Frustrations

Well, we just got back from our vacation and the marathon. It was a great trip, and I'm sure one of us will write about it soon, but there have been a few really irritating things that I just wanted to vent about. As you may know, Emily and I are moving to Nashville soon, and we're actively looking to rent a house. I'm also trying to buy a car, for which I will need a loan. Let's see how the three of those adventures are going.

The Loan: I called the bank several months ago to ask about the process, and I was told to apply for a loan about a month before I needed it. Following these instructions, I applied online and was approved with a great rate pretty quickly. The e-mail notice said that I'd be contacted within 24 hours to finalize everything. Well, two days passed, so I called the bank. The lady told me that it was guaranteed that they'd call within 48 hours, but she gave me the direct line for the loan department. I waited on hold for over 30 minutes when I was suddenly disconnected. I figured, it's late, they'll call soon enough, and I have plenty of time. Well, that was a week ago. I called yesterday and was led to the same number. The same thing happened after another 30 minute wait. I noticed I could go straight to a mailbox to request a callback so I didn't have to wait, but when I did that, it told me the message box was full. When I called back, the operator told me that there was only one number to contact the loan department, and she couldn't help me. She told me to call back on Monday, which is tough, because I'd likely have the same problem, and I'm supposed the buy the car on Tuesday. When I asked to speak to her manager, she told me he wouldn't have any other answers. That's when I told her that I likely would find answers at a different bank, and promptly hung up.

The Car: I've been researching a car to buy for years. My old car used to joke that it was about to die, then trick me into keeping it for another year or so. Well, I've been patiently waiting without a vehicle for the last few months, meanwhile saving up plenty of money for a good downpayment. I contacted a dealership of a friend, who told me that the car I wanted was unavailable because the hybrid engines were made in Japan, which recently suffered from a Tsunami. He suggested I try a bigger dealership because they'd have a bigger inventory to trade for the car. I did this, and was told it wouldn't be a problem. I was e-mailed a possible car choice almost immediately, and I said I'd take it unless a better color option became available. I didn't hear anything for almost a week, so I called back again. This time, I was given two new options, both in colors I liked better. I told him which car I wanted within a couple hours. I didn't hear back for 3 days. When I called again, he said, "Oh yeah, I was just about to call you." He took down my credit card information to make a downpayment so the car could be shipped, never indicating that there was a problem. A week passes and I don't hear anything else, and there's no deduction from my account. I called yesterday, and he told me again that he was just about to call me. Then he told me he thought the other car was already sold and the dealership wouldn't return his calls. Now, it's three days before I'm supposed to go pick up the car, and he states that multiple dealerships are not returning his calls. He said, "I've been doing this for six years, and I've never had this much difficulty getting a car." I don't know, do people not want to do business with me?

The home: The final piece to the puzzle is the most stressful, but the least crazy story. Apparently, nobody in Nashville wants to rent a house to people with dogs, especially our "large" dogs. We've found plenty of places, but once we mention the dogs, the interest in us dissolves. we thought we had a place recently, but it ended up falling through. At the end of last week, another place opened up. It has a big fenced backyard, which was a huge criteria for us, as our pups like to run around. The downside is that it's in Franklin, which would mean I'd have to drive in rush hour traffic to get to work, but I've been willing to make that sacrifice if we can find a place that has a fenced yard. We submitted our application the first day it went on the market after our friend, Mary, went to take a look at it. We also had to submit a $75 application fee, which I was really hesitant to do since I was skeptical we'd get a fair consideration due to the dogs. Well, as has been the routine, we didn't hear back from them for two days. Today, right after getting home from the vacation and after dealing with the car stresses, I contacted our realtor, who's been fantastic, to see if the lady had replied. He told me that she informed him that she'd already spoken with me and would have a decision on Monday. Of course, I've had no such communication with anyone.

At this point I'm feeling like the universe is playing a huge joke on me. Am I on some ridiculous TV show or something? Am I being Punk'd? I'm not sure what I did to have incompetent people deal with me on three very important issues that are going on right now. I'm flying to Nashville in three days to buy a car that's not there, with a loan that's not finalized, so I can look at houses that some phantom Drew is speaking to real estate agents about. What can I do about it? Nothing, because it's the freakin' weekend and nothing gets done on the weekend. So, I'm sitting here at home, trying to enjoy being unemployed for the month, in a temporary one month house after being unceremoniously booted from our previous home. We have no cable, we have no internet (this is all being typed on 3G via the phone and iPad), and I'm about to blow a lid. So I apologize for using this blog to vent, but I'm tired of complaining to everyone else around me, and I hope typing this out will be enough of a release. We'll find out on Monday, I guess. For now, I'm off to stew a little.