OK, so about 11 Months ago my starter on my supposedly new-ish car broke. I've blog posted about this disaster before, but I'll rehash it here. It had been on the fritz for the past several months, but I would be able to start my car after pushing the ignition button a second time. But then it became three. Then it wouldn't start at the gas station. And then it went kaput for good at work the night Minnesota United FC beat Sporting Kansas City and secured its first-ever Major League Soccer playoff birth. (Instead of getting a tow truck right after work, I downloaded Lyft and used a car-sharing service for the first and, so far, only time in my life to get to Allianz Field. A friend from my ushering days drove me back to work, and that's when I called for the tow truck. Had it dropped off at The Mechanic Around The Corner. In the morning, I walked there without My Father noticing my car was gone.)
Got it fixed from The Mechanic Around The Corner. Still, I was pissed. A starter does not go out on a five-year-old car, and especially a Honda, even if my warranty ran out. I both asked the dealership for a break and called Honda American Corporate for relief when I brought my car to the dealership after the incident at the gas station, which was only a few days before the starter went kaput for good. Both entities said no.
That still wasn't good enough. I got it fixed, but I eventually (and I think this was in the late winter or early spring -- these days, time both stretches and shrinks) decided I was going to raise a little hell over this. First I tweeted to Honda American. Then I sent a letter to them. And wouldn't you know, I got a call back. Someone from Honda American wanted to investigate. I gave her all the information I could about the steps I took to ask for financial defraying on getting a new starter. After playing phone tag for a bit (and I think this was in March, just as the pandemic convinced the country to shut down and send workers home to work), she offered a gift card in the amount of $350. Maybe I should have bargained. But I guess I was so flattered Honda American did something about my complaint that I was going to take the first thing dangled in front of me. So I said yes.
The gift card came in the form of, uh, an actual gift card, slotted in a card the size of a, uh, greeting card, in an envelope the size of a, uh, greeting card. I have to activate it, and I have only till 2022, I think, to use it. My timing chain will need to be replaced in the next 24 Months or so, I think -- that gift card will be given to the dealership to defray the cost of fixing that. Anyway, the important thing is I have it, and so it was in safe keeping.
Until I realized that I didn't know exactly where the hell it was. When I opened it for the first time and looked at it, I stroked my ego for a bit. I mean, I didn't think writing to customer service would work. I've done it before and was successful before, but shoot, this is the first time I got a $350 gift card. That's frickin' golden! So I felt a well of self-satisfaction, and then I threw the gift card onto the stack of mail I just keep once I opened them up.
And then I couldn't find it. I guess it didn't matter since I don't plan on using it for, probably, two more Years. But that is essentially $350 in cash, and I shouldn't lose it. And so a couple times in the Months since I got it, including a sizable freak-out a few days ago, I felt the urge to find it, just so I know where exactly it is. At some point my mood was, "Well, I don't know where exactly it is, but I know it's in my bedroom, so where else could it be?" But in those couple times, that wasn't good enough.
The first time I freaked out over it, I had to give up because I simply couldn't find it. This time around, and this was Wednesday night, I went over to my desk, where I stash all the "important" mail that I don't want "lost" even though I don't exactly know what's in there. But, by golly, that's where I found the gift card. Apparently when I got it in the mail, I at least thought about it enough to put it somewhere special. Too bad I forgot that the desk was that special place.
So maybe where I put it now will be, like, the real exact place where it's going to be safe and special. All car owners are told to keep all the receipts from repairs somewhere. Well, I have put mine in my desk -- namely the long, flat drawer under which you put your legs, you know? I have put all my receipts stretching back to my old car in there. I have yet to throw any of them away. And since my gift card is a car thing, well, it makes sense for me to stash it in with my receipts.
So there it is, and there it will stay until I need to use it. And just in case, I am going to note here, for the record, that that is where I put it; that's why I put the title in all caps. But doing so doesn't ensure that I'll remember to even look at my blog in order to remember where the gift card is. For that -- well, I guess I'll have to just rely on faith.
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