If I could just take the bus, I would

My car...

His car.

Here we go again.

Seriously.

A little over a year ago I was sleeping peacefully when a banging on my front door woke me.

"Um," said my neighbor, looking sheepish. "Sorry to wake you. But, um, I kind of hit your car."

Yes, yes he did.

To the tune of a new grill, radiator support, radiator, condenser and hood.

It was all handled properly and through insurance and the car was fixed.

But it took a few weeks and it was annoying, because it was totally avoidable. He just backed into my car that was parked in front of my own house.

It also was annoying because I was asleep when it happened. I drive 37 miles each way for work and I park in front of my house and get hit.

So... today, again minding my own business.

This time I was working.

Just working away, editing business stories when my desk phone rings.

Which rarely happens and usually means someone has a wrong number.

"Copy desk, this is Jill."

"Hello. This is security. Do you own a silver Audi that is parked on 5?"

Me, thinking I had left my lights on..."Yes."

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but someone hit your car."

Great. At least the person was there, not a hit and run, which has been done in this parking garage before even though we all work for the same place and should have more common decency than that.

Apparently the owner of the other car backed into the space, got out and went into the building to his office.

Apparently he didn't bother to put the car in park or set the parking brake.

Apparently his car just rolled across the driveway and into mine.

I guess someone else coming into the garage saw his car up against mine and called security. The security guard then tracked down me and the other guy.

I got his insurance information and by the time I called about it 30 minutes later, he had already contacted them.

Yes. This whole thing would be classically comical were it not for the fact that my bumper will likely have to be replaced.

The car is in the shop and...

It turns out it was NOT merely a flesh wound.
The estimate by the insurance guy was to fix the dent in the hood and repaint the area. He came up with a figure of $478.10
But the guy at the auto body shop told me that after they got the car in the shop and got the hood open, they found more damage.
There was damage to the condenser, the radiator and the radiator support.
So they are replacing all of those. Oh, and the grill, which I already knew about.
And he told me that the dent in the hood is not the kind that can just be banged out and repainted.
So I also am getting a new hood.
They had to order the parts from Audi. He said they did that Monday and it would take a few days to get them and then about another week to get the repairs done.
So I am in the rental (a Buick. Yay!) until at least the end of next week they think.
I didn't even bother to ask him what the new total was for fixing the thing.
Since the accident was not my fault and his insurance is paying, I really don't care how much it costs. I just want it done right.

No granite guy today.

The foreman called this morning to say the granite guy had other appointments and would not be coming to the house until Monday.

Which is fine.

There has been a lot of progress in the past few days and I am happy to have a break from it.

Not that I got to sleep in today.

I took the car in for an estimate.

They said it would cost about $480.

That seems very low to me, especially considering they have to put in a new grill.

But really, like I told the claims adjuster, I don't really care how much it costs as long as they do the job right.

So I am dropping the car off at the body shop Monday.

Anyhoo... back to the kitchen.

They did get the oven and hood installed yesterday. They look awesome!

There is still a protective plastic thing on the hood, which makes it look white. But it is the same stainless as the oven.

The fridge and cooktop will also be that stainless. One of the reasons I wanted to get all the same brand of appliances was to make sure the stainless finishes were consistent.

Also, they left a sample piece of the countertop material. So I took a picture of that, too.

With all the activity this week, things are pretty dusty in the house, so I will need to spend a little time cleaning this weekend.

But it will have to wait until at least Sunday.

Tomorrow is my nephew's first birthday party (he turned 1 Wednesay). There is a fairly large party for the little guy, so I don't anticipate getting much done tomorrow around the house.

Rolling, rolling, rolling along

The kitchen is taking shape much faster now.

They got the upper cabinets in and did part of the plywood for under the counters yesterday. The uppers on the side by the bar will have the glass doors.

Today they did the plywood for the bar area and the counter surface over the new cabinets along that wall.

They also were starting the installation of some of the appliances.

The double oven and the hood should be in when I get home tonight if all goes well.

There was a little hiccup with a light fixture.

Since I already have nice, simple recessed can lights, I decided to just keep those and not have new fixtures put in.

But one of the cans is right at the point where the cabinets above the new fridge will go.

I guess this is because the new fridge is wider than the old fridge.

They asked if I wanted it moved.

But there are six lights right now and they all line up in pairs. I think it would be odd to have 4 of them line up and then two of them be off.

So I told them to just take it out.

The kitchen gets plenty of light and sometime down the line I may put in under cabinet lights anyway.

It just peeved me that the designer came out three times to measure the space and it never occurred to her that the light might be in the way? Or maybe it did, but it never occurred to her to mention it to me.

Whatever. My goal now is to keep this project moving forward.

Supposedly the granite guy is coming tomorrow to measure the counters so the slabs can be ordered and fabricated.

Also tomorrow I am taking my car in for an estimate and to see the claims adjuster.

So that, like the kitchen, also is moving forward. Finally.

It's merely a flesh wound

Good news on the car front: The claim is filed and has been approved by my neighbors insurance company.

I really wanted to have it in the shop already, but hopefully I can get that done by the end of the week or early next week.

They still need to have a claims adjuster come out and look at the dent, but they have agreed to cover the repair and my rental car. Which is good. I would hate to have to use my bitchcraft on them.

I know what you are thinking... What bitchcraft? She is a marshmallow.

But I find it easier to be bitchy with people over the phone rather than people I have to actually see. Like the kitchen guys. More on that later.

Anyway, at first the dent in the car seemed HUGE. But every time I look at it, it looks smaller and smaller.

But that doesn't mean I don't want it fixed pronto.

Not to mention the fact that I can't get the hood open.

And given the car's recent history, I really want to be able to get the hood open.

Starting the day off wrong

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
What the hell...
It's 7 freaking 30 in the morning... who the hell is pounding on my door...???

At first I was thinking the workers had forgotten the code to the lock box or something. Then I realized it was 7:30 a.m. and that was way too early for them to be starting.
I looked through the peephole to find my neighbor on the other side of the door.
Not the young, hot guy who bought the giant 5-bedroom house on the one side of me. No. Not him.
It was the guy from the other side.
Now the people on the other side are not super friendly, but of all of them, he seems to be the nicest.
But really, why is he on my porch pounding on my door at that ungodly hour. (Ungodly for me is anything before 9 a.m. I am a night person who tends to stay up until at least midnight, usually later.)

Me (opening door while wearing jammie pants and a flimsy tank top): Hi.
Him: Wow. I am really sorry to tell you this, but... I backed into your car.
Me: Um. OK. Um. Let me get my keys and I will be right out.

So I grabbed my keys and a sweatshirt and slipped on some flip-flops.
There is a pretty small dent in the hood and the grill is cracked. It doesn't look too bad.
Expect for the fact that he hit it right in the spot where the hood latches. So the hood latch thing was forced up, causing the dent. And I can't get the hood open.

He was so nice and so apologetic about it.
His car, a Jeep Wrangler, seems to be fine. What hit my car was not actually his car, but the giant bike rack that he has on the back of it.

He gave me his insurance info and told me to come by later if I needed anything else. But he had to get to work.

Now, normally I do not park on the street. Normally I park inside my garage. I am one of the few people on my street who uses the garage as a garage and not as storage or a rec room.

But I wanted to give the kitchen workers total access to the garage.

I had been parking in the driveway and getting up at 8 to move the car. Last night I decided to park on the street and sleep in until 9.

So much for that idea, because of course I never did really get back to sleep after that.

I called my sister on the way to work (yes, the car still runs fine) and her reaction was "Your car is the devil!"

Yes, it does seem to be a trouble magnet.

That will be $406.75... plus parts and labor

Well, I got my car fixed.
Apparently one of the four engine coils had gone bad.
Whatever the hell that means.
So the guy tells me that when one goes bad, the others usually follow suit in short order. He suggested replacing them all now.
What the hell? It's only money, right.
So I went for it. I just need my car to be in excellent working order since I drive 70-plus miles a day to and from work.
They had it done in a couple hours and I was on my way to work.
I did a little checking on the Kelly Blue Book site and found out that a car in excellent condition has a trade in value of about $15,475. A car in good condition has a trade-in value of about $14,465.
I think my car falls somewhere in the middle.
It does have a few more miles than the average, but all the service has been done at the dealer and the car itself looks pretty good. There is only one little ding on the passenger side.
Kelly Blue Book gave the private-party resale value as $18,000 and the retail value (what a dealer would resell it for) was $21,450.
I really would like not to have a car payment in all this.
I liked my Honda. It was reliable and good on gas, but the Civic seems a little too small for me now that I have had the Audi.
With gas prices what they are and the drive I do everyday, I don't think I want an SUV.
Anyone have any cars they just love?

No love for Audi today

Piece of shit car.
Broke down on my way to work today.
I was exactly halfway to work when the check-engine light started flashing and the car started shuddering and running rough.
Luckily there was an exit right then and there was a hotel at the end of the ramp.
I pulled in planning to just chill for a minute then figure out a plan.
Then I saw the sign for the rental car place in the hotel.
So I left my car there and drove to work in a rental.
I am going back to get my car tomorrow. I am having it towed to the dealer so they can figure out what is wrong with it.
Seriously.
AAA informed me that, after the great tire debacle of 2007, this was my last free tow for the rest of the year.
Swell.
It's not like it is an old car. It's a 2004 that I got in September of 2003. It has had all its services at the dealer since it was under warranty.
There are 56,000 miles on it. The warranty expired at 50,000.
Of course.
I am seriously thinking about trading it in for something other than an Audi.
But man is it nice not to have a car payment right now.

Having a breakdown

The plan for Sunday was simple.

I was going to go with the man friend to take his dad's 1970 Mustang out for a drive around the Peninsula. His dad is out of town for a while, and the car needs to be driven, right?

It had been a while since the car was started, so it took a bit to get it going.

Once we did, we saw it was low on gas. We headed for the closest station to gas up and wash the windows. All is fine until we try to leave the gas station.

Nothing.

Car. Won't. Start.

Good thing we are at a service station, right?

Wrong. No mechanic on Sundays.

We call AAA and they send out a dude in a maintenance truck even though we ask for a tow. He tests the battery and bangs around under the hood looking at the starter. Still nothing.

After about 15 minutes of this, he calls for a tow. So on top of the 30 minutes we already waited and the 15 minutes of dicking around with the car, we have to wait another 30 minutes for the tow truck.

As we are waiting, some kids set up a lemonade and cookie stand on the corner. We amuse ourselves by walking over and getting a cool drink and some snickerdoodles.

Nice.

And while we sat there, another old Mustang pulled up to the next pump. It was a beauty. And it was mocking us as it drove in and then so easily drove away again while our classic ride sat with it's hood exposed like an open wound.

Finally the tow truck arrived and we had him take us back to the dad's house.

Then we took mf's car and had our drive around PV anyway. It was a great day for it.

But it is amazing that even though it was kind of a pain in the ass, the whole time I was still having fun.

Yeah, I was feeling this way last night/this morning

I was in such a good mood last night as I was leaving work. It was about 7:30, so a little earlier than normal. A favorite colleague of mine who had been off work for a couple months after a car accident was coming back to the office today.

So I decided to welcome her back by making a couple giant pans of chocolate bread pudding. I was going to hit the market on my way home, then start baking after a quick dinner.

Now I live 37 miles from work. It's kind of a pain, but I deal.

Unless I get a flat tire on the freeway while doing about 70 mph and I am only on the second of my four freeways (about halfway home.)

Yeah. Nice.

The really bizarre part is that while it happened, I was on the cell (hands-free, thank you very much) talking to a friend who was describing a tire blow-out he had on the way to Vegas just a few days earlier.

Then suddenly I felt something odd. Like my tire was filled with bread pudding instead of air.

It wouldn't have been so bad except that I had a flat a couple months ago when I came out from work. Luckily I was still in the parking structure and AAA came out and put on the spare tire.

Of course, since I am SO busy with my life, you know making cards and bowls and generally a mess, I never went to deal with getting a new spare.

So I am sitting at a Shell station in Garden Grove, halfway between work and home, at 8:30 last night waiting for AAA to show up.

I know I have no spare. I know I don't want to leave my car in the Grove. I have no way to get home if they can't fix the tire somehow.

So they show. The tire that went flat on the freeway was the brand-new spare that was put on a couple months ago. It has a gaping hole on the backside of it. No chance of fixing that one.

We pulled the other flat tire, the spare flat tire as I called it, out of the trunk.

Yay! It held air.

So I drove toward home, stopping at a market on the way. I'll been damned if I wasn't going to make that bread pudding.

People had heard about it. People were planning to skip lunch to have some.

So I did my baking and went to bed around 12:30 p.m.

I got up today knowing that I would have to deal with the tire. And sure enough, the tire was flat again.

So I called AAA out again (yeah, I am getting my money's worth out of that service). They aired the tire and I was off to Costco to get a couple new ones for the front.

Costco where you usually wait about an hour. Well... I guess when they have a tire sale it must be good. Because it was a FOUR hour wait.

Um, no thanks. If I hung around a Costco for four hours, I would spend so much money.

So I headed to a local shop and got a couple tires put on the front.

Whew. What a saga.

But man was that bread pudding amazing!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_36519,00.html?rsrc=search

(I skipped the rum sauce and had fresh mixed berries and homemade almond whipped cream!)

Oh and the photo is another from the Santa Barbara trip in March.