Re-United

Before

After getting my ass kicked all week by the snow storm and the soul leaching head cold, I finally got some good news yesterday.  I hadn’t heard anything about my car, which had been in for repair since the insurance company deemed it unsafe to drive.  We were at the two week mark so I decided to call and find out how it was doing.

The guy who answered the phone said it had just come back (from where?) and was ready for me.  I quickly dropped off the rental car and a very cute young lady drove me over to the auto body shop (like I said – things were finally looking up).  I was in and out of the autobody shop inside of five minutes. 

This was a remarkable experience for me because I didn’t have to pay for the rental car (thank you Liberty Mutual – company of the perpetrator) or the car repair.  USAA sent me two checks for the damages, as well as waiving the deductible (YES!!!).  I just signed the two checks over to the autobody shop and I was out the door. 

Talking with the young lady and the autobody guy I think they needed to move things out because the day of the snow storm is really going to help them business wise – hundreds of accidents that night.  It was just such a good experience overall.  USAA is the best while Liberty Mutual, Enterprise Rent Car, and Harr Autobody also earned a lot of respect and future recommendations if anybody asks. 

For all the peaks there is always a valley or two so I had to confront the grim reality of my failures in the driveway department when I got home.  While there had been some melting in the spots I had shoveled there was still a lot of work to be done.  I got the car about halfway up the hill when it spun out and couldn’t go any further. 

My initial plan was to mount the snow blower and impose my will on the driveway.  My wife, being the saner of the two (despite all evidence to the contrary) told me that would only make my cold worse.

Plan B called for getting really bundled up and digging a pathway so the car could make it up to the garage. That plan took only about a half hour, with Buddy’s excited help.  Well, his help consisted of defecating on the neighbor’s front lawn (thanks Buddy) but he was great company, nonetheless, on a cold windy, dark night.  My car was safely in the garage and the wife greeted me with a cup of steaming hot chocolate (back up to the peak).  I just hope the melting gets into high gear because I consider the state of my driveway the height of embarrassment.    

After