Welcome to the world, Bailey Mae Lintz…
Born on Wednesday, December 27th, 2006 at 11:19pm.
She weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces, and measured 20.5 inches long.
More photos can be found here, in my photo gallery.

Note: Timestamp modified for birthday, actual post at 5:45pm on 12/30/2006.

As a professional automobile service writer, I’d like to take the time to give you a bit of advice the next time you bring your car in:

1. If it’s not your car, write down your concerns and questions.

This helps you and the writer help understand what’s going on with the car. You may rarely drive it, but we understand that the owner spends the most time with the vehicle, so they know if something is not right. Even if it is your car, it’s a good idea to write things down soon after you experience them. Don’t wait until you pick up the car to ask a serious question, you might have to make an extra trip to pick up the car again later.

2. Take your important stuff out of the car before you hand over the keys.

We all forget things, but it’s always a good idea to get the stuff “you can’t live without” out of our hands and into yours. Also, don’t tempt anyone by leaving money or valuables lying around. Not everyone’s a thief, but at any time you leave your car, it might be driven by one to six different people, and it can’t be monitored 100% of the time by any one individual. The person who washes your car might not know if something is junk or not when your car is washed and vacuumed. He’s going to throw out anything that looks like trash. The point is, “travel light” when getting your car serviced. This way you don’t leave things scattered and lost among the rental or loaner car, at the dealership, et cetera.

3. Don’t demand that we drop everything while we’re helping other people.

This is a grade-school lesson; everyone will get their turn. If you show some courtesy, you’ll get some in return. In less it’s a rare life-or-death emergency, don’t interrupt people.

4. Read manual before you arrive.

If you’re not sure what something does or means, it never hurts to read the manual first. You’ll learn something, I guarantee it. You’ll also save yourself a lot of time by consulting the 400-page manual first. There is an Index and Table of Contents, it’s there to help you out.

5. Don’t ask for a discount after the work is done and you’re arrived.

It’s rude to do so: You agreed to a price, now be an adult and pay for it. Don’t tell me it’s “not about the money” or that you “deserve” a discount, or found a competitor’s price. In some cases, we may assist you, but be prepared to wait the correction to be made.

6. Don’t bring your own tires and parts for us to install, unless you’ve made prior arrangements and agreements.

Liability is such that most service departments won’t install anything that the department didn’t buy themselves. As my boss likes to say: Do you bring your own store-bought steak to the steakhouse? Of course not.

7. Know your rights, but don’t forget your responsibilities.

I implore you to know your rights, read about federal and local laws and regulations, your manual, and other related information. Please feel free to ask questions, no matter how “dumb” you think it is, it’s probably a good idea to ask first. It might be a question that saves you time and money, or gives you confidence in your decisions.That’s why we’re the service department. Don’t wait until you have a serious problem, and then verbally blow up at us, let’s talk about it like adults first to resolve your questions and issues.