I made it to work via the shuttle but didn't know how to get home. They were going to have my car overnight so if I could just get home, Brandt could take me down to Ford and I could get my rental (they're open until midnight, yay for big cities!). I had to have a rental because Sparrow had an appointment to get her teeth cleaned the next day (another story for another post). Brandt gets off work at 6:15 p.m. and I work an hour away from where we live/he works. I didn't want to stick around work until 7:30 so I went for my next option: asking coworkers for a ride. No one lives close to us so that turned out not to be a viable option. I checked with my friend who had just moved but she had already turned in her key and lives in Vancouver now. She was sweet and offered to come pick me up, take me to my place, then drive home but I couldn't ask her to do that. So I went with public transportation. Only one issue there though, I had no money with me. A generous coworker gave me $3 so I could get a TriMet ticket. It's $5 for all day or $2.50 for 2 hours. The trip should take an hour to an hour and a half so $3 was perfect.
The MAX doesn't go as far south as my office so I found a wonderful coworker who could give me a ride to the southernmost stop of the Portland Street Car. From there, I would transfer to the MAX downtown and then a bus from the station closest to our place. I've taken the MAX several times but I've never been on a public bus. There was no public transport in my hometown and the public transport in college and in Wichita were sparse. I'd never needed to take a bus and had no idea what I was doing. It seemed simple enough to take just one bus. I couldn't really get lost with transfers or anything. I checked and a streetcar ticket can be used on the MAX and bus too. My $3 should be enough.
I began my first real public transportation adventure through Portland and hoped for the best. I took my $3 and tried to buy a ticket for the streetcar/TriMet but the machine didn't take cash. It said I could use cash on the streetcar to get a ticket. I recently downloaded Pokemon Go. Yes, yes. I know. I'm not really a closet nerd so it shouldn't be that surprising but I'm still a little embarrassed. I played to keep myself entertained, plus, with more than an hour to get home, I was going to go by so many Pokestops. When the streetcar arrived, I got on and tried to buy a ticket. The streetcar would only let me by an all day pass for $5 or a streetcar-only pass for $2. Neither of those was going to work. I sat down and hoped no one was checking for tickets that day.
I played my game and tried to keep anyone from looking at the screen because I'm a nerd but I still haven't fully accepted it. I was making the best of my journey when the girl next to me asked what level I was. Damn. Someone saw. We ended up being the same level because we rarely play and had something to chat about. I don't like people I don't know but damn it if Pokemon Go didn't force me to make a new friend against my will. She saw my printed directions (because I'm always prepared!) and mentioned she was going the same way. She mentioned I should get off the streetcar a stop earlier than I'd planned or I'd have to double back to get on the MAX.
We got off at the stop she suggested and walked together to the MAX stop. I tried to purchase a MAX ticket there, because I'm an upstanding citizen, but it didn't take cash either. It's like Portland was really trying to keep me from paying them for my rides! I mentioned my frustration to my new PoGo friend and she said she's done it before and I should be OK. She could see how much of a Goody Two-Shoes I am and offered to buy my ticket. I told her I'd give her my $3 and that would earn her a 50 cent tip. My new PoGo friend was already making my life better. We played our games and rode the MAX into Beaverton. I thought she was getting off where I was so when my stop came, I stepped off the MAX and didn't look back until the doors had closed. Turns out her stop was later and I never got to say goodbye. I felt a little bad but goodbyes are awkward any way.
I just missed my bus so I had to stay at that stop for a while. I walked around to get in my steps (work gave us Fitbits and I need those steps!). I took the bus to what I think is the closest stop to our apartment complex and pulled the cord like I saw another guy do. I got off the bus and walked home without issue. I'm a big city kid now!!
Brandt got home about the same time as I did and we got in the car to drive down to Ford. 30-45 minutes later I was in a rental and I treated us to Red Lobster with a gift certificate I'd received a while back from my brothers and their families (thanks guys!). We were both still in our work clothes and the waitress asked if we were there for a special occasion. I looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Well... my car broke down." We all laughed and she said she hoped it was at least getting fixed nearby. Brandt and I enjoyed way too much food and drove home in our separate cars.
The guy from Ford called late the next afternoon and said my car was fixed. It turns out that they drove my car to Salem and back (an hour each way) and still couldn't replicate the problem. Reverse only stopped after a long drive so they tried putting the car in reverse in Salem and then again in Portland. Everything worked fine and the technician parked the car and went inside to tell their lead. The guy went to back out of the spot and he just got a revving engine. (Finally!) They looked into it and it wasn't a miscommunication with the clutch. The lead told me they had to call into Ford (maybe corporate?) and found out it was a computer within the transmission that was broken. They fixed it, replaced it, or whatever. At that point, I just wanted a functioning car and I can't remember what he said. He told me they drove it more and it looks like everything was working. Upon looking into it, this is a known issue in Ford Focus model between certain years, including mine. This really shouldn't have been an issue because Ford knows that the transmission in my car has problems. In fact, a coworker of mine bought a Focus knowing this, and kept taking it in until they "found" the problem and fixed it. I don't know why they couldn't figure out what was wrong with mine.
I was already home when the Ford guy called so I took my car in first thing in the morning, turned in my rental (now covered in white dog hair from Sparrow's harrowing trip to the vet) and got into my car to never look back. As I wasn't looking back, I looked down at my dash. Those lovely Ford technicians left my car on E. I'd had half a tank when I dropped it off. I figured, even though it was on E, I had enough gas to get to work and I'd get gas later. But then I remembered I wasn't going to be paid until the next day and I currently had no money for gas. Oh Ford, this predicament causes my thoughts for you at the moment to involve words not meant for this blog. I was quite out of luck again.
I made it to work and looked through my car afterward to fortunately find $5 to get me enough gas to get home. I filled my tank the next day and hope I don't have to go back to Ford until my next oil change. Over the last 5 years or so, I've been working diligently at staying positive as often as possible. I'm thankful I have a working car and still thankful for that warranty. However, I bought a "certified" pre-owned car with the hopes of avoiding these sorts of issues. I'm a worrier, so I got the warranty. I'm still upset I missed my day to reboot and cuddle chunky dogs on the beach. However, my car is functioning and I'm unharmed. I'm also very glad this is all over.
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