Down the Rabbit Hole

Wow, my first blog. First, I have to say that creating the blog was a harrowing experience, but it proved a fun distraction from writing my papers. I was also inspired by Anna... I'm sure we'll get linked up eventually.

I'm about to head down to campus (U. of Toronto) in a car with a NEW BATTERY! Actually, the account of obtaining said battery is rather amusing. My boyfriend, Justin, was sent, by me, to Canadian Tire. For those non-Canadians out there (or non-Canadaphiles) who know nothing of Canadian Tire, you are really missing out. They run these ads on TV with this creepy "Canadian Tire" guy. You don't know what his name is, but he has a solution for all of your problems, and the solution is always found at Canadian Tire. Canadian Tire is, obstensibly, a Sears, but it is like a Sears from BizzaroWorld. They have car parts, an autoshop, they sell tools and pool toys and a ton of hockey gear, but they also have strange things there like an ottoman that folds out into a recliner.

Anyway, Justin was at Canadian Tire and he finds the right battery and takes it up front. Since Canadians are currently also in the capitalist throes of the season, the line was quite long. After negotiating said line, the checkout lady tells him he has to get a little warranty slip from the back counter so she can print the sale information on it. So he goes to the back of the store, waits for a non-existant back-counter person to help him. There is a line (Canadians are like the English, they are really good at "queuing". Justin can hear shuffling in the back, but no one comes out. After a loud shuffle, the man standing with Justin shouts "Is anyone there, eh?" (seriously), and the shuffling stops. The man shouts again. No more shuffling. Finally, over the loudspeaker comes a weak, perhaps scared little voice, "We need some help back in auto..."

Someone finally comes, but doesn't speak English so well. He eventually gives Justin a slip and tells him to go buy the battery and bring the receipt back to the back counter. So Justin goes up, tries to pay (after waiting in line again), but saleslady doesn't want to sell it to him because it isn't the RIGHT slip of paper. Justin actually says, "I've never had this kind of trouble buying a ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR BATTERY!" A meeting is called between the saleslady and the guy from the auto counter. Finally, Justin gets whatever mythical forms he needed to buy a car battery and he leaves. He also forgets the antifreeze, but KNOWS it isn't worth going back for.

We got the battery installed last night and the care starts up like a champ, which is good since we'll be driving back to Kansas in 10 days or so and I wanted to make certain the car was healthy.