking her to call Arine when she gets out of church. Patty called Arine and left a voicemail telling that she’s not going to church because the earliest service was at 9.30AM and it would be too late for us. What Arine & Andy heard was that Patty is not going to brunch, her message was not clear.  They were rushing so they didn’t have time to call back. Plus they don’t have a cellphone, so it’s probably troublesome to use a calling card each time they have to call long distance numbers. When I found out that Patty is not going, I thought of SMS-ing her again, but I changed my mind not wanting to sound pushy hehe.. because initially she wasn’t going and Friday night Arine & I convinced her to go hehehe.  I didn’t think much about why she cancelled.  So I was picked up at 10AM and we left immediately since I was all ready and dressed up.  Meanwhile Patty was wondering why nobody called her. She said she walked to my place at 10 too!!! We probably missed each other by a couple of minutes !! Oh poor girl.. sorry Pat !

current mood :

I’m super mad at Renner Motors, the local Honda dealership in Columbus,  particularly with their Service department.  This is not the first time, just last fall I also was dissatisfied by their service.  I already forgot the details (you see, I’m not one who usually hold grudges :p .. I wonder if last time I also blogged about it.. )  but I remember for sure that last time I even got my boss to accompany me to go there to help me talk.  We thought it would help to come in with a guy. 

Why did I still go to this place then ?

Last week, exactly a week from today,  my "Check Engine" light turned on.  I brought my car to AutoZone for a free diagnostic,  in 2 minutes they told me that something is wrong with the oxygen sensor.

So on Monday I called Renner. First of all, it IS VERY HARD to get through to the Service department because they’re always busy and there’s only 1 guy working in the office (not the mechanic, but the Service Advisor?). I was put on hold for a VERY LONG TIME, and even got hung up and had to call back in again, or one time I actually had to hang up because I had to run to a meeting.  Never had this problem with my old dealer in Lafayette. So finally I got to talk to this Service guy, Jason,  and the soonest appointment they could give me is Thursday, which is today.  I asked if it’s ok for me to keep driving the car. I told him I already knew the problem is with the Oxygen sensor. He said yes it’s ok as long as the light is not blinking. If it’s blinking, I should not drive the car.  OK so I drove my car normally this week.

This morning I dropped my car. Around 4PM  I came back to my desk after a meeting and got a voicemail from Jason asking me to call back.  I hated voicemails that said nothing else but to call back. Can’t he say something more informational??? (Note to Hendrik: Don’t leave me voicemail asking to call back. The problem is everytime I call them IT IS SO HARD TO BE CONNECTED TO HONDA SERVICE !! This time around I waited on the line for almost 20 minutes ( + 1 disconnection in between ). That Jason guy picked up and told me what I’d already known. The oxygen sensor is failing. It needs to be replaced. It would cost $150 for the part plus labor. He asked me if I want to replace it. Yes of course I would have to, right ? But they had to order the part, and it would take another week. I am going to Purdue next week and I actually have made an appointment with Bob Rohrman (the dealership where I bought this car from)  for a 60k mile service. So I thought maybe I could just get them to replace the oxygen sensor,  I told this Jason guy I would just pick up my car tonight.  Tomorrow morning I’d have to call Bob Rohrman to get the part in.

Then there’s a little transportation problem. I couldn’t find anybody to drive me to pick up the car. They’re closing at 6PM and at 5.40PM everybody was still unusually busy. Well some people were already home and I’d hate to ask them to come out again. It’s VERY hot outside btw. After 6-7 calls, finally Jamie said she’d pick me up. Yay!

We made it there just in time. 6.05PM. But the cashier gave me a bill of $80 !! EIGHTY BUCKS !! On the work order sheet, it said "Diagnosed problem, Fault code 141 – oxygen sensor failure". WTH ?? They charged me $80 to tell me what I went there with ?  The old lady at the cashier couldn’t tell me anything of course and the Service department was already closed. The guys were all gone.  So I had no choice other than to give them my credit card.  AAAAARGGH !

Outside at the lot I saw Jason smoking and he hollered at me asking if he should order the part in for me. Although inside I was fuming mad, I couldn’t really show it much, but I did ask how the heck they charge me so much without fixing anything ? He said it’s just standard procedure. And that’s standard labor cost for diagnostic.  OK FINE.  He probably saw unhappiness on my face and he said if I come back to get the part replaced there he would give me a discount. YEAH RIGHT !!

I feel like filing a complaint ! I wanna file a complaint !!!! Last time I felt the same thing and was prepared to gave them the WORST rating on the Customer satisfaction survey. But the thing is, I never  received any survey for their service !  Back in Lafayette, I used to get a survey after each visit… but I was always too lazy to fill and return them.  Now I wish they would ask for my feedback. I’ve heard a lot of people at work don’t like them either.. but it’s the only Honda dealer in town!

This is why whenever I go back to Purdue, if it happens to be time for a maintenance service ( oil/filter change ) I would prefer to do it up there. The customer service there is WAY way better than Renner. The first time I went to Renner after I moved here, I already didn’t like them because they always asked me what I want to do. I didn’t like that. I want them to tell what needs to be done. I bought this car brand new in late 2000, and of course I wanted to take good care of it, and always followed the factory recommended service. I remember the first 3K mile service was free since I bought the car there, and each time I came in they’d tell me what they did and what they’re gonna do next time (after another 3500 miles or 3-4 months). If it’s close to a bigger service they would warn me beforehand so I knew what to expect. They also gave me a coupon book with the maintenance schedule. So I have lots of $5 off, $10 off, and some free oil change every few  times.  Additionally they still send me service reminders with extra coupons in the mail. That’s why I love to go back to them. I feel I could trust them.

But this Renner Service in town just sucks!! But I was hoping the dealership would give me something extra than the non-dealer place, like the service I got back in Purdue.  But they never give any discounts, and I had to figure out myself what service is due (is it time to rotate the tires ?, hmmmm) and tell them to do it.  For this upcoming 60K service, I knew it’s gonna be a major one. They’re gonna do a bunch of stuffs. I called in a couple weeks ago for a quote. Renner gave me a quote of $385 + tax. Yikes. I called Bob Rohman and they gave me a quote of $312.. and I think I got coupons too… so the difference is close to $100!!  It is 2 hours away from here though. So I want to make the most of my visits to Purdue… I haven’t been there for a while now.. maybe it’s time to pay Meggie a visit, and I need to stop by the bank too (they have been asking me when I’m gonna be back in town).. so that’s for next week.

Oh yeah in Bob Rohrman they also always gave me a free carwash and they vacuum the interior with every visit. But over here? NE-VA !

I think I will never EVER bring my car in to this place again ? Or is it maybe time to get a new car ?   I’ve had this for almost 6 years now…. hmmm

yay… did 1+ hour of Taebo tonight with the girls (jamie, feli, kathy, and patty)…. good sweat .. and of course felt so good afterwards..

Patty has been our exercise motivator ehehe… setting up Taebo nights and jogging nights  

i know some of us really don’t mind cancellations ( "the park is wet after the rain", "it’s too hot out there", "ga enak badan", etc. )

hehe but she never gives up on us haha  with her "reminder emails" twice a week ..  thanks Patty !