The Longest Delivery EVER

I know..sooooo many posts, right? Save something for later, right? NO! Mwa hahahaaaa. I just have all of these things to put in here and I'm not gonna just keep holding off on them.

Anyway. Last night, we got to FINALLY (seriously..*finally*) pick up my new car (errr..van). It was a huge string of "anything that can go wrongs..will"..and did. Here's the entire story...truth and all.

When I met Orion, he'd just gotten back from Iraq and went a little crazy with all of the money he had saved up from those 15 months. He bought furniture, this computer (which is getting replaced soon), and a brand new 2004 Dodge Dakota. He moved out to Colorado (where we met..because he always wanted to live there..aww) and then got an apartment. He wasn't able to get a job quick enough and when he did..he wasn't making as much as he thought he would and then he ran out of money completely. We met..and to get him to come out to visit me..I'd promise him a tank of gas (hey..it always worked. A girl has her ways) because he was *that* broke. His rent couldn't get paid and he was being evicted..so he moved in with me at mom's house. I started to pay for everything while he was struggling..which was more than fine..but I couldn't keep shelling out $400 for his car payment on top of everything else. So he got behind..super behind..and the car was repossessed. I found out I was pregnant around the time the truck had to be given back..and I went out and bought a 2002 Buick Century ("I want the safest car available" ..ya know..baby n all). After going active with the army (because NOTHING else was working for him in the employment area) Dodge started to garnish his wages for the full payment of the truck (seriously..I know the rules and what not..but I also think it's only fair that if someone FULLY pays off a truck that they don't have anymore..they should just give it back.) and that got finished around the same time I finished paying off the Buick..so early this year. We talked about getting another car..so I wouldn't be stranded at home all the time waiting for him to get off of work and what not..and hey, both cars are paid off..why not? He'd gotten approved by the MILES program for 25K towards a new vehicle and so when we got here..we randomly went to just go LOOK at cars..see what was available for our price range..even though we had an idea of what we wanted all along. They talked us into buying the mini van they showed us right then and there. Okay. I wanted it. However..there were some issues that needed to be worked out before we could pick it up. Put $1,000 down to have the van in "sold" status..no one else can even look at it..fix the issues and come back for it. No one knew it would take as long as it did..otherwise I'm sure they wouldn't have done that for us.

When the Dakota was paid off..apparently it was settled and not paid in full. Okay..contact those lawyers..what do we owe you? A mere $102. Seriously? You couldn't just tack that onto the other $10 grand?? They didn't take payment over the phone..had to be a mailed check. That took literally 10 days to get there and clear and then have a letter faxed to us to state that the account was, indeed, paid in full. Then it was the license issue. Orion's license was suspended..and expensive to pay off. We took care of that when he got back from Afghanistan. Then Kentucky was being weird about giving him back his license. They wanted his driving record..which would have taken too long to get before we moved..so we waited till we got here to try. He showed the DMV the letter he got that said his license was reinstated...but they didn't know what to do with that whole thing..so he had to start all over. Permit first..and he had to have that for 2 weeks before he could go for his road test. Oy. By the time that came, we still had the rental car and guess what? Even though they claim it's possible to take your road test in a rental..you need the original registration (most places just make photo copies for rentals..and it's good enough for driving around with..but nothing else) and oh, the person that the car is registered to needs to be there. We didn't find that one out until after he was rejected for the road test because he only had a photo copy of the registration. UGGHHHH. I called the guys at the dealership and our salesman (Calvin) was willing to let us use his..oh, wait..it's registered in his girlfriend's name..not his. Won't work. A few days later, our car FINALLY shows up from the mainland and a couple of the tail lights are out (a small crack that collected water and shorted out light after light. Don't you LOVE when people smack into your car and then not leave a note???) so the safety check fails. Uggghhhhhhh. It's another $400 and some odd dollars to have it fixed and one of the reverse light sockets has to be ordered from the company itself on the mainland because no one on the island has one in stock..it's $230 to overnight it..which ended up being 4 days and not overnight (I still think we deserve money back from that one). Okay okay..so a week or 2 (who's even counting anymore?) later that's fixed and done and we have to take it to get a Hawaii registration permit (mom, I have a paper for you to sign and what not before November so we can just take your name off and add Orion's so you won't have to be bothered by this anymore) and THEN take it back for the safety check..passed. Okay..now the road test! Let me say absolutely no one passes the Hawaii driving test the first time. Orion was no exception. As much as I drilled things in his head like "head checks..don't forget head checks! Even if you know there's no car next to you..head check!"..he forgot. 2 points over the fail mark. UGGHHHH next appointment 2 weeks...but they take walk ins at 7:45 every morning Monday through Friday..but a week after you fail. This brings us up to this Tuesday morning..and us rolling out of bed at a way too early hour to ensure us a place in line for the road test. He passed. Oh thank the stars, he passed! He basically aced the thing! Horray!

We call Calvin (you know you've been in contact with these people for a long time when you call..don't tell them who you are..and just say "guess who got their license??" and have them shout "horray, Orion!" on the other end.) and we want to come in that day to pick up the van..but the finance guy, Dave (who FINALLY warmed up to me), wasn't working..and he needed to be there..but hey, we're open till 9pm..come in tomorrow evening. So..last night..after Orion got off of work..we packed the kids up and drove up to Kaneohe and when we walked in, everyone greeted us with "yes! He finally got his license!" and "so tonight's the big night!" and "this is the longest recorded delivery ever!" Ugh..I know..and I'm embarrassed..but literally everything that could have gone wrong..did. You know you're in contact with these guys for so long..you don't know how to leave it. It's like..I feel like we should call Calvin and invite him and his family over to BBQ or something. They said we'll still be in contact because they do family get togethers and what not for their customers. I don't know. Anyway..a couple of pictures I ran out and snapped earlier this morning:







I love that little screen..it's all touchable and you can add your pictures and music to it..screensavers and what not. It's a sweetheart.


I turned one of the chairs around so you can see it's a swivel n' go..the backseat is stowed away down below so we can pick up big things later on..and the table that can go in the middle is in one of the floor storage bins.



My license plate will (hopefully) say something like "CUDLBUG"..because that's how I roll.




And PS? Orion is officially completely legal for the first time since I've known him. It was frustrating..but oh so totally worth it.