Harry Potter

June 28, 2002 @ 11:04 pm by Pressed

I decided that I cannot be a critic of Harry Potter unless I saw the movie and read all the books. I have now finished the first and second book and I am part way through the third book. I would have to say that I absolutly love the series. It is so dynamic and intruiging that I cannot put the books down. I am a very slow reader and it took me two days to read the second book, so that is saying something.

I do have a problem with some language that the book has in it. It only happens one or two times, but they still have a couple words in there that really threw me back and make me wonder if it is really appropriate for a kid to read. I would be concerned with that, although I am not sure if the books are actually written for children, even though that is its main draw.

Overall I would have to say that the books and the story is excellent and I can’t wait to finish the next one and move on the the fourth one just to see what is going to happen.

Pressed

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The New Car Bug

June 20, 2002 @ 1:07 pm by Pressed

I have been in the market for a new car ever since we did the car wash for our youth mission trip. I blame it all on my friend Chris! He had to start looking at a new car and then I had to start looking at a new car, and suddenly I caught it. The new car bug. It is a pesky little airborne virus that jumps from person to person. The problem is the only remedy to get rid of the new car bug is to go and buy a new car, so you need to do whatever you can to keep yourself from catching this virus!

Anyway this virus causes several symptoms in people that you should watch out for. Here are some of the symptoms that I had. I have spent countless hours on the internet, looking up cars and prices and determining what is the best car for the best price that I want. I also spent countless hours going to dealership after dealership, talking to the salesmen and making deals, seeing how much they would go down on the cars. Everyday I couldn’t stop thinking about a new car. I went over my budget three or four times, figure payments and insurance and all the things that go along with buying a car… This is a terrible, grueling experience that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

I finally found the car I was willing to buy at Bommarito Pontiac in South County of St. Louis. It was a black Grand Am GT, sunroof and everything I wanted except for a couple small things. I talked them down to the price I wanted to go, made the deal and was ready to sign the papers when we discovered that it was after 4:00 and the people in the finance offices are gone by that time. Now I am in a bit of a mess cause I want to take the car home, I worked on getting what I wanted and I have spent my entire day looking for this car and making deals and now I have nothing to show for it, so I was a bit angry. They tell me they will call me in the morning way before 11:00, prolly 8 or 9.

So the next morning I set everything I am gonna do aside and wait for their phone call so that I will be ready to go as soon as they call. I wait, and I wait, and I wait, and I wait… Nothing. 12:00 rolls around and they finally call and say everything is ready to go all I have to do is sign the papers. So I drive up there, another hour, and get there only to see the finance guy take a couple back in his office, tell me he will be right with me and ask me to sit on the couch. So I sit, and I wait, and I wait and I wait. An hour and fifteen minutes later I get up, and go to the salesman, I hand him the keys to the new car and I tell him I am leaving. After I did that, then they got on the ball. They ran back there and talked to the finance guy, they tried to bribe me to stay with free oil changes and gas and tried to treat me good after it was already to late.

I just don’t get it. You run a car buisness, and you treat your customer like crap until they get mad and then you try to make up for it at the end… well that is already to late with me, so I walked out and did not come back. I am a paying customer, paying a car place money for them to offer me service and a product and they make me sit and wait for hours, wasting my time, and act like I don’t even exist while I am there, but as soon as they see that they are not gonna get my money it is a whole new story. I will be the first to say “that is not right and I won’t stand for it.” That is bad buisness and I refuse to give people like that my money.

So I ended up going to Cahokia, IL, a place that my dad found and bought a brand new 2002 Grand Am GT, Black, Sunroof, Leather seats, and the works. I really like it and I am glad that I walked out on the other deal because this car was better, the service was better, the people were nicer and I didn’t feel like I wasted my time. The time I was waiting for the financing to go through the people talked to me, asked me personal questions about my life, acted intersted in me and who I am, and wanted to make sure I was completely comfortable. That is service, and that is what makes people come back. I can tell you this, the Bommarito Pontiac Dealer will never see my face again, nor will I ever suggest that dealership to anyone! It’s not worth the wasted time, trust me!

Pressed

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