2018

Hard to get back in the swing of work and schedules.

This is the first time I have had time off work and took time off work.
Normally I still do some type of work that needs to be done when one is self employed. But this time I wanted to do nothing and I did just that. It was glorious.

Our anniversary on the 31st was different too. Normally we do fun things during the day and then we go out to dinner and are sure to get home before the crazies are on the road. But we didn't do that either.
We made dinner at home and snuggled in for the night with a movie and a glass of wine. Asleep before midnight like good old people.  It was a quiet weird anniversary this year and that was okay with us. 

We got an inch of snow and of course this area goes bat shit crazy.
Thankfully there were no schools to close or work to miss. It was the holiday.
On Dec 30th I was on my way to Lowes to pick up more mastic (for tiling). 
Rick was running low and while he was working on the bathroom I thought I'd run to the store for him. I walked out to my car, oh what a surprise.

My car was parked on the side of our home. I walked around the side and see a car smacked into my car - still attached. The person in the car was a kid, her shoulders were going up and down and she was in the "ugly"cry.
To say I was unhappy would be an under statement but boy was she a mess.
I knocked on the window and saw that this young girl was 16-17 at best. 
Crying her eyes out. She was on the phone talking to her father I could tell. 
She got out of the car, shivering and crying hysterically. I called Rick in the mean time to come out and move the fenders apart so we would no longer be attached. By the time Rick was outside she was now able to speak. I did my best to calm her down.

When she was able to speak I asked her what happened. She said she turned onto the street and her car slid so she slammed on the brakes and hit me.
One doesn't slam on the brakes when you are sliding. But I didn't think this was the time to teach her winter driving 101. They don't teach that here in the south and I don't understand why. I mean each winter we get snow and ice. No, it is not like Erie PA but if you get it at all, one should learn how to drive on it. Either way it doesn't matter, she really didn't have enough time to straighten herself out even if she didn't slam on the brakes. It just is what it is.

Because she couldn't stop crying I told her to relax, this was an accident. Neither of us were hurt. Cars can be fixed. Her father won't kill her. We exchanged insurance information. We got her calm. Rick released the two cars and I was able to back up. He then pushed the fender so it wasn't rubbing on the tire so I could drive my car. Then we attended her.

She didn't even have a coat. So I gave her a blanket we had in the car. She called her sister who came right away. Her sister is home from college. She was calm and asked if I would speak to her father. Her father got on the phone and asked if I would be there in a couple of hours. He was heading back and would be there in 1.5 - 2hrs. I said that was fine. He asked if he could see it because he would prefer to not put this through his insurance and would like to pay out of pocket. He asked if I was okay with that. I explained that this was not a small dent, this was a biggie and I was not certain I wished to do that. He asked me to hold on until he got there. I agreed since I knew they lived 2 1/2 blocks from me.

He arrived at our door with a big ole mallet in his hand. As Rick opened the door, Izzy was next to him. Izzy the big guard dog does not bark at people at the door. She is just happy to see you and wags her tail. 
This man walked in with mallet in hand and saw Izzy and said, "Oh this is Izzy's house"
That made us all laugh. He shook Rick's hand and said, "We've talk a couple of times when you've walked by my house. Your dog amazes me because she is not on a leash and never leaves your side."   Once again, everyone knows our dog and not us and that makes us laugh. Introductions were made outside of Izzy and we had a seat at the island.

As he stood there with the mallet Rick asked if he was planing to hit us or what was he thinking? He told us he really thought he could just pound out the damage with this. Oh my goodness. Look, this may be an older car but we aren't the Beverly Hillbillies and I am not having some ya-hoo do that to my car. After he saw the car he laughed and said, "Oh it's far worse than the photos showed so I guess we will have to go through the insurance company."  No shit sherlock. 
He kept saying this will be about $1,500. I laughed and said I thought that was doubtful because the last guy that hit me when I was at a stop sign was far less damage and cost far more than 3,000 plus a rental car.  
He is delusional. 

I was told that I would hear from his insurance Saturday. I did not. 
I called them myself this morning. I was told a claim was filed online and that the adjuster will call me today. 
That saves me from washing my car I suppose. I would have gone through an automatic car wash but since the adjuster has not seen my car I will wait. 

That is my start for 2018. Nowhere to go but up right?