The week from hell...

Ok, not quite as bad as when my mom died...but even still, I know she is in a much better place, and now she doesn't have to suffer anymore.
Here is what happened this week. For those of you who don't know, I am pursuing a driving job with Dynamex Expedited Services (a courier/transport company). I first spoke with the recruitment manager (Bill) on Oct 2nd. I have been waiting until now because of having 4 speeding tickets on my driving record. The first one that I ever got was scheduled to come off my record yesterday, Nov. 24th. Until now Dynamex has know that I will then only have three tickets, and they told me that I will just pay a higher insurance premium. BUT, they e-mailed me last Monday and asked me if I had time to go in and see them to talk about a couple of concerns they have. I was thinking, "Ok, that doesn't sound so good." Anyway, I replied that morning telling them that I could go in whenever they had time to see me (because Monday is my day off, I could move other appointments around to see them when they had time.)
So, I went in to see them Monday afternoon. Bill sat me down, and first told me that their trainer just served notice on Friday...gave only a week's notice. So this means, obviously, that I will be waiting a few weeks, at least, until they hire a new trainer. But, that wasn't the biggest news. Bill then says he has concerns about my driving record. Long story short, he told me that even with three tickets there is still a chance that my abstract won't be accepted.
Right away feelings of anxiety and fear came flooding to my mind...you see, they gave me a checklist of things to complete before I started orientation. Thinking that my orientation would start soon after I gave them my updated abstract, I got everything done on the checklist...one thing of which was buying a vehicle. I have already purchased (will be financing) a cargo van. I am worried about what will happen if I don't get the job...will I be able to get out of the van deal? Anyway, what happens from here you might ask? I wait until the first ticket clears my record, and then print off a new abstract and take it into Dynamex, and they will give me an answer on the spot. The MTO gave me a 900 number to call before I go print off the abstract, so I can be sure it is off my record before I pay the $12 for the abstract. Please pray that they accept my abstract. Most of all, at this point in the whole process, thankful they told me this stuff this week and not next week, when I have already left Loblaws (I gave them 4 weeks notice on Oct 30th.) They have graciously understood the situation, and told me that I can stay on as long as I need.

Then we come to Thursday morning, on my way to work. We had a pretty nasty storm Wednesday through the night to Thursday morning. It was pretty snowy and icy. Long story short, again, I spun out as I was approaching in intersection (with a few other cars nearby) and went into the curb with the rear driver side. I pulled over and my passenger and I got out to look. It was not looking too good...the wheel was bent out at the top. I could see about i/3 of the tire tread outside of the fender. But, the wheel was still going around, so we had to carry on so that we would get to work on time.
I was thinking, "Lord, this has now officially become a trying week...are you trying to teach me something?" I know that I am being strengthened and refined...but I don't like it too much.
I called CAA right after it happened (oh ya, as a side note, I just re-joined CAA again about two weeks ago...thank goodness!) and asked them if they would be able to be at my work right when I am done at 2pm. They were pretty sure they could be there when I wanted them to be.
Two o'clock rolls around...I waited until about 2:30, then I gave them a call. They forward me to their dispatch, then I got disconnected........stupid cell phones around big steel buildings. I finally got through to dispatch by 3pm. they told me that someone should be there within the hour. A tow-truck arrived about 3:30. I got towed to my mechanic and then left the car there over night. I got a rental for the next day, so I could get to work. I got to drive a Toyota Yaris...in case you're wondering...pretty fun little car. (maybe the people at Toyota will read this, and will appreciate the advertising and I will get a bonus........I can always hope anyway.)
The good people at Meineke (same thing, advertising here...HOOK ME UP!!! lol) didn't have a chance to look at my car until late morning Friday...when they gave me the bad news. I needed a rim, tires, control arms, strut, 4-wheel alignment. Then they gave me a quote...$825...plus they were still looking for used tires and used rim for me. They called me when I was done work and told me that they weren't able to find used tires. I wasn't surprised because the Saturns have some European inspiration, which leads to tire sizes that are not very common. So, I told them that I would just go get them myself at Canadian tire (you guessed it, I would love it if CT saw this advertising....CT is an awesome store) because they have a tire sale on right now. I found some Motomaster All-Season SE...so I now have pretty good set of rubber on all 4 wheels (failed to mention before that I didn't realize how bad the tread was on my rear tires...probably the main reason while I spun out so easily). I got CT money out of the tire purchase as well, made the need for tires a little nicer.
They were still working on my car when they closed at 6pm on Friday. They let me go in the back as they did the 4-wheel alignment. It was pretty cool, it is all computerized. They previously told me that they thought that I had bent the frame too. Doing the alignment confirmed that fact. They got the front perfectly aligned, but the rear is still 0.5 degrees out. No big deal, they said I would just notice some premature wear on the inside of the rear tires. I'm just happy that myself and my passenger were not injured, and that I was able to get my car back on the road for less than a grand.
I have learned that I definitely need to be more on top of the wear on my tires.

I would ask that anyone who reads this blog would please pray for the next few days as, in that time, I will probably have an answer from Dynamex on whether or not I get the job.

Thanks a lot.
Until the next post...