Daily Archives: 2012/05/06

Says 46 – Oxygen sensor issues with my car

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May 2 Tuesday Last Friday, my mother had been over for a visit and I drove her home. When I left her apartment building, I drove over a speed bump and my 1999 Toyota Tercel hit bottom. A of couple blocks later, I noticed my engine light was on, and my first thought was that something jiggled loose when I hit the bump, even though I didn’t hit it very hard. When I got home, I called the local Toyota dealer, Taylor Motor Sales in Regina, Sask. and made arrangements to take it in on Monday.

I took it in on Monday morning and told them the story of when the light came on. They checked it out and told me that an oxygen sensor was faulty and that they would have to order it. While he told me that, he also presented me with an invoice for $137.50.

I asked the service rep, “Did he check to see if it was a loose connection.”
He said, “No, that they would check it when they put a new one in and that they had to order one.”
I asked, “How does the mechanic know if it’s not just a loose wire and not a faulty sensor if he never physically checked it? I told you I went over a bump and the engine light came on shortly after that.”
His reply was, “If it’s just a loose wire, he’ll see it when he replaces the oxygen sensor.”

I got off my chair and pointing to the invoice he had just given me, and with a sarcastic tone to my voice, I asked. “Why would I pay $556.60 for an oxygen sensor, plus labor, plus taxes, for a part that I don’t need, if the problem is just a loose wire. And that’s not counting the $137.50 that you’re charging me today for this report. I’ve had an oxygen sensor replaced by a Toyota dealer before and it was just over $200.00 in total. This is ridiculous.”

Anyway, we got into a little argument and I tossed my debit card on his desk. As he was processing it, I exclaimed in a voice that was loud enough so that all five of the service reps and their customers would hear, as well as others in the open area, that I would never come back for service and neither would I recommend anyone else to do so. He then tossed the card back at me in an act of defiance and I caught it before it slid off the desk. I asked him why he was angry; he wasn’t the one that was being gouged? He didn’t say anything, but glared at me.

The next day I went to see my sister’s mechanic and arranged for them to do the work. He quoted me $210.00, parts, labor and taxes. I also decided to call Toyota Canada and let them know that I was not happy with their dealer. I gave them all the details, including invoice number, service representative, etc.. That’s just bullshit, and as long as car dealers that can get away with gouging, they will.

Says 45 – Doubles and doppelganger

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April 29 Sunday 3:30 AM I awoke from a dream thinking of doubles, of seeing identical twins and also of seeing myself in a mirror. I was going through all the different scenarios of doubles and reflections and then remembered my experience with my doppelganger  when I was working in cable TV years ago. I was working as a service/maintenance man but also had a part time job with the same company as a sales rep at night. I was in the midst of a sale pitch to a potential customer that I knew couldn’t afford cable TV and didn’t really want it, but I wasn’t interested in what he told me and what he wanted, I was more interested in making my commission on the sale.

I almost had him talked into signing up, when out of the corner of my eye, in my peripheral vision, I saw myself leaning against the hallway wall looking at me. He was about 10 feet (3 meters) away from me, and I not only saw this identical image of myself, but I was also aware of what this other me was thinking as I was also in his body looking at me. I was consciously flipping back and forth between being in my Body and in his Body.

One part of me was trying to close a sales pitch while observing this other part of me that was looking at me and wondering how far I would go to make a dollar, if I was willing to sell my Soul to make a buck. I was aware of what I was thinking and seeing, and then in the next instant, my consciousness was in this doppelganger and aware that he was thinking of me and looking at me. Seeing the me that was making the sales pitch to a potential Cable TV customer was unnerving to say the least. It was like this doppelganger was the good side of me, while the me that was trying to close the sale was evil and would do anything for a dollar, even if I had to over-power others to get them to do what I wanted. When I decided to shift my gaze to look directly at this doppelganger self, he disappeared.

When I turned back to talk to the customer, he looked concerned and asked me if I was having a heart attack, or had seem a ghost as I looked white and pale. I didn’t tell him what happened, but I told him that he was right, that he didn’t need Cable TV and left it at that and called it a night. That was also the end to my part-time sales job as I didn’t feel that selling my Soul was worth the few dollars I made selling Cable TV. I had never experienced anything like that before or since.