Two weeks ago the DVD player in the car stopped working. Yesterday I took the car into the dealership for repair.

Since buying the car 18 months ago, this is the fourth trip for repair on this particular accessory. Twice before, they replaced the system entirely. Since the behavior this time was similar to the previous times, I prepared for another complete replacement by removing the DVD disk from the unit lest they take that away too.

Parked in a numbered spot and walked in with the kids. Turned over keys, a set of valet keys - read Michele's warning - and waited for my loaner car to be brought around. In the meantime, the kids poured enough water from the cooler in the waiting area onto the floor to soak Chris's sandaled feet and start him shivering. I dumped all the napkins and paper towels I could find on the mess but still didn't make a dent. An employee thought the water cooler bottle was not fit properly. I explained my children's fascination with pouring water on floors, and he dashed into the men's room for the mop. So that's where they keep it! Why didn't I think of that?

We waited about 30 minutes until the service clerk came around and said, "Uh, ma'am, your loaner car has been out there for quite a while now. Did you know that?" Obviously not.

Placed the kids inside the loaner. Walked back to my car for the two car seats. Installed the car seats in the loaner. Locked the kids in their car seats. The younger one needed a change so I intended to drive back to my car and get other necessitites: diaper bag, stroller, paperwork for the doctor. Then, I noticed that my car was being taken into the shop so I put the loaner in reverse and got along side my car, popped the loaner's trunk and hopped out to grab the essentials.

Two service guys were watching the DVD player.

"Uh, ma'am, this DVD player works, did you know that?" Obviously not. "Well, we had to insert a DVD. Did you know that the player was empty?" I explained that I expected them to swap out the entire unit and didn't want any of my disks going along with it. Then he showed me the coup de grâce ... or is it pièce de résistance? Perhaps a little of both: the AV input had been changed. "Those kids," I muttered. Right, lady, right.

So, now I know anyway. It's just one button on the remote, the AV button, cycles through three different inputs, only one of which will display the playing DVD.

Glad I didn't actually leave the premises with the loaner car. Too bad I had gotten the car seats moved over. But putting them back into my car was no trouble. And feeling satisfied that I had gotten the DVD player working again even if it could have been repaired verbally over the telephone. Until my husband arrived home, opened a letter from Garden State Volvo (the car is registered in his name) and he asked me whether they did the recall work during my visit that day.

"What recall work?!" I demanded, peering over his shoulder. The word "tie rod" jumped off the page. "Oh, tie rod, that's not good," I said.

I called today about an appointment for the recall service. He said, "Oh, you were just in here yesterday. Let's see whether they did that work already." Come on, man, I know they didn't. And he couldn't get me an appointment until mid-July. "We're real busy right now, working on these tie rod replacements." Ya think?! I'm gonna call another area Volvo shop and see whether they can do it sooner.