December 17, 2003
Yup. Happened again.
I was driving on Liberty to go to work, and someone pulling out of the UPMC Shadyside garage decided he wanted to be in the right lane. No big deal, 'cept that's where I am. With about a car-length to come to a stop, I would've collided with him in the best of conditions, never mind the thin layer of ice that was there this morning.
(Mildly funny aside: The cop who (finally) showed up parked about where I got hit originally. He almost got rear-ended twice that I saw, maybe more.)
So my car's at a body shop in Bloomfield, the report's filed with the police and the insurance company, and I'm riding the bus for a while, or at least until the insurance companies decide he was at fault and his company picks up a rental for me.
Damage tally
My poor, abused '93 Honda Civic: Crushed left headlight array, ruined left fender, caved-in wheel well, busted side-view mirror, torn-up bumper, dented hood.
His '00 Mercedes SUV: Blown tire, some of my paint and road salt on his right fender and door.
Almost makes me want to make my next car (whenever I get it; this one can be fixed) an SUV. If everyone else is going to play bumper-cars out here, I at least want to get something that won't crumple if you look at it wrong.
Shit; I just realized that I'm going to need that car next week to get back to Akron. Hopefully the insurance company and body shop can get this taken care of quickly.
Merry fuckin' Christmas.
Addendum: Last night, I was treated to a pair of dreams about car wrecks, both much more serious than the one I'd been in. Both dreams woke me up. Thank you, subconcious, for deciding to get imaginative on me. It's not like I had to wake up half an hour early to catch the bus or anything.
Update: 12/17 2:15 PM: Just got off the phone with the other guy's insurance carrier; I get $25 a day towards a rental car. So, if you will allow me a slight loss of decorum (such as it is around here) to celebrate not riding the bus again:
w00t!
There. I feel much better now.
Update: 12/17 3:34 PM: (Why I put the PM here I don't know; I'm obviously not up that early.) Just talked to the body shop. They think they can get it fixed by Tuesday, meaning I should be able to drive my own car to Akron for Christmas. This is going much better than the last time.
