I got my card a few days later, but I noticed in my email in-box was a rejection letter for my hubby’s card.  It turns out that he was rejected because they don’t think he is him!  They said that they rejected him based on information from a credit report company.  So I printed it off and gave it to my hubby and told him to call the credit report company, which he has been trying to do all morning long.  I am concerned that this may have something to do with an identity theft attempt! 

One of the houses that we looked at had a large garage by Future Steel Buildings off to the side of the house. My husband fell right in love with that place, and his eyes shone with excitement when we were taking the tour of the garage. He could not have cared less if there was a refrigerator or stove in the kitchen, but I’ll tell you that he fell right in love with that garage!

Well, we ended up buying a different house, but my husband has been lobbying for a new Future steel buildings garage in the back ever since we moved in. I’ve told him to get some quotes together and we’d take a look at our finances and see if we could refinance the house with a lower interest rate and get some equity out of it in order to get him that garage that he is pining away for!  I’m thinking that if I get him his garage, maybe he’ll be more inclined to do some of the automotive maintenance things that I need done to my car from time to time! Maybe he’ll even install a remote starter for me!

But when I noticed them, it gave me a great idea for a gift for my hubby for Christmas! He dearly loves his Harley Davidson, and I have several pictures of him on it. I’m thinking about making a collage of sorts, embellished with scrapbooking trinkets and putting it all in a couple of shadow boxes or  enclosed fabric bulletin boards. He can hang it on the wall in the garage near his Harley, or hang it on the wall in the bedroom. He’ll be thrilled!

I’m thinking about buying my hubby a new set of leather chaps. I can remember a time when I was dating a guy who took a spill on his bike and he was only wearing jeans. He had a really bad case of road rash! I think chaps are silly looking, but I think that they are an important safety item for bike riding.

She is going to be busy packing up everything in her house and getting ready to move up there. Thank goodness the new company is helping with moving expenses. But she says that she is selling her old car and leaving it behind so she can buy something new from a Chicago Honda Dealer when she gets to the Windy City. She sent me this link to check it out: http://www.ednapletonhonda.com

I’m so excited for her – she deserves a great job for a good company. This will give her a chance at a new life since her divorce. She can get a new apartment, that new Honda Accord she’s been wanting, and she’ll be meeting all new people.

I remember when she went up there for the interview last month. She was so sure she was going to get this job that she spent the rest of the afternoon at a Honda Dealer In Chicago, looking at new cars. She even reads the dealership’s blog now, to read up on all things Honda, I guess.

I wish I could get a new car. It sure would be nice to have something that wouldn’t be breaking down all the time. I could just call the dealer and bring it in for service instead of constantly searching for a mechanic that can do the work and can be trusted. Knock on wood, my car will hold out the rest of this year, and then after Christmas maybe I can shop around for my own new car next year.

These folks had several people around the country that would go to local automobile auctions in search of a specific car, and bid on it. If they won the auction then they would arrange for Car Shipping to take the car to an auto detailing and repair place to make sure it was in good working condition and looking as new as possible. Then the buyer would come look at the car and determine if they want it or not. If they decide to actually buy it then they pay for it and either drive it home themselves or have a Car Transport company deliver it to their own homes.

I could not believe that in this economically troubled time how many people are in the market for luxury cars right now! I’ve never been a big fan of status symbols, and I consider luxury cars to be one of the biggest status symbols ever invented.  I don’t know how I would feel working for a company like that.  I have a certain amount of disdain for people who drive status symbols.  Is that weird, or what!?

When he was presented with the bill, it was for almost double the amount he was quoted! When he questioned the amount, they claimed that the price he was quoted was a mistake and that they could not possibly sell the tires to him for that price. So what would you do in a situation like that? I’ll tell you what he did; he told them to take the tires back off of the truck and put the old tires back on it. They sure didn’t like hearing that! But that’s exactly what happened.

Having a helmet that fits right is really important – if it doesn’t fit right then you won’t get the protection that you really need when riding a motorcycle.  And that could mean the difference between life and death in a motorcycle accident.  I know a lot of people that resent the helmet laws and are very vocal about how they hate wearing helmets, but I, for one, would never feel safe without one on a motorcycle!

If they get kicked out of their apartment they will have no where to live and I really don’t want them moving back in here with us. I have my hands full enough as it is without having to deal with two more people in the house that I would be responsible for all that they do and what they don’t do. As soon as I calmed my daughter down I got into the car and headed their way with my check book and credit card in hand. I got it all straightened out, got them back on track, had a short visit with them and turned heal to head home again.

I must have had my head in the clouds or in deep thought because I was not paying attention to the speed limit and found myself being red lighted by our local police, so I pulled over as soon as I could find a safe place to do so. The officer slowly approached my vehicle with his flashlight in hand that he shined right into my eyes and demanded my driver’s license, registration and proof of insurance, which I promptly retrieved from the glove box. He told me that he would be right back, in the meantime he had called for back up and another police car pulled up as well, which I thought was strange since this was only a stupid speeding ticket.

Being nervous about being pulled over prompted me to grab a cigarette, get it lit and stepped outside of my car, since I had my youngest kid in the car with me and I don’t smoke around any of the kids. The one officer yelled at me to get back into the car. I told he that I wanted a smoke, he told me to smoke in my vehicle, in which case I told him that I wouldn’t because I don’t smoke around my kids so he told me not to smoke at all. That is when I started feeling that this was turning into a police harassment case. I proceeded to inform the officer that as far as I knew we were still in America and that it wasn’t against any law to smoke in the location that I was currently finding myself in. That really upset the officer so he made me put my hands on the hood of his car, while he searched me and asked me one hundred and one questions about my driving record, where I was going, had I been in trouble before, you know questions like that. I was getting a bit irritated at this whole procedure that I’m quite sure was police harassment and I just wanted to go home and put the whole day behind me once and for all.

It had all ready cost me $700 for their rent, $20 for gas to get there and back, food for me and the kid and now a speeding ticket from two police officers that really treated me as a common criminal. Even though I was very nice, I cooperated with them, used my manners, had all of my required paperwork, the whole kit and caboodle, this particular officer seemed to think that this was proper procedure and made me feel as if I was a victim of police harassment and I was really upset about the whole thing and embarrassed that it was all taking place in front of my youngest that had come along with me to keep me company.

The ticket cost me $200 and my insurance went up $20 a month but I managed to keep my oldest from being tossed out on her ear. It really left a bad taste in my mouth, one that I won’t forget any time soon. I have had a clean driving record for well over a decade and this really messes it all up, all because I was helping my kid out, arg……..

It took me a whole hour to detour around the lake to get home. And that was a very long hour’s drive – because of the rolling hills there is virtually no cell phone service around the lake, so I couldn’t call anyone to find out any details of the fire!

I was so relieved when I finally got to my road that I found that my road was open to traffic, so I could get home. And my house was safe and sound. I don’t know whose house was on fire, but for now I’m glad it wasn’t mine!

That is why I really appreciate it when a website comes along and helps the consumer out.  The website I’m referring to right now in theis case is a website called repairpal.com.  This website is a woman’s best friend when she needs some information about car repairs.  It has a great feature that lets you punch in the area you are looking at (for example Los Angeles auto repair), what kind of car you need repaired (i.e.Honda Civic) and what you think needs to be done to it (i.e. replace head gasket.)

This great little website will direct you to several reputable repair shops in the area, and tell you how much money you can anticipate to be charged.  That is really valuable information to know, so you don’t get overcharged by someone who might be trying to take advantage of you.  So I’d like to extend a great big “thank you” to the folks who created this website; it will definitely help me out in the future when I need to have repairs done on my car!