Friday, February 25, 2005

Riding the Roller Coaster

It's been ten days since my last post and the accident that prompted it. Those ten days have been an emotional trip worthy of any thrill ride in the country and it still has not pulled into the gate. In that time I have found out that a situation I could have done nothing to prevent (I have replayed the accident through my mind time after time and I KNOW that truck was not coming through the intersection when I began my turn and that the light was red, his headlights were off and there is no way I could have prevented what happened short of being psychic) is costing me a $122 fine, my $500 deductible AND my car has been totalled. The whole situation has stranded me in a kind of limbo because the insurance company is still working the claim and I have no idea what the final outcome will be. My rental car coverage is null and void because it only applies to the period they are repairing my car and my car is not being repaired so no rental. One bright spot is that my car loan should be paid off. Another is that my adjuster said that the location of the damage indicates a minimum of 25% liability with the other driver, whatever that means.

I have never had to go through this before because the only other accident I have been in causing this much damage was while I was parked in a church parking lot during a heavy snow storm. A fellow church member driving a van swung into a parking spot going way too fast and slid right into the front end of my car. She got out of the car in hysterics screaming that I couldn't call the police because they didn't have insurance and that they would take care of it and make it right. Torn between doing what I thought was the moral thing and the legal thing, I went with the moral thing, had compassion on her and let her off. My wife (I was married then) and I had to call them about taking care of the damage for almost a month. Her husband actually accused us of harrassing them. When they finally made arrangements to take care of it, they must have told the body shop to do as cheap a job as possible because the finish started to flake off during that summer. I had compassion on them and kept them from having some serious legal issues to deal with and, in return, rather than being forthright with us, they did as little as they could and only after we made sure they did it. I had forgotten that episode from about 10 years ago until this one happened.

At least the weather has been amazing. This is my favourite kind of weather. The sun is out and warms the air during the day, but the nights cool down and there is a snap in the air that I throroughly enjoy. It has encouraged me (along with other factors I will not go into here) to actually go out and start jogging again. Those who know me know what a feat that is. I hate jogging and it has been years since I did consistantly, but I know I need the exercise and walking just doesn't seem to get the blood pumping so that I feel like I have done anything. I am starting off slowly (no marathons in my immediate future....or even distant future for that matter), but each time I am improving. With the weather so perfect, it is much easier to do. If there were not so much snow (and I had a car), I would be in the mountains hiking, but that is still a few months off. I am sure that there will be at least a snow storm ot two before spring sets in in earnest, but this taste is just what I have needed to make this roller coaster ride more bearable.

2 comments:

Geo said...

Hey, I am with you in the mindset that says "Get your rear in gear or go nuts." I have had my new pedometer strapped to me for the past week and a half and I have been doing all I can to wear out my shoes. (Incidentally, I got my pedomoeter free because I was one of the first 150 people to sign up for a citywide walking program.) The weather's also good an hour south of you, and that, combined with all this new sidewalk hoofing, pushing of the grandmother about in her wheelchair, and spring cleanup, seems to be saving my sanity recently. I am sooooo with you. Keep up the good work. I hate hogging too, so I especially applaud you.

Want to know how many steps I took today? 12131.

Geo said...

Er, oops, I meant to say I hate jogging. Ha!