Ups and downs

Last week, during my vacation, I saw Up a total of three times. It was worth it all three times.

Normally, I don't do Disney. But, now that Pixar is part of the Disney con-glom, I patiently sit through the "when you wish upon a star" crap to get to the hopping lamp.

Up tells the story of Carl Fredrickson and his quest to fulfill the childhood dream of going to South America. Along for the ride is Russell, a Wilderness Explorer (friends to all of nature) who is trying to get his Assisting the Elderly badge.

Pixar amazes me in their ability to broach bold, emotional topics in a way that is entertaining and a bit subversive. I remember when I first saw The Incredibles. I was blow away by seeing the very real struggle of someone trying to get what they have paid for from the insurance company. Who the hell else puts that in a "kids" movie? It is no different with Up. I don't want to tell anyone too much about it, but I will say I was crying in the first 15 min. of the film. I actually cried during the same 3 parts all 3 times I've seen the movie.

The film itself looks beautiful. One of my favorite scenes is the deceptively simple shot of the house and all its colorful balloons set against a perfectly blue sky. The score is very good; I actually blame it for the two other times I cried. I would hear the refrain from an earlier piece and instantly went back to the same place emotionally. Micheal G. (I won't try and spell his name) who does the music for Lost created the score. The vocal talent is perfect, esp. Ed Asner as Carl. There is plenty of comedy in the shape of Dug the dog and Kevin the bird, particularly when they are interacting with the human characters.

Up is easily one of the best movies I've seen so far this year, not to mention the last couple of years. The short, Partly Cloudy, that runs before it is quite sweet and entertaining as well. GO NOW TO A THEATER NEAR YOU!

Okay, on to the down. My flippin' car is still at the dealership. It was supposed to be done Friday. Nope. I got a rental car. I called there at 3pm to make sure the car would be ready tonight. Yep, I was told. If there's a problem, we'll call you.

I didn't get a call so I drove the extra 10 min. to the dealership. I get there and look around the lot near the service entrance and I don't see my car. The doors to the service garage are still open so I go inside to try and find someone to help me. As I'm looking around I notice my car...up on the lift things...missing two tires. WTF!? The lone service guys comes up to me and I explain that I was here to pick up my finished car, but since I thought it was that one over there the whole "finished" thing seemed a bit premature.

Oh, he says. Didn't Ryan get a hold of you? Erm. No. There was no call to me at work before I left at 5pm. The only other number I gave him was my home phone and I told him not to call me there.

Which, of course, is exactly where he called me. After letting the service guy know I'd already told the rental car guy that I would be returning the car and being told that it was fine if I kept the rental, I got home and had four messages. Three where Ryan spoke to me and one that I could hear things in the back ground, but then whomever hangs up.

Now, if you had spoken to someone at 3pm, told them you would call them if the car wasn't ready and you had been given their work number, where they would be until 5pm, wouldn't you call the work number first? And, if, in your stupidity, you called the home number, left a message, claim to have sent a text to a land line, and no one responded, wouldn't you try the work number?

Dork boy left his cell phone number so I called him. His first words were, "I've been trying to get a hold of you." No, really? Who would have guessed? I asked, did you have my work number? Yes, he says I tried that around 5pm. I pointed out it was after 5pm because I left at 5pm and I didn't talk to him. He tells me he should have the car done by 9 or 9:30. Convenient since I will be 40 miles away at that point at work. I also have an appointment tomorrow night so I am hoping to get my car by 7:30 or so. I'm also hoping no one will steal it because the dealership closes at 7 pm, of course, and my keys will be hidden on the car so I can actually drive it home.

Have I mentioned I have to pay for gas on the rental? I filled it up tonight right before pulling into the dealership. Now I've already added about 10 more miles. It'll be 30 to work tomorrow, about 25 to go to my appointment and about 45 to go from the appointment to the car dealership so I'll be filling it up again tomorrow night.

What is the dealership doing for me after all this hassle? They are paying for the rental car, but they should since if they would have had the car done on Friday like they said they would, I wouldn't be needing a rental. The extra special thing they are doing for me is.....they are going to wash my car. Yep. That'll go bad pretty quickly since I park out in the open and I'm near a tree. You do the math. Don't think I'll be going back to these folks anytime soon. ARRGHHH!!!!