Argh...

Whenever I go downtown, I prep myself beforehand to be at least slightly annoyed. I take a deep breath, expect to encounter at least one act of idiocy (or at least carelessness or ignorance) and plaster a smile on my face so as to not increase the negative vibe that is so prevalent in my town. Don't get me wrong, I really don't hate this place, but it seems that most people do and it definitely shows. There are exceptions...but that seems to be what they are...exceptions.

So, today was an unplanned downtown trip. Our van's in the shop having the built in DVD player replaced, for the second time. Sigh. Since we're going away on Sunday and will be driving a total of at least 36 hours...it's a bit important. Ya, not so much crucial as say the engine running, but still with 3 kids under the age of 6 - it would be nice. And I wouldn't mind so much if it hadn't been stupid expensive in the first place. Every thing's under warranty still, so that's something I guess.

Our van was supposed to be finished yesterday, but we received no phone call and when we phoned them, we only got a busy signal. Apparently all their phones are down and not one employee there owns a cell phone. So, I popped the younger kids in the double stroller after lunch today and the 4 of us took a 1 hour walk in 30 C weather to the dealership. Hubby was sleeping cuz tonight's his last night shift.

After much complaining from two very hot and tired little boys (at least baby wasn't too miserable), we arrived to an air conditioned dealership (that's something) only to find out that the van hadn't been touched yet. What??? We have 3 kids who still need car seats and only one vehicle and it wasn't done yet and no one had told us? Nice. Really great customer service there guys...thanks. I don't mind waiting, but I do need to know.

They promised up and down that it would be ready tomorrow if I left it, but faced with an uphill walk home, 3 hot children and a few errands that I really did need to run that required a vehicle...I said no. (We do have a transit system, but it likely would take longer than walking.) So I took it with the promise that if I took it back tomorrow, it would really be finished. I'll believe that one when I see it...but there it is.

So into the van we piled and off to the grocery store to pick up a few groceries to tie us over until we leave on Sunday. I pulled in beside a Hummer and when I opened the door, I was blasted with hot air from the running, gas sucking SUV. Dear Mr. Hummer driver, I realize that it's really hot outside, me and my children just braved that same 31 C (88 F) for an hour walk. You're not gonna die if you leave the AC off for a few minutes while you shop...though I suppose your scary, massive dog that scared me so much with his bark that I nearly wet my pants as I was taking my little girl out of the van might, so you go ahead and continue to pollute our environment. I'm very happy for you that you can afford to run your vehicle with gas prices being as ridiculously high as they are. Keep up the great work.

My children did not stop complaining the entire time we were in the store and I've learned that Miss Finn has learned how to instigate fights with Nate. Great...that's a skill I'd have been happy to see delayed. At the checkout, we had a new cashier who had never seen my type of coupons before. I get them from save.ca, a good little website that sends you manufacturer's coupons. It seems every time I go, my cashier doesn't know how to use them and I end up waiting while they get help. I even told her this time how to do them and she didn't believe me until someone else came and told her exactly what I'd just told her. And there was a grouchy man impatiently waiting behind me too as my kids obnoxiously cried and yelled and made me look like the best mom in the entire city.

It was almost all made better when a nice man let me into the big long line of traffic as I was exiting the parking lot. And exception to a crappy day.