I had to bring in the urban assault vehicle (with apologies to Stripes) to get the oil changed on Saturday. I had an appointment for 8:30 in the morning on the theory that the shop is much like the airline and that my chances of being delayed would be much lower the earlier I was there. It was a futile hope.
Once again, they didn't get me in right away. They only had two guys working, you see. This is endlessly frustrating to me. If you know you're only going to have two people working, and if someone calls for an appointment and you're full, why don't you tell me to come in at 9am? Or 9:30 or whatever? Instead, I was trapped in the waiting room and it was exactly two hours before I could get out of there.
That made me crabby enough--shouldn't an oil change be about half an hour?--but what really pushed me over the edge was Saturday morning television.
I did bring a notebook and a book book with me to entertain myself while I waited. I'm used to being delayed at this place. But I finished making notes for the chapter I'm working on and the book was the final one in a series. I'd read the first two at least 6 months ago, maybe longer now, and I had trouble getting into the third one because I couldn't remember the others real clearly. The magazines didn't appeal, but I read the local newspaper and the Wall Street Journal.
That took me through the Strawberry Shortcake cartoon without my hearing it. The only reason I was aware of it was because one of the guys who works there walked by and commented on how he couldn't believe that cartoon was still on.
However, by 10am, I was done with the papers and there was nothing left to do--except watch the television. OMG! When did Saturday morning TV get so bad? I only saw one show, something I think was called Cake TV and it was hideous!
(Okay, I know I'm not the target audience, but I can still watch Scooby Doo Where Are You? and enjoy myself.)
The laugh track on this Cake show was annoying, the acting was awful and overplayed, and the "jokes" (and I use that term loosely) were so horrible that I would sigh loudly and mutter to myself. Fortunately, I was alone while I was doing this. :-)
Chaning the channel wasn't an option and neither was turning it off. The buttons on the television that do those two things had been removed. I was trapped!
All I have to say after that half hour in hell is: Parents, I feel for you! I'd be homicidal if I had to listen to that every weekend.
