So I've always been "crafty"...when I was a kid if I was bored I'd just start making...something. Anything. Just to create. I've lost touch with that part of myself over the years. My need for order, lack of funds (and space) (and time), have constricted me. Well, over Christmas my Mom finally taught me to knit- and it's like that part of me came alive again. I've since finished my first project (a scarf), a hat for Scott, a beanie for Chanelle for when she shaves her head...and now I'm about to start my first sweater! I'm using a pattern I found on Ravelry called Nati. Basically I'm knitting a huge plus sign with a neck hole in the middle. I'm really looking forward to creating something I can actually WEAR! I'd really like to be able to knit my own clothing- living in the Hinterland (aka Edmonton) I love wearing big, warm (yet stylish) sweaters, but they're EXPENSIVE! I figure if I can learn to knit them myself I can A) slow down the pace at which I aquire new clothing and B) get better-quality sweaters. Even if it costs more in time and money- it'll keep me out of the mall and probably make me take better care of my clothing.
So that's my update! If you want to find me on Ravelry and keep up with my knitting adventures I'm under the username Navvan.
24.1.10
30.12.09
How to Live in Under 400sq ft.
So I've been looking through my computer at old pictures of when I lived in Toronto. For the second part of my foray into the big city, I lived in a VERY small 385 sq ft. apartment. It was between living in a bigger apartment in a bad part of town, or a teeny apartment in a good part of town. I took the second option- and paid 825$ a month for the privilege.
So anyways- the point. I stumbled across some pictures of my little apartment and had a wave of nostalgia "oh it was so CUTE!"...I forgot what it
had even looked like. I loved that apartment, but I remember having a moment of panic after I'd signed the lease. "Holy CRAP how am I going to fit everything I own into such a small space?!"...it wasn't easy, but I did it.
So here you see my one and only room. You have my kitchen way in the back there, my couch, and that black bit in the upper left hand corner is where my bed was hidden. Step 1 to living in a small space: loft bed. That thing saved my life.
Anyways, you can see that I had to partition my space carefully. That white thing with the mirrors on it is a bookcase that was at the head of my bed, and separated what was basically my bedroom from my kitchen area. My kitchen was to small to fit my microwave in it so that white kitchen cart held my microwave (and let's face it, when you live alone that's how you cook! I consider myself a pretty good cook but since I didn't have anyone to cook FOR I just zapped everything!) My table you can see there ended up with my boyfriend's computer on it (crap!), so what was originally just another surface for schoolwork/eating became a desk. Underneath it though I put a nice wicker basket to hold excess blankets and pillows.
On the right you witness the cleanest that kitchen EVER was. There's not much to say about the kitchen, except that I used the top of the cupboards as storage as well and used a cutting board on my stovetop to compensate for the lack of counter space. The one beef I had with this apartment: ONE BOWLED SINK. If you are planning on moving into a small apartment I beg you to consider this: You can live without a dishwasher easily, but if you feel this is a reasonable sacrifice do not, for the love of God, sacrifice a double-bowled sink. A single bowled sink makes washing dishes by hand a punishment of massive proportions. If your unit doesn't have one, ask the landlord if they'd consider putting one in (or letting you put one in and giving
you a break on your first month's rent to compensate you for upgrading their unit for them!).
On the left you can see my lofted bed, and the crap under it. What you can't see if my dresser tucked under it on the left hand side. The pannels I hung from the ceiling were on a track so I could open it to get into bed and then close them to hide it when people were over. I usually closed them to sleep too- it just felt more cosy. I got those at Ikea, and they cost like 100$. I was able to fit 3 large rubbermaid bins under there packed with stuff, my laundry drying rack, my hamper, my dresser, and my laundry basket in under that bed. Now THAT is storage. And from this angle you can see my bookcase too.
Unfortunately I'm missing a few angles of my apartment...the opposite wall to this one held my TV storage unit, I had a coffee table that had two large drawers in it to hide stuff too (also from Ikea), and I had 3 closets I packed full of stuff. The trick I discovered to living in small space is: STORAGE. Create it. If you have a spare wall, put storage on it. If you have high ceilings put a shelf about a book-height from the ceiling all around the perimeter and put stuff up there too (it actually looks kind of funky, I've seen it done and I'm sure you could too if you googled it. I only had 8 foot ceilings so I didn't do it, partially because I had room for everything, but also because my bed would have interfered with it.
Also another note on my bed: You can get a loft bed from Ikea for like 100$. It's only suitable for 9 ft. ceilings. As I just said, my ceilings didn't meet this requirement...so I had to make a plan B. My Poppa and my Mom built the frame for mine off of plans from the internet out of plywood and bolts, and painted it brown for me. The supplies cost 40$. If you know somebody handy, or even if you hire a handyman you can probably get it built for under 100$. This works well if you own a boxspring and mattress like I did and want to use it. Since moving to Edmonton I have taken this bed apart and put it back together 3 times and we now have it in our second bedroom and people sleep on it when they visit. It creaks, but it's safe and comfy.
So thats my 411 on living in a small space. Storage and plan it out, hide the stuff you don't want to see. Come to think of it I had one of those under-the-bed boxes under my couch full of craft supplies too. My couch was only a loveseat, but for one person it's all you need.
Hope this helps someone who tries to tackle the same feat I did! I only lived there for 8 months (not because it was to small, but because life took me in other directions and I moved to Edmonton and living in 385 sq. ft is fine for one person but when you bring in a man it's a totally different bucket of fish!) but I loved that apartment. My Katherine lives in it now since she took over my lease- she stole my sliding pannels and basically set it up identically to mine only with her furniture!
This is my ode to my small apartment and time gone by.
So anyways- the point. I stumbled across some pictures of my little apartment and had a wave of nostalgia "oh it was so CUTE!"...I forgot what it
had even looked like. I loved that apartment, but I remember having a moment of panic after I'd signed the lease. "Holy CRAP how am I going to fit everything I own into such a small space?!"...it wasn't easy, but I did it.So here you see my one and only room. You have my kitchen way in the back there, my couch, and that black bit in the upper left hand corner is where my bed was hidden. Step 1 to living in a small space: loft bed. That thing saved my life.
Anyways, you can see that I had to partition my space carefully. That white thing with the mirrors on it is a bookcase that was at the head of my bed, and separated what was basically my bedroom from my kitchen area. My kitchen was to small to fit my microwave in it so that white kitchen cart held my microwave (and let's face it, when you live alone that's how you cook! I consider myself a pretty good cook but since I didn't have anyone to cook FOR I just zapped everything!) My table you can see there ended up with my boyfriend's computer on it (crap!), so what was originally just another surface for schoolwork/eating became a desk. Underneath it though I put a nice wicker basket to hold excess blankets and pillows.
On the right you witness the cleanest that kitchen EVER was. There's not much to say about the kitchen, except that I used the top of the cupboards as storage as well and used a cutting board on my stovetop to compensate for the lack of counter space. The one beef I had with this apartment: ONE BOWLED SINK. If you are planning on moving into a small apartment I beg you to consider this: You can live without a dishwasher easily, but if you feel this is a reasonable sacrifice do not, for the love of God, sacrifice a double-bowled sink. A single bowled sink makes washing dishes by hand a punishment of massive proportions. If your unit doesn't have one, ask the landlord if they'd consider putting one in (or letting you put one in and giving
you a break on your first month's rent to compensate you for upgrading their unit for them!).On the left you can see my lofted bed, and the crap under it. What you can't see if my dresser tucked under it on the left hand side. The pannels I hung from the ceiling were on a track so I could open it to get into bed and then close them to hide it when people were over. I usually closed them to sleep too- it just felt more cosy. I got those at Ikea, and they cost like 100$. I was able to fit 3 large rubbermaid bins under there packed with stuff, my laundry drying rack, my hamper, my dresser, and my laundry basket in under that bed. Now THAT is storage. And from this angle you can see my bookcase too.
Unfortunately I'm missing a few angles of my apartment...the opposite wall to this one held my TV storage unit, I had a coffee table that had two large drawers in it to hide stuff too (also from Ikea), and I had 3 closets I packed full of stuff. The trick I discovered to living in small space is: STORAGE. Create it. If you have a spare wall, put storage on it. If you have high ceilings put a shelf about a book-height from the ceiling all around the perimeter and put stuff up there too (it actually looks kind of funky, I've seen it done and I'm sure you could too if you googled it. I only had 8 foot ceilings so I didn't do it, partially because I had room for everything, but also because my bed would have interfered with it.
Also another note on my bed: You can get a loft bed from Ikea for like 100$. It's only suitable for 9 ft. ceilings. As I just said, my ceilings didn't meet this requirement...so I had to make a plan B. My Poppa and my Mom built the frame for mine off of plans from the internet out of plywood and bolts, and painted it brown for me. The supplies cost 40$. If you know somebody handy, or even if you hire a handyman you can probably get it built for under 100$. This works well if you own a boxspring and mattress like I did and want to use it. Since moving to Edmonton I have taken this bed apart and put it back together 3 times and we now have it in our second bedroom and people sleep on it when they visit. It creaks, but it's safe and comfy.
So thats my 411 on living in a small space. Storage and plan it out, hide the stuff you don't want to see. Come to think of it I had one of those under-the-bed boxes under my couch full of craft supplies too. My couch was only a loveseat, but for one person it's all you need.
Hope this helps someone who tries to tackle the same feat I did! I only lived there for 8 months (not because it was to small, but because life took me in other directions and I moved to Edmonton and living in 385 sq. ft is fine for one person but when you bring in a man it's a totally different bucket of fish!) but I loved that apartment. My Katherine lives in it now since she took over my lease- she stole my sliding pannels and basically set it up identically to mine only with her furniture!
This is my ode to my small apartment and time gone by.
20.11.09
Last Minute Lasagna
I don't know where this recipe came from...my Mom says my Gammy cut it out of a magazine years ago, but I just can't see my Gammy (chef that she was) making this dish. It is, however, a life saver. Scott LOVES lasagna. He'd eat it every night if I'd let him- or if I had the time to make it. This recipe however, means we get lasagna much more often. I'm a snob when it comes to my TRUE lasagna- home made noodles, my mother's meat sauce (which takes a day to make) and an over abundance of cheese. Needless to say a "real" lasagna in my household is about a week in the works. This takes less than an hour.
Last Minute Lasagna
Yield: 4
Ingredients:
● 1 packages Lipton Creamy Parmazan Noodles
● 1 lb. lean ground beef
● 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
● 1/2 tsp basil
● 1/2 tsp oregano
● 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions:
Prepare noodles as directed, but reduce water to 3/4 cup. In skillet, brown beef. Drain fat. Stir in tomato sauce, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Pour half into 8x8 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Top with noodles, then remaining meat sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 mins before serving.
That easy. Thanks Gammy!
Last Minute Lasagna
Yield: 4
Ingredients:
● 1 packages Lipton Creamy Parmazan Noodles
● 1 lb. lean ground beef
● 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
● 1/2 tsp basil
● 1/2 tsp oregano
● 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Directions:
Prepare noodles as directed, but reduce water to 3/4 cup. In skillet, brown beef. Drain fat. Stir in tomato sauce, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Pour half into 8x8 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with half the cheese. Top with noodles, then remaining meat sauce and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let stand for 5 mins before serving.
That easy. Thanks Gammy!
15.11.09
All Your Own Teeth- the song
So for my first week of field placement I need to plan a book experience for the children in my play room. I chose the book "All Your Own Teeth" by Adrienne Geoghegan, because it fits all the criteria for a quality picture book given to me by the University- and I think the story is kind of cute.
Anyways, I need two extensions for every book I read to the children in order for it to be considered an "experience". Since this is my first week and I literally only have the weekend to plan I decided to do things this week that don't require a lot of "stuff". So, one of my extensions I decided would be a song. Unfortunately, I couldn't really find any good songs to teach the kids that in any way fit with the book. A lot of songs deal with monkeys and zebras, none of which are in this book- so singing about them would be kind of inane don't you think?
Anyways, I set off to find a song for each individual animal...which didn't work either. I was having difficulty finding anything for the giraffe. However, I eventually came across this website and it had a cute song about the giraffe's neck. After singing it a few times I decided I could probably make it work for all the animals in the book and set off to create verses for each animal. You will probably want to watch the song on the website first to get the tune. This is what I ended up with:
An elephant has a really long nose
much much longer than mine
He drinks lots of water, and he lives where it's hotter
but I think he has a jolly good time
A cheetah runs really really fast
much much faster than me
He eats gazelles that aren't quite well
and I think he has a jolly good time
a giraffe has a really long neck
much much longer than mine
he eats green leaves
but not green peas
and I think has a jolly good time
A hippo has really big feet
much much bigger than mine
he rolls in the mud
and thinks he's a stud
and I think he has a jolly good time
A crocodile has a very big smile
much much bigger than mine
He licks his chops
and tries not to slop
and they're all having a jolly good time.
Kinda cute right? I'll report back on how it goes over with the kids. Credit for the tune and the giraffe verse go to Boowa and Kwala.
Anyways, I need two extensions for every book I read to the children in order for it to be considered an "experience". Since this is my first week and I literally only have the weekend to plan I decided to do things this week that don't require a lot of "stuff". So, one of my extensions I decided would be a song. Unfortunately, I couldn't really find any good songs to teach the kids that in any way fit with the book. A lot of songs deal with monkeys and zebras, none of which are in this book- so singing about them would be kind of inane don't you think?
Anyways, I set off to find a song for each individual animal...which didn't work either. I was having difficulty finding anything for the giraffe. However, I eventually came across this website and it had a cute song about the giraffe's neck. After singing it a few times I decided I could probably make it work for all the animals in the book and set off to create verses for each animal. You will probably want to watch the song on the website first to get the tune. This is what I ended up with:
An elephant has a really long nose
much much longer than mine
He drinks lots of water, and he lives where it's hotter
but I think he has a jolly good time
A cheetah runs really really fast
much much faster than me
He eats gazelles that aren't quite well
and I think he has a jolly good time
a giraffe has a really long neck
much much longer than mine
he eats green leaves
but not green peas
and I think has a jolly good time
A hippo has really big feet
much much bigger than mine
he rolls in the mud
and thinks he's a stud
and I think he has a jolly good time
A crocodile has a very big smile
much much bigger than mine
He licks his chops
and tries not to slop
and they're all having a jolly good time.
Kinda cute right? I'll report back on how it goes over with the kids. Credit for the tune and the giraffe verse go to Boowa and Kwala.
24.10.09
GET OFF YOUR ASS AND DO SOMETHING!
Lately I've noticed many of my friends are very dissatisfied with their lives. They want to be thinner, make more money, go more places- whatever. Great. So get off your ass and do something about it.
I just can't stand how everyone seems to think that these good things just happen to fall into certain people's laps. Granted- some- the lucky few- do have that happen. But here in the real world- if you want something, you have to work at it.
You want to be thinner? Then start going to the gym, talking walks/runs, and eating better. You want to make more money so you can do more things/buy more clothes? Awesome- revise your resume, look around on the internet and find a job that pays well and start sending those brand spanking new resumes out. Working full time isn't death sentence, in fact in my mind it's the ticket to freedom! Stop complaining that your boyfriend/fiance/husband won't let you blow 300$ a month on makeup or outings- what is this the 1930s?! Not only do you have a responsibility to provide your "fun money" for yourself, you should be contributing to the household expenses! You don't get to live for free! Same goes for vacations. I am SO SICK of people complaining about not being able to go on vacation every year. I know- it sucks. I'm used to escaping the cold once a year as well- and I haven't been able to for the last three years because I just couldn't afford it. When I work full time and my car and house are paid off THEN I can go on vacation. But sitting at home complaining about it not only makes it seem worse, but you don't get anything else out of it!
I've just had to much whining lately from people who can't seem to get down to earth. It isn't difficult to get the things you want- you just need to suck it up and work at it. I don't particularly enjoy working 12 hour days but I wanted a car so guess what? I have to work AND go to school!
I just can't stand how everyone seems to think that these good things just happen to fall into certain people's laps. Granted- some- the lucky few- do have that happen. But here in the real world- if you want something, you have to work at it.
You want to be thinner? Then start going to the gym, talking walks/runs, and eating better. You want to make more money so you can do more things/buy more clothes? Awesome- revise your resume, look around on the internet and find a job that pays well and start sending those brand spanking new resumes out. Working full time isn't death sentence, in fact in my mind it's the ticket to freedom! Stop complaining that your boyfriend/fiance/husband won't let you blow 300$ a month on makeup or outings- what is this the 1930s?! Not only do you have a responsibility to provide your "fun money" for yourself, you should be contributing to the household expenses! You don't get to live for free! Same goes for vacations. I am SO SICK of people complaining about not being able to go on vacation every year. I know- it sucks. I'm used to escaping the cold once a year as well- and I haven't been able to for the last three years because I just couldn't afford it. When I work full time and my car and house are paid off THEN I can go on vacation. But sitting at home complaining about it not only makes it seem worse, but you don't get anything else out of it!
I've just had to much whining lately from people who can't seem to get down to earth. It isn't difficult to get the things you want- you just need to suck it up and work at it. I don't particularly enjoy working 12 hour days but I wanted a car so guess what? I have to work AND go to school!
18.10.09
Ontario is behind the curve on Autism Services
As most of you know, while I was living in Toronto had the amazing pleasure to work for a family with three kids- two of whom are on the Autistic Spectrum. These kids- all three of them- are the loves of my life. And it's because of their two boys that I've entered into Early Childhood Education, and am working at the Centre for Autism Services Alberta. I hope that after I'm finished my diploma that I might be able to take my diploma in Autism and Behavioural Sciences, and keep working with Autistic children...but if we move back to Ontario, that looks doubtful.
Why? Not because of my lack of motivation or qualifications- no, I am hell bound and determined that even if I have to take a job with a normal daycare when I move back home, I will continue to look for and interview for jobs in Autism intervention. These kids are amazing and need all the help that's possible to provide them to blossom- and when they do they're incredible. The problem is that Ontario's health system has totally ignored Autism, and services are sporadic and ill-funded. People are going bankrupt trying to help their kids because they cannot afford the kind of therapy their children so desperately need.
In Alberta, once a child is diagnosed with Autism they are referred to a service provider- in Edmonton alone there are 3. The service provider assesses the child, and is assigned a team consisting of a Speech Language Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, a Physical Therapist, a Psychological Therapist, and Behavioural Aides. This team comes up with a plan to target goals for the child, and the aides make weekly visits to work on those goals with the child. The child is entitled to this intervention until they have either been deemed to have made significant enough progress that they can be tranisitioned to group therapy, or until they are sixteen.
Now, it's not a perfect system- there is a lot of turnover since working with Autism isn't for everyone. Most of the Aides are university and college students and only have what training the service provider has provided them...however since they are acting only on the orders of the therapists, this isn't a big deal (as an Aide, I feel I provide the best therapy I can). It can be long and grueling, and the families constantly have people coming into their homes to provide therapy. But there is NOTHING like this in Ontario...and infact many therapists are straight out banned from schools in Ontario...meaning that a lot of children's therapy has a hard stop at kindergarden- a crucial period!
I hope this gets better...I will be getting all the training I can so that I can make my own difference for the families of Ontario when I return. In the meantime, parents- hang in there.
Why? Not because of my lack of motivation or qualifications- no, I am hell bound and determined that even if I have to take a job with a normal daycare when I move back home, I will continue to look for and interview for jobs in Autism intervention. These kids are amazing and need all the help that's possible to provide them to blossom- and when they do they're incredible. The problem is that Ontario's health system has totally ignored Autism, and services are sporadic and ill-funded. People are going bankrupt trying to help their kids because they cannot afford the kind of therapy their children so desperately need.
In Alberta, once a child is diagnosed with Autism they are referred to a service provider- in Edmonton alone there are 3. The service provider assesses the child, and is assigned a team consisting of a Speech Language Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, a Physical Therapist, a Psychological Therapist, and Behavioural Aides. This team comes up with a plan to target goals for the child, and the aides make weekly visits to work on those goals with the child. The child is entitled to this intervention until they have either been deemed to have made significant enough progress that they can be tranisitioned to group therapy, or until they are sixteen.
Now, it's not a perfect system- there is a lot of turnover since working with Autism isn't for everyone. Most of the Aides are university and college students and only have what training the service provider has provided them...however since they are acting only on the orders of the therapists, this isn't a big deal (as an Aide, I feel I provide the best therapy I can). It can be long and grueling, and the families constantly have people coming into their homes to provide therapy. But there is NOTHING like this in Ontario...and infact many therapists are straight out banned from schools in Ontario...meaning that a lot of children's therapy has a hard stop at kindergarden- a crucial period!
I hope this gets better...I will be getting all the training I can so that I can make my own difference for the families of Ontario when I return. In the meantime, parents- hang in there.
26.8.09
NEVER BUY FROM STEDELBAUER CHEVROLET!
Okay- so I finally bought my car!! YAY!! However- I think I made a bad call on where I bought it. Now granted, they gave me a great deal- and they cleaned the car up nice, fixed the scratches that are on it, and deodorized it. Good stuff. BUT- gotta say, these people just aren't all that great.
First of all I'll give you their website- http://www.stedelbauerchev.com/
Now: my problems with this dealership:
1. Sales people are surly. Now I know all car sales people are always kind of...off. But the people who work here are just plain rude. When we explained why we were offering what we were offering they acted afronted, and then they went and accepted it. "Get that Stedelbauer Smile"? Um...yeah, I haven't gotten a single smile.
2. When you make a deal, and then they start giving you papers- generally you expect the hard part to be over. NO! Not the case here. Our Finance person gave us the wrong VIN on our bill of sale- which made getting the car registered really hard. THEN she added up the numbers wrong and told us to get a bank draft for LESS than we owed them- resulting in us having to put the final amount of money on our credit card. Now this doesn't seem like a big deal- the VIN was easily dealt with with a car to the dealership, and we did have a card on us. But the point is THEY SCREWED UP- and therefore should have said "sorry, our mistake, we won't charge you the extra x hundred dollars cause obviously we can't do math". THAT would have been good business practice- not hounding us for the extra money and being rude about it- calling us "sticklers".
3. K so car is paid for, registered, and...we get the car now right? Great. Only once I got in the car my fiance takes a look at it and realises two things: 1) my driver's side headlight is out and 2) my trunk brake light is out. Again- NOT GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE! How long would it have taken them to check and make sure all my lightbulbs glowed? 5 minutes? And not only were they burnt out- but the shop was closed so they couldn't get me new bulbs which resulted in me having to go back the next morning. Which leads me to #...
4. So I get up, I get in my new car with it's broken lights, and I go to the dealership- they check- sure enough, lights are all out, they say it'll take an hour to do the work. OKAY FINE- an hour seems like a long time to change a few bulbs, but okay. I can do an hour. So an hour passes and the technician comes to see me and says "So there's a problem with your car." "Oh?" I say. "You need a new ignition- the key won't come out." he says. "What do you mean they key won't come out?" I worry. "I mean the key is stuck in the ignition, we've had this problem with Cobalts before, and the only way to fix it is to put a new ignition in." "um...okay....so...how long is that going to take?" "Oh a few hours- you should have it back by tonight." ARG- OKAY! So they give me a shuttle ride back to my apartment and say that they'll come back to get me when it's ready to be picked up. I get a call 4 hours later saying that "Whoops!" we didn't have the part we needed, but we'll get it tomorrow. ARG!!
So now it's the day after I picked up my car- it's already being fixed on a recall (why didn't they do this when they had it for the last 5 months?!), and now I'm again WITHOUT A CAR! FRIG!
So basically what I'm saying is- if you can avoid it, don't buy from Stedelbauer Chev. I've already ditched their license plate holder. If you DO decide not to heed my warnings and buy there anyways- ask for Kouroush and tell him Allana Smith sent you- I get 100$ out of the deal.
First of all I'll give you their website- http://www.stedelbauerchev.com/
Now: my problems with this dealership:
1. Sales people are surly. Now I know all car sales people are always kind of...off. But the people who work here are just plain rude. When we explained why we were offering what we were offering they acted afronted, and then they went and accepted it. "Get that Stedelbauer Smile"? Um...yeah, I haven't gotten a single smile.
2. When you make a deal, and then they start giving you papers- generally you expect the hard part to be over. NO! Not the case here. Our Finance person gave us the wrong VIN on our bill of sale- which made getting the car registered really hard. THEN she added up the numbers wrong and told us to get a bank draft for LESS than we owed them- resulting in us having to put the final amount of money on our credit card. Now this doesn't seem like a big deal- the VIN was easily dealt with with a car to the dealership, and we did have a card on us. But the point is THEY SCREWED UP- and therefore should have said "sorry, our mistake, we won't charge you the extra x hundred dollars cause obviously we can't do math". THAT would have been good business practice- not hounding us for the extra money and being rude about it- calling us "sticklers".
3. K so car is paid for, registered, and...we get the car now right? Great. Only once I got in the car my fiance takes a look at it and realises two things: 1) my driver's side headlight is out and 2) my trunk brake light is out. Again- NOT GOOD BUSINESS PRACTICE! How long would it have taken them to check and make sure all my lightbulbs glowed? 5 minutes? And not only were they burnt out- but the shop was closed so they couldn't get me new bulbs which resulted in me having to go back the next morning. Which leads me to #...
4. So I get up, I get in my new car with it's broken lights, and I go to the dealership- they check- sure enough, lights are all out, they say it'll take an hour to do the work. OKAY FINE- an hour seems like a long time to change a few bulbs, but okay. I can do an hour. So an hour passes and the technician comes to see me and says "So there's a problem with your car." "Oh?" I say. "You need a new ignition- the key won't come out." he says. "What do you mean they key won't come out?" I worry. "I mean the key is stuck in the ignition, we've had this problem with Cobalts before, and the only way to fix it is to put a new ignition in." "um...okay....so...how long is that going to take?" "Oh a few hours- you should have it back by tonight." ARG- OKAY! So they give me a shuttle ride back to my apartment and say that they'll come back to get me when it's ready to be picked up. I get a call 4 hours later saying that "Whoops!" we didn't have the part we needed, but we'll get it tomorrow. ARG!!
So now it's the day after I picked up my car- it's already being fixed on a recall (why didn't they do this when they had it for the last 5 months?!), and now I'm again WITHOUT A CAR! FRIG!
So basically what I'm saying is- if you can avoid it, don't buy from Stedelbauer Chev. I've already ditched their license plate holder. If you DO decide not to heed my warnings and buy there anyways- ask for Kouroush and tell him Allana Smith sent you- I get 100$ out of the deal.
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