Spring 2011
DD2's graduation gift from us was a weekend at WDW. *her choice*
The drive down and the first day were good.
Not only did it rain heavily the 2nd day we were there, there was hail and tornados.
The dog was not happy in the kennels--she came out smelling like pee, shaking and cringing, hadn't touched her food at all. We couldn't make it over to her the day it stormed, due to the weather because the car had a flat (ran over a board with nails on it when parking at POFQ--this was during the remodel) and DH wasn't about to change a flat during that storm. He finally got it changed on the morning of the 3rd day, just in time to go home, because....
DH got food poisoning (confirmed by labwork) at POFQ--he thinks it was the burger with the shrimp on it that did him in. The way home was awful for him. DS cut his hand open on a trash can in Magic Kingdom, and it got infected (went to first aid and got it cleaned and bandaged but I guess not good enough)--he had to go on antibiotics.
Oh, and we almost died on the highway. Thanks Midas. I had had the brakes "done" about 3 weeks before. They were still squeaking, and everytime I went back to the mechanic, they said it was normal, just brake dust from the new rotors and pads settling in. Mind you, I paid for new rotors for both front and back, along with pads, fluid, etc.
Well, it turns out that they had only done the front brakes, not front and rear as I requested. They also hadn't replaced the rotors, but "resurfaced" them. (and rather poorly at that, plus the brake pads weren't replaced.) The back brakes had no fluid and no pads, and the squealing was from them constantly trying to lock up.
On I-10, we lost all braking. During rush hour--5pm. Luckily DH was able to use the emergency brake to slow us down, and some rather kind people let us cut over to the off ramp (which was backed up) and down the off ramp on the edge, so we could stop in a safe area.
Then I spent almost 4 hours on the phone, between the original mechanic's corporate office, another $75 for the tow (which should have been free, as I have towing on my insurance, but because the mechanic called the tow truck, I had to pay), and then 4 hours at a Tire Kingdom (who had to search around for the right parts, have the parts store stay open late to get the part delivered, and the mechanic and shop manager who stayed well after closing to fix this for us.
The original mechanic paid for the parts and labor (overtime for both the mechanic and shop manager
) and refunded me the cost of the original brake job and the tow. Couldn't do anything about no one eating dinner that night, or the kids sleeping in the lobby of the Tire Kingdom or me sitting outside on the phone holding the dog's leash in a sketchy neighborhood at 2am.
Yeah, it was a bad weekend. I think we should be able to get a redo.