Audrey Gets Sick

At the end of January, my car notified me that the engine coolant was low.  I shared that with Justin and he and I looked at it once I got home.  The coolant level was very low, so we added some coolant and I contacted the dealership.

I requested a loaner, but one wasn't available, so I used their shuttle service.  The service specialist at the dealership said the shuttle doesn't run in the afternoon, so I was hoping my car would be repaired before noon so the shuttle could pick me up from my office.  At 11:20 a.m., they called and said my car was ready.  They had to order a part, but I could pick it up and drive it until the part was installed.  I asked if the shuttle could pick me up, but they said it stops at 10:00 a.m.  Well, 10:00 a.m. is different than after noon.  I was not happy.  I had to get a ride with Uber which cost me $14.00.  That's not a lot, but it's $14.00 I shouldn't have had to pay.  I got my car and told them to call me when the part arrived.

The next day, snow hit and paralyzed Atlanta for a few days.  The part managed to arrive and I made an appointment to drop off my car for the final repairs.  I got a loaner this time.  It was a white Audi Q5.  It was a slightly newer version of my car with a smaller engine.  No complaints from me!

I got my car back a day later and though all was well.  Wrong.

A few days later, my car tells me the engine coolant is low.  I am not pleased.  Justin and I were leaving the flip house, so we contacted the dealership to confirm they were open.  They quickly took my car and got me a loaner.  It was a white Audi Q5.  The woman checked and said this one was not the same one as I had a few days before.

The dealership called on Monday and said the part they replaced was defective, so they ordered a new one and installed it.  I got my car back on Tuesday and thought all was well.  Wrong ,again.

About a month later, my car told me the engine coolant level was low, again.  I was leaving the office one evening, so I stopped in the parking lot, opened my hood, and saw the coolant reservoir was nearly empty.  Katherine was not happy.  I called the dealership and let loose on the woman who answered the phone.  I felt bad afterward.  I wasn't mean, but it wasn't her fault and I feel like I took out my frustration with my vehicle on her.

The lady said they didn't have a loaner available until Friday.  It was Monday, so I would have to drive my car for three days with the engine coolant low.  I expressed my displeasure to the service representative on the phone, but said I understood she couldn't make a loaner appear.  She said she would call if they had a cancellation.  She called on Tuesday afternoon and said she could get me in on Wednesday morning.  I was happy!

I dropped off my car and the provided me with a loaner.  I figured I would get another Q5, but I was pleasantly surprised to get an Audi A6.  It had about 300 miles when I got it, so it was literally brand new.  It still smelled new, which I love!

The service representative said to be prepared to leave mine with them for several days.  I ended up keeping the loaner for a week.  The wanted to make sure they fixed the problem this time.  They replaced a part and test drove mine several times.  Once they were confident they had the problem fixed, they called and I headed to the dealership and retrieved my car.  The A6 was fun to drive and was incredibly nice, but I really missed mine.  It was nice driving a new car for a few days, but I really missed Audrey.

So far, mine has been good.  No leaks, yet.  Justin and I check the engine coolant level periodically and all seems good.

New York - Daniel (preview)

I'm writing this post as a preview to my post on Daniel.  I want to make sure I have Justin nearby when I write about Daniel since I'm not completely sure what he ordered.

 

Daniel is the first restaurant we dined at in NY.  Justin and I ate at Daniel in December 2004 when we visited NY.  The service at Daniel is impeccable.  It is unbelievable!

New York - The Jeffrey

After getting settled on Monday afternoon, Justin and I headed out to have a drink before dinner.  Justin relies on Yelp reviews to guide him when selecting places to eat and drink.  I believe he found The Jeffrey on Yelp.

We got there just before 5:00 p.m. so they weren't very busy, yet.  We easily got a couple of seats at the bar and ordered drinks.  I settled on a Diet Coke and Justin ordered a beer.  We ordered a couple of snacks since we hadn't eaten in several hours.

We ordered the deviled eggs and a pretzel.

The eggs are flavored and colored with red beets.  The filling is mustard, chive, and dill Sriracha.  They are quite lovely and very tasty.  I don't like beets, but the eggs didn't have the flavor of beets.

The pretzel was very soft and chewy.  It was served with a cheese sauce and mustard sauce.

The staff at The Jeffrey was super friendly and the atmosphere was laid back.  I can certainly see myself hanging out here.  We went back to The Jeffrey on Wednesday for drinks.

After eating the eggs and pretzel, we finished our drinks and briskly walked back to the hotel.  We had to get ready for our 6:15 p.m. dinner reservation.

New York - The Plaza

One of Justin's friends is getting married soon so a group of his friends decided to head to NY for a weekend with the guys.  I saw this as an opportunity to spend some time in the city with Justin.  The guys' weekend was supposed to start on Friday, April 4.  Justin and I flew up on Monday, March 31 to spend the week together.  The plan was for me to fly home on Friday, April 4 and for Justin to meet up with his friends at that time.

Everything worked out well with our work schedules, so we made hotel reservations and bought plane tickets.  As we were planning where to stay, I suggested we stay at The Plaza.  I didn't think Justin would agree to this, but after some discussions, we bit the bullet and reserved a room at The Plaza.  Justin decided a regular room wouldn't be sufficient, so he booked a suite.  The Edwardian Suite, to be precise.

I was beyond excited about our vacation.  When the day finally arrived, we hopped on a plane and flew to NY!  We left Atlanta at 11:20 a.m. and arrived at LGA (LaGuardia) a couple of hours later.  We booked a car through Uber and enjoyed the ride to Manhattan.

We arrived at the hotel and the experience began.

We were greeted by the doormen and one removed our luggage from the car.  Justin and I headed to check-in while the doorman got our bags inside.  A bellman took over the bags from there and delivered them to our room a few minutes after we entered the room.  Oh, my.  What a room!

We were in room 1431.

 

 

There is a small foyer/hallway. 

To your left is another small hallway with a coat closet.

To the left of the closet is the guest toilet/powder room.  Yes, the room has a guest toilet.

There's me.

There's my sweet hubby standing in the living room.

The living room:

The wall with the fireplace has two sliding doors to close off the bedroom from the living room.  They're closed in the photo above and open in the photo below.

I guess that's Edward on the wall.

The desk with the iPad.  The iPad controls the lights and temperature in the room.  You can also use it to request room service.

The butler's pantry.  The center upper cabinet includes a microwave and some shelves.  The center lower cabinet conceals a small refrigerator.

The bedroom is as impressive as the living room.

The chandeliers are also quite lovely.  They remind me of a chandelier that used to hang over my grandparents' dining room table.

The bedroom closet:

There is a small closet to the right of the larger closet.  It includes a bank of drawers.  The center drawer concealed a safe.  The bottom drawer is a laundry hamper.

The credenza in the bedroom concealed the private bar.  Of course the items were pretty pricey, so we refrained from consuming anything.

That thick book is the room service menus.  We didn't partake of any room service, but it was tempting.

The bathroom is impressive, too.

That vanity is solid marble, including the legs.

To the left of the vanity is the bathtub.  We didn't use it, but it looks nice.  The mosaic on the wall and floor was pretty neat.  It was a continuous vine throughout the bathroom.

The hair dryer is in the white bag on the shelf over the tub.

To the right of the vanity is the shower and water closet.

The shower was quite large.  That shower head provided amazing pressure.  No need for long showers here!

The water closet was large, too.  That's a phone above the toilet paper.

In case you want to watch your weight during your stay.

The bathroom goodies:

My sweet Justin.  I love him.

At night, the hotel is lovely.

Once we got settled in, we wandered around the city for a little while and then headed back to our room to get ready for dinner.  We had a reservation for 6:15 p.m. at Daniel on Monday night.