Hello from Toyota Carlsbad!

Haven't written in a while--been regrouping for the new year and making the marketing push. But I'm sitting here in the lobby at Toyota Carlsbad as the antenna on my car is repaired.

I've been waiting for the shuttle to take me home since about 1 PM (2:15 at the time of this writing). So far, the only shuttle that's reattached to the hitching post for another round of Toyota victims is the north-bound shuttle. I need to go south. So I shall sit and blog.

About my antenna... Parked the other day at the beach, hoping to catch a few waves before the sun went down. Turned off my car, leaving my radio on (1090 AM--sports radio all the time, baby). Usually, the antenna just goes back into it's little home under the hood automatically. In the words of Aragorn, King of Gondor (a little Lord of the Rings trivia comin' at ya) "But NOT THIS DAY!" The motor made a sound like someone vomiting, and continued to make said sound for about 10 seconds. I noticed the antenna had not gone back into it's little home.

"Hmmm," I thought, "that's weird." I reinserted the key and tried again, same vomiting sound and same motionless antenna. Oh well, guess I'll take the car in tomorrow.

So here we are. Dolores, the lovely Assistant Sales Manager to whom I was assigned, just notified me that they need to replace both the antenna and the motor under the hood. Cost? A cool $225. How else could one month's salary last forever?

It is important to note that when Dolores approached me with the repair bill, she mentioned that she called me, but then looked up and realized that I hadn't left yet. Oh, Dolores, shall I bore thee with the impetus behind my existence here in this wonderful seat at Toyota Carlsbad?

It's because THE SHUTTLE HASN'T SNIFFED THIS BUILDING IN OVER 2 HOURS!

(But I'm not upset, I'm really not. After all, life could be a lot worse, right?)

I told her I'd wait for it to be done. Going to walk down the street and grab some lunch, because I haven't eaten since this morning, and the only thing to eat here are putrid-looking pastries and stale coffee.

Late.