Wednesday

I was just leaving a rehearsal for the symphony brass quintet. I'd been looking forward to this day for a few weeks--I knew that I'd have a few hours in between rehearsal and concert to get my Christmas shopping wrapped up, make some returns, and

WHAM

I saw the car running the stop sign in just enough time to bury my foot on the brake pedal, but there was nothing I could do to avoid the collision. I saw nothing but white for a second and felt like I'd been slapped in the face. Then I noticed a smell like burnt feathers, and saw that a fine floury mist was floating inside the car. I looked down and realized the airbag had deployed. The car was still on, and I felt it limping as I guided it over to the curb. The other car, a gray BMW, was still stuck out in the middle of the intersection.

I looked over myself and felt my face. No cuts, no scrapes. I looked back the way I'd come. Sure enough, no stop sign, no signal. The BMW had just blown through his stop without ever slowing down. He got out of his car, and I realized that my hands were trembling from the adrenaline. It all went away instantly...I was in disaster mode, completely cool and collected. I made sure he was okay, asked if he could move his car out of the intersection (he couldn't) and requested his registration and insurance card. As I walked back to the Corolla to get my own I saw the damage to the front for the first time. My stomach sank.

The front bumper was hanging completely off, the grill was bent, and it looked terrible. I loved that car. We got a great deal on it, paid cash. It was a stick, which I'd wanted.

It was cold out, and my hat and gloves were sitting on my desk back in Rochester. I'd gone on a three mile run that morning, and I forgot to pack them back in my winter coat once I came back inside. Tow truck first, then police, then insurance. The tow truck driver came first and picked up the bits of my bumper that were still in the intersection, and then a policeman took my statement. A second cop car arrived, realized he couldn't do anything, and almost hit someone on a bicycle as then wheeled past.

Then the cyclist stopped and got off. It was Rob, the timpani player from the symphony?

"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I think so. Could've been a lot worse."
"Wow, this is your car?"
"Yeah."
"Well, if you need a ride or anything let me know. I'm free all day, okay?"

I don't know why it's so hard for me to accept other people's help sometimes. I don't think that catching a ride would've made my day any easier...I mostly just didn't want to see any friendly faces. Every time I looked at the front of my car I felt ill again. When I sat down in the tow truck I realized how hungry I was--it was nearly 2:00 by the time everyone was packed up--and how sore I was going to be.

I met the owner of the collision shop and got my first crash course in how the insurance process would work. Each time I was given the course over the day it had some slight inexplicable variation. I'm still not sure who's paying for what, but I started to pick up some of the terminology. I waited for the rental car company inside the shop and finally called J, dreading how upset and worried she was going to be.

The rental car company offered a decent rate for a midsized car, some nice Chrysler. When I got there I found out that car was unavailable.

"But let's see...looks like all we've got is...a Toyota Yaris."

I like our Yaris plenty. But renting your wife's car is sort of like being offered a night at the hotel down the street from your house. It's nice to have a place to stay, but it'd be a lot more interesting if you had a change of scenery.

There was more paperwork, more signatures, a few more phone calls, and I went out to get into the Yaris. I took a few deep breaths. I still hadn't eaten anything, and my back was starting to hurt. It was raining out, and I wasn't sure I wanted to drive again yet. I turned on the car.

The check engine light was on.

A few minutes later the attendant told me, "Yeah, you're right. We just got it back from an oil change, I guess they didn't reset the light correctly."

"I'd still like to make a note in file."

I got back home safe, and eventually did get a meal and some ibuprofen. But it'll be a long few weeks until we're back in the Corolla again, if (hopefully) we do get it back.

Here are the things to be thankful for-
1) No one else was in my car.
2) No one else was in the other car
3) Neither of us were going particularly fast...probably both about 25.
4) We have insurance
5) The other guy has insurance
6) It's extremely unlikely that I'll be assessed any sort of fault/liability
7) I still made it to the gig on time
8) No one was hurt
9) No one was hurt
10) No one was hurt

But my back is still a little sore