It’s been a while since I’ve heard any word from my neurosurgeon’s office, so I decided to call them today to find out the status of my surgery.

The lowest 3 disks in my back are fried (the lowest one is nearly gone), causing some rather entertaining discomfort.

When last I spoke to him, I was told that they wanted to do disk replacement surgery on me… replacing my ruined disks with titanium ones. It was tentatively scheduled for January of 2004, pending approval by the clinical trials by the FDA (my insurance company doesn’t pay for “experimental” treatments).

Now I find out that the procedure has been pushed back at least 2 years.

I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do now… I’ve only been pain free for two of the past 19 months (after my first surgery). The novelty has worn off and I’m really quite sick of the whole damn thing.

They’ve had me taking Oxycontin and Hydrocodone like it’s going out of style for the past 6 months. I’m not allowed to drive and my motorcycles have a coat of dust on them like you couldn’t believe. I guess I should sell them.

*sigh*

I have the sinking feeling that I’ll be home on long term disability soon (if I got accepted by the insurance company here at work). If I didn’t get accepted… well… this is gonna suck.

Christmas^tm was a blast!

Work was kind enough to give us a four day weekend and they kicked us out at noon on Wednesday (which was nice, as I had some last minute shopping to do!).

We did the holidays at my place again this year. I baked a ham (which the damn dog stole again!) and we ate and played games into the night.

Most of the gifts went to my sons (Christmas is for kids!). I got my eldest son a cell phone from Cricket (no limit on minutes, local calls only). He’s pretty damn spoiled for a 14 year old! My youngest (11 years old) got several games for xbox and his GBA.

I got a few very cool gifts as well: a 19″ tall pink flamingo neon light for my computer room window and the complete Battlestar Galactica collection on DVD (complete with Cylon face). How damn cool is that?

My father in law also came down from Canada on Friday to spend the weekend with us. We played Rummoli and watched movies for most of the weekend (Sling Blade, Pirates of the Caribbean, Battlestar Galactica).

Yesterday, we totally re-organized the computer room in my house. With the addition of my sister’s and brother-in-law’s computers, space got tight. We now have 5 stations in there and the server rack has been moved into a closet (which should be fine till summer comes along). I’ll have to take a picture of it and post it… all that neon from all the light kits really makes the room glow!

Following up from my previous post below, I just got off the phone with Don Webster at Wendle Motors and it looks like I’m fucked.

According to him, since the vehicle still had a factory warranty (a whole 3,199 miles left) they sold us the warranty on a “new” vehicle. A “new vehicle” warranty goes from 0 to 60,000 miles.

I argued that the vehicle wasn’t new (it had 32,801 miles on it at time of purchase) but he stated that since it was still under the 3 year/36,000 factory warranty it falls under the “nearly new” category and so the contract is correct.

This really pisses me off! When we purchased the warranty, I wanted to be perfectly clear over what it covered and paraphrased “So its 60,000 miles from the current mileage, making it end at 92,801 and not 60,000 total miles right?” “Yes” he answered. He even pointed to the terms of the agreement which clearly show that… he didn’t however, direct my attention to the “Expiration Mileage” (if he had, I would have known what was up).

He claims now that he never said that and stated that he’s doe this for 11 years (yeah… that makes me feel better).

I wish I had caught this when I purchased the damn thing. There are a lot of papers to sign and I missed it. What do you have to do when you purchase a car, bring a lawyer with you for all the paperwork? With what I was told I was buying and what they actually sold me, I feel as though they did the old “bait and switch” tactic on me.

So here it is… Christmas^tm eve, and I’m staring at a huge repair bill that I thought was covered by the warranty. What do I have to do… return all my children’s gifts so I can afford to pay for it?

Merry fucking Christmas^tm.

** Update ** 12/24/03 10:47 am

I called the warranty company back. The contract they sold us is exactly what Don Webster said it is and we’re screwed.

Unfortunately, I can’t prove what he told us, only what is written down.

I guess my only consolation is that perhaps someone will read this and choose a different dealer for their vehicle purchasing needs.

In my opinion, they lied to me and used slick tactics to get money out of me. Once they had my money, they could care less. This was my second vehicle purchased from Wendle Ford in Spokane, Wa. and it will be my last.

You may remember how I did a rant on Wendle Ford in Spokane a while ago.

They’re the dealer that I purchased my 2003 Aerio from Well… that car wasn’t my first purchase from them.

In 2000, my wife desperately needed a new vehicle, so I convinced her to go car shopping… “just to look”. We came home in a ’99 Durango. It was used, but in exceptional condition. Leather everything, monster engine, all the extras… spiffy!

Of course, I purchased the extended warranty, as the Durango already had a few miles on it, and the manufacturers warranty wasn’t far from done.

We added 60,000 miles and 5 years to the warranty to cover… well.. everything that could go wrong (the extended warranty wasn’t cheap).

Today, my wife took it down to the Dodge dealer because we’ve noticed a few problems (tie rods are bad and a leaking gasket) The dealer found the problems and it’s no big deal, because it’s covered by the warranty.

No it’s not.

Apparently, the yahoo who filled out my warranty at Wendle checked the “new” box instead of the “used” box, and now my warranty is expired (because of the mileage).

I called the warranty company, and they’ll authorize the repairs only if Wendle calls them and admits to screwing up. Getting a hold of anyone at Wendle to fix this is apparently impossible.

This is so typical of my Wendle experience. Trust me… if you live in this area and want to purchase a vehicle… there’s a lot of dealerships in Spokane… pick a different one.

** Update ** 12/23/03 04:11 pm

I’ve since been called back from Patty at Wendle’s warranty contract department.

She claims that since the vehicle was still under warranty from the manufacturer (it had 4,000 miles left), that qualifies it as “new” and therefore I only had 60,000 miles total on my extended warranty, not mileage at time of sale + 60,000 as explained to me when I purchased it.

I can not understate how pissed off this makes me.

We’ll be spending the evening going over our paperwork, trying to find anything that states what we were told when we purchased the vehicle, but I have this sinking feeling in my gut that we’re screwed.

If that’s the case, and Wendle won’t back what they sold us, I have little recourse. I’ll file a complaint with the Spokane Better Business Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Ford Motor Company… but there’s not much anyone can probably do. I’ll have to eat the cost of the repairs myself (and they’re a tad spendy).

Thank you, Wendle, for making my Christmas dreams come true!

Only 3 days left till Christmas^tm, and I still have shopping to do.

It’s been kinda difficult for me to get my shopping done this year, as I’m not allowed to drive any more (It’s been about 3 months since I last slipped behind the wheel of my car). Something about morphine + car = bad. So I’ve been relying on friends to transport my doped up ass around.

I do have to say… I’ve got damn good friends!

Jester took me to Northtown on Sunday so I could pick up a few things for the family. Talk about total chaos! I did pick up a few things though. I got a Quesenart Grind & Brew coffee maker from sears for $39.99 (the MSRP is $150.00). Actually… I got 2 of them: one for me and one for my neighbor as a Cristmas^tm gift. You fill it with whole beans and water, and it grinds the beans, transfers the grounds to the basket, and brews automatically. Sweet!!

I’d like to post what I got for other people in my family, but they might read the website.

Today, my brother-in-law is gonna take the to the Valley Mall to pick up a few more gifts. I’m hoping to get most of my shopping done today if possible.

The mall ought to be nuts… pray for me!