Automotive Blues

Last weekend, I retrieved my car from the doctor, paid the hefty bill, and brought my trusty companion home. I peered under the car, simply to marvel at the shiny new exhaust system. The car was a bit embarrased, but humored me. I optimistically thought, "OK, that's literally behind us and we can move on."

Yesterday, I returned to campus. As I exited the interstate on to the Road of Endless Construction, I yielded oncoming traffic. Unfortunately, the car behind me had different ideas. Yep, you guessed it, BLAM! I believe my exact exclamation went something like, "Jesus Christ, Lady! This is just what I need!" I have to say that I would have expected more cursing coming from me, but there you have it. Diety's name in vain and irony. Good to know that this is how I respond in an emergency.

We got out of our cars and surveyed the damage. All looked fine. She had stopped behind me, but then "her foot slipped off the brake" and she "rolled into me." As the person on the other end of the collision, I think she didn't realize I had stopped and applied some pressure to her accelerator. As I looked at my car's back end, I kept thinking, "If you've damaged the $1500 exhaust system, I'm taking what's left of my car and I'm running you down in the street."

All looked fine, particularly on her car - one of those new sedans that looks like a tank. As I looked at my car, I realized that no, everything wasn't fine. The bumper had come loose and the trunk was no longer in complete alignment. No, it wasn't devestating damage, and yes, I just wanted to continue on my way - but the loud voice in my head kept yelling, "If you let her go, and then find out the trunk isn't water-tight any more, there won't be a damn thing you can do about it." So, we called the cops.

The cop arrived and seemed really annoyed that we had called him out for an accident that clearly didn't meet his criteria for "worthy." He took our information and apologized to the hitter as he handed her a citation. OK, yes, I felt bad that she was getting a ticket, but hey! She hit me! We got back in our cars and headed off. My neck felt a bit stiff, but I thought that it was probably just tension. When I got out of the car, I realized she'd hit me hard enough to jar the sunroof cover loose.

It rained last night so this morning, I'll head out and check the inside of the trunk. My neck is still a bit stiff and my head hurts. I think the headache is related to caffiene, so I'll go get some more coffee. I trust that the neck thing will go away in the next few days. Here's hoping this accident fades into the mist and I'm done with bad luck for a while.