Not so cool, still damp, possibly raining. Yesterday I was dodging raindrops all over town. No real storms though, that I was aware of. The most rain I saw was a hard drizzle and was very brief.
The rain I did see was while driving around the city doing pickups/dropoffs/meetings with my various local auctioneers, and then doing the airport run. Good news is that I have another auction house willing to take a bunch of stuff that I didn’t know where I was going to be able to sell it. Bad news is that I currently don’t have anywhere to stage 6-10 pallets of stuff. They will do the auction with the stuff in place so I don’t have to deliver it to them, and charge less if I do some of the work. Sounds like a deal to me.
And then I got rear ended in my Ranger. Slippery, light misty drizzle, and as I came over the hill and was forced to slow because of merging traffic slowing the whole lane, the guy behind me couldn’t stop in time. He tried to get around on the right and off to the shoulder but didn’t make it. I might have had less damage if he bumped me straight on, instead of just hitting the right corner of the bumper. The Ranger is a framed vehicle and the bumper is steel. The bumper got bent, pushing the right rear side of the bed forward, which crumpled at the wheel well. The Tail light is popped out of place but works. His little Kia lost the left headlight assembly, part of the bumper and likely the hood and quarter panel, as well as structural components in the front end. MASS wins every time.
I wasn’t even sure we were hit, because I didn’t see him behind me (he was on the shoulder I was in the lane) after the noise and movement. I bounced around a bit, not much as the speed was low. Mom got whipped around a bit more. I handed her a cold pack from the trauma bag, but she’ll be stiff and sore today. She was just feeling good after a previous back and neck injury so she’s not happy at all. The other driver had no license, insurance or english. I’ll be dealing with my insurance today. Cop said they can do most of the work needed before the official report gets through channels, in a week. That should be interesting. Slightly less damage, and alone in the car, and I might have opted to do it informally, but I need for mom to get whatever care she needs.
Hotwash, bonus points for having the ice pack and bag, minus for being caught off guard by the slowing traffic. Bonus for being insured, minus for realizing that my registration was out of date. And while it’s great that the Ranger is drive-able, and insured, it was my backup vehicle, with my primary STILL not having been replaced. I need to get it back to ‘spare’ status ASAP. Bonus, having and showing the city credential finally stopped the other driver from trying to convince me not to call the police, I told him that I was a volunteer, worked with them, and HAD to report it. Never claimed anything that I’m not, but with his limited english it surely seemed to be more than it was.
Second time in two days I had the credential out. Day before was when I gave some gear to the officers that were outside my secondary location dealing with some street guy. Since I had the stuff out (having just picked it up cheap) I thought I’d hand it out and get some karma. PD is much more likely to accept a gift, be it a set of yellow rain gear, or Girl Scout cookies, from someone that is ‘part of the family’ even if just a distant cousin… I still support the idea of Rule of Law, and the guys on the street. And if there are any benefits to be had, I’m cynical enough to want them.
Plan for today is spend time with mom and the kids, do stuff around the house. Work the list. All depending on if I hurt or not. And deal with the paperwork. Maybe I should get my registration up to date too…
Oh, and Costco has a bunch of my normal purchases on sale this week which means I should do an Instacart order so I can…………………. keep stacking!
nick