Trip to Canada Part 1

When I told most people that I was taking a two week vacation to participate in a ten day silent meditation many seemed a bit bewildered, perhaps even concerned. I think it was all those rainbow gatherings that did it to me honestly. Ya see most gatherings peak in the middle with a silent morn, broken at noon with every form of debauchery know to human kind. When I first started going it was the debauchery that turned me on, but as time progressed it was the silence that got my juices flowing.

I first heard of Vippassana in India. My travel mates were considering doing the ten day stint. But as Fruity and Cloud backed out and I had never even heard of the technique before, it fell down the creek that ran beside the Elephant Cave.

Just after my 31st birthday there was a shift in me and I was lamenting the loss of my life while contemplating my current birth with a friend and she brought the technique to my attention again.

I bookend a reservation for a sit months in advance, around the time my work contract would expire. The center was in Canada about an hour north of Toronto. I would bring my tent and travel Canada afterward. School would start in September but the course let out in the middle of July. I would get my silence and my nature.

I waited as work and school took up all of my time. As school ended work increased and I took it with pleasure as I find I actually enjoy work. When they offered me more work that would extend through my Canada trip, I took it with the reservation of the ten day retreat set aside.

The morning that I was to start off I decided to get an oil change, two new tires and a rotation before heading off. I arrived at the Valvoline Oil Instant Oil Change in Allen Park MI at about 5min after 8 am. The stalls were all empty and someone was inside, after about 5min he opened a stall and let me in. He was working alone at first but another man came in shortly.

He suggested that I get a few extra services that they offer, all of which I declined except for a fuel filter which I asked for more information about. He said that it would improve my gas mileage and that there was a special as it would only be 39.99 when it regularly would be 59.99. I asked how long it would take as I was on a schedule and he said ten min. I agreed and he continued to work and in a few minutes went below and the other man that came in later (Later I would find out his name was Joe) started working with me personally.

After about 10min he came back up and said that there were complications with the line, that it was rusted and that he would have to go get a part. He asked if I wanted to continue. Again I asked how long it would take as I was on a schedule and he said about 7min this time so again I agreed. He left and returned with the part and returned to the basement and continued to work on my car.

Joe cashed me out and I thought that this would mean that I was able to leave but he told me that it would still be a few minutes. He offered me some free air fresheners and posters for the movie Cars. When he had the fuel filter off the first man came and showed it to me but I did not see much rust. It was rather dirty and looked old and the man mentioned that some kind of sealant had been put on the connection and that was why he could not get it off.

The Manager came in during all of this and also joined in working on my car. All three of the men were going up and down the stairs working on cars in all three stalls. Then the Manager came up and said that everything was good and opened the door for me to leave. I started the car put my foot on the brake and as soon as I put the car in drive the brake fell to the floor. I tapped it a few times and it was barely stopping and I had to push myself forward in the seat to push it hard enough to stop the car.

I asked “Wo what happened to my brakes”

They had me back up and closed the door again. The manager and the first man that worked with me were working on my car from beneath for about 15min when the manager came up and said that he had bad news. He said that the brake line had been damaged and would have to be replaced. He said that they would do the work with out charge but that it would take about an hour. I explained that I was leaving for a trip and how that was really bad. He asked me what I wanted to do. I asked what I could do, I had to wait and let them finish.

Time passed, the first man left and returned and left and returned again. They kept asking me to turn the key without starting the car and turn it back and to pump the brakes. They kept asking if the brakes were getting harder, but they were not.

The first man that helped me asked me to get out of the car and he pulled the car forward and back again and again. He got out and went underneath again. Then the manager went to the big door and said “lets try this again”

I pulled up about halfway and though my car would stop it was with some effort. I told him at this point that the service was unacceptable and that I was expecting him to refund my money. He began to tell me that I would have to contact Valvoline directly and that they would send me a check when I told him that if he did not refund my money on the spot that I would call the number as well as the better business bureau and every consumer news organization that I could find in the area. I had been very patient and forgiving up to this point but the manager forgot about that and became very irate with me and kept telling me not to threaten him. I tried to explain that I was not threatening him but explaining the course of action that I would take if my money was not refunded to me promptly but he would not listen and tried to tell me how to approach the situation. At this point he said that no one was saying that he would not refund my money so I again simply asked for it and he complied.

I also asked for a record of the work that had been done on my car, as I keep very good records of all of the work done on my car. The manager asked me to pull around to the back and park, while doing this I could really tell that the brakes were still very bad. Again, I told the manager that the brakes were not right but he did not seem concerned. I was provided with two receipts one showing the work that I had paid for and that I had paid, and one showing the work that I had paid for and the fact that I had been reimbursed. When I got back to my car I realized that there was no mention for the brake work that had been done so I went back inside and asked the manager to make note of that on the invoice. He refused to do so and made Joe write out the work on the invoice and sign it. When I asked the manager to do it because he was the manager he told me that he was that assistant manager and that Joe would detail the work done on my invoice for me.

Getting back in my car I realized that the car was dangerous so I put on my hazards and drove 10mph to my mechanic where I was informed that the car had no back brakes at all, the parts used on my car were illegal and could have failed at any moment and that my car was leaking gas. I was also informed that a certified mechanic should have their certification number on the recipt and neither recipts from Valvoline had it. It was then that I realized that Valvoline did not even do brake work.

It took my mechanic about 5 hrs to finish the repair. I called the center and they were willing to receive me late if I was willing to drive through the night to get there. I started off at 7pm and did not get there till 1am. The teacher stayed up till midnight and called me from the road. Realize that he is up at 4am for morning meditation. It was a good thing too because I realized that my directions were incomplete and needed him to fill in the blanks for me.