Your Timing Is Impeccable . . . #$%^%@!

So I went to the mall yesterday to find some vacation clothes and other odds & ends . . . I was there for a little over 3 hours. When I came out, having gotten everything I was after, I got into my car and then realized there was a note on my windshield. This is what it said:

"Hi there! I'm sure you noticed your bumper by now, and I feel so bad that I made this mistake. I take full responsibility. Please call me on my cell phone and we can exchange insurance info. Again, I'm so deeply sorry! [name, number]"

Since I hadn't approached the car from behind, I hadn't seen it -- so I got out, and this is what I saw:



Well, fuck! It's not bad, but the paint is chipped and at this point I'm going on vacation in 3 days with plenty to do beforehand . . . fabulous timing. So I call this person, and get her voice mail. She calls me back a few minutes later and she's very nice and acknowledges what she did and all that. I don't know if she was nervous, or what -- but she just kept on going and going, pointing out at the bumper wasn't dented, just scratched and there was a chip in the paint, and telling me how she had her mother (I have no idea how old she is, but she sounded like at least a young adult) come look at the damage and says, "so I guess I have a witness . . ."

For what?! Right off the bat, in my mind, she's letting me know someone else has seen the damage -- I guess in case I was thinking I was going to get rich off her backing into my car or something. WHATEVER. Then she prattles on and on and says something like, "I'm sure most people wouldn't even have bothered to leave a note but I know karma, so . . ."

So WHAT? What, exactly? So . . . you want brownie points? A pat on the back? You want me to say "ahh, forget it, I can live with some chipped paint on a vehicle I've had less than a year and a half and that is otherwise in pristine condition"? Uh, how 'bout no. I appreciate your honesty and all that, but you don't get extra points for DOING THE RIGHT THING. For doing what you were SUPPOSED TO DO. For abiding by the LAW. No, you didn't have to call. But telling me that the only reason you bothered to take responsibility for fucking up my bumper was so you wouldn't suffer some bad karma does not impress me. AT ALL. Instead of patting yourself on the back, take some time to think about how you could not possibly have been paying attention to what you were doing to back out of a diagonal space 15 feet away from my car and ram into my bumper. There wasn't anything complicated about the parking arrangements. I understand things happen, but if you want to take your line of thinking to its logical conclusion, how would you feel if you had been shopping in the mall for a few hours and then came out to find out someone had damaged your car? Would you say nevermind and let it go at that? And how would you react if the person who did that to your car was talking to you as though 1) you were a potential criminal, and 2) you should be bowing down because they accepted responsiblity?

So whatever. By the time I talked to her she had already called it in to her insurance company and had a claim number. Of course, now I have to be inconvenienced so her adjuster can assess the damage and give me an estimate before I take it where I want to take it. I have to take time off from work on my last day before vacation so that paperwork can be done, then dump it off at a body shop and take my husband's truck to the airport so the car can be fixed while we're on vacation instead of having to take even MORE time off from work to deal with it! Yes, I'm grateful I'm not going to have to live with the damage or make a claim on my own insurance, but don't expect any declarations of "I'm not worthy."

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

One good thing about this situation, aside from the fact that we can probably get this thing fixed while we are on vacation, is that we know someone who works for a reputable body shop and he's already offered to do it for us. He'll even deliver the car back to us! So that's nice. The work will be done well, and guaranteed for as long as we own the car, and I won't have to deal with a rental car and coordinating all the b.s. of dropping off and picking up the car. And he will deal with karma girl's insurance company. Score.

Anyway, other than that, the shopping trips have been a success. Tonight we went and got some film for the 35mm and a charger for the batteries for the digital and some snacks for the plane trip because 1) when the husband gets hungry, he must be fed immediately or people risk losing limbs, and 2) planes charge for their snacks now, $5, and you get whatever they've put together. They have some okay stuff -- in fact, most of it is better than traditional plane food -- but it ain't all that. This way, we buy what we want, and we pay normal prices instead of "you're on vacation and we've got you by the balls" prices. You know the ones I mean.

So what's left? I did a giant assload of laundry this weekend, even washing all of our new stuff, so I think I just need to do some quick dusting & vacuuming and then give the neighbors (on both sides -- it's nice to have people you can count on) our keys so they can come & go at will, feed the animals, have a few beers, raid the cupboards, watch TV, enjoy the AC, whatever they want to do -- as long as there's someone here off and on it'll be just like we were home. Even better 'cuz the neighbors on one side all have different schedules so there's always someone around. And the neighbor on the other side is a cop. I love that! So stay the hell away from our house unless you want to get shot, capisce?

Alrighty, then. Hopefully the next pictures I post will be of beautiful Mexican scenery. Just one more day and we're on our way!

Hasta luego!