Rant #3,838: Hold Tight

I tried to get the police report for the accident I had, but it is like pulling teeth.

The police gave me a number to call, but you cannot speak to anyone there. You simply have to go to an outside site to obtain the report, or you can directly contact the police via email for the report ...

But in either case, it takes weeks. 

And yes, there is a fee.

You can also go to the county's police headquarters in person, but it is, at the very least, 40 miles away from me, and there is no guarantee that they will have the report 

As far as the woman getting a lawyer, if it gets that far, I was told by my lawyer friend that my insurance company will provide me with my own lawyer.

Nice of my own insurance company to not tell this to me.

I took a few pictures at the site, but I think I am going to have to go back and take pictures the same time and day as when I got hit to really be able to show the essence of the area at that time of day and what happened to me.

And no, I have not heard from the repair shop about my car 

So right now, the gecko knows more than I do about where this accident stands and how my car is doing.

I am actually cutting short the story about the latest information related to this incident by a lot, because I have only touched on several points. 

i really have not delved that far into how technology has only hindered me in my quest for information that should be readily available to me, as well as the total and complete incompetency of my insurance company, a company that I have been with for decades.

What to do next?

If I don't hear about my car by Friday morning, I will give the repair place a call.

I don't really think I can do much more about getting the actual police report. I have put in my requests, and now, I just have to wait 

I have those pictures to take, too.

Otherwise, I am in a real holding pattern.

I don't like being in that holding pattern, but there isnt much else I can do about it 

So I will just have to sit tight ...

And continue to worry about something that was not my fault.

Happy holiday season to me!

Rant #3,837: To Cut a Long Story Short

Well, I received the damage estimate on my car, and a timeframe for getting the car back from the shop.

And of course, weirdness entered the fray again, and it seems I can't escape this pall no matter what I do.

I was in the middle of doing some work early yesterday afternoon after attending a work meeting just slightly before.

I received a call on my phone, but it was under "Spam," so although I don't usually answer these calls listed as spam, I did this time.

In a recorded message, the insurance company introduced itself to me right at the get go--

But then, went into Spanish, all Spanish, and nothing but Spanish!

I hung up the phone, and then called them myself.

This time, it was in English, all English, and nothing but English, and I eventually spoke to someone, in English.

To make a long story short, she believed that the call was directed mistakenly to me, rather than to the woman who hit me, who, as I mentioned earlier, didn't seem to speak any English and had to call someone to help her understand the language.

Anyway--and yesterday was three days after the accident--her insurance company had not yet contacted my insurance company--

Leading me to wonder if the woman actually contacted her insurance company after the accident, like I did and like you should when you have an accident like this.

The police even told me to do it right when I got home; I knew that already, but I assume they told her the same thing.

Which brings out the worry wart in me, and makes me wonder what is going on on her side--

Does she even have insurance, or even a license?

On the report the police gave me, it says she has insurance--or at least the car does--but the driver and the car owner are different.

Hmmmm ...

The police took care of me first, and told me to go home, so I was not there afterward, not even there when her car was towed because she hit me so hard that she blew out at least one tire on her car.

Thus, therefore, ergo, I have no idea what transpired afterward, which is probably why the police told me to leave when they saw my car was drivable.

My insurance company has all the information they need, so I did the right thing, but the woman who hit me ...

Who knows?

And then right after I hung up with my insurance company, I received an email saying that my damage estimate was ready to be viewed.

I received the same email yesterday, but even though I clicked what they said and did what they said on the app, it was not working, and I could not get this information.

Today, it took a while, but I actually found where they had this information stored on the app, and I found out that my worst fears were true, that there is plenty of damage and that I won't have my car for about two weeks.

And I am responsible, at least right now, for the deductible, which I reiterated with my insurance company that they were going to try to get that from the woman's insurance company because she was fully at fault, but--

Why has she not reported this to her insurance company?

Who knows what I am dealing with here, and more importantly, who I am dealing with here.

I thought that by law, both sides of an auto accident have to report the incident within 24 hours. I reported mine like 24 minutes after it happened, but she has yet to report it?

Something fishy here, wouldn't you agree?

Is the cup half full or half empty, and am I worrying for nothing?

Well, not for nothing, as I have a pricey deductible that I am going to have to pay, so there is something tangible for worry about on my end.

I do have all of her information on the aforementioned report, and she should have all of my information on the report they gave her.

But what happened after I was told to leave is another story--

At this point, another story for another time.

Then, later on in the day, I spoke to my insurance company again, and she finally did contact them, or at least her lawyer did.

Yes, she retained a lawyer, because she claims she was hurt in the crash, so now I am in a real pickle, and I really don't know what to do.

I do know that I need a copy of the actual police report, which is not easy to get, but I have a number to call to try and get it.

I better start taking pictures of where this all happened, to prove my case.

I contacted a lawyer friend, so I will speak to her about what else I should do.

What a kerfuffle!

I just want to put all of this behind me, and drive away with my repaired car.

But the way it is going, that seems to be a long time off.

Rant #3,836: Give Me the Keys (And I'll Drive You Crazy)

After I brought my damaged car into the shop, I went to get the loaner car early yesterday.

I asked them for a small car, because that is what I am used to.

They brought out a Mitsubishi Eclipse, which is not a small car.

But that is what they had available, so I took it.

It is the first car I ever drove that starts with a push button, and I had several other questions for the attendant that got me the car, because my car's dashboard and controls look so old fashioned compared with this car.

Heck, I couldn't even figure out where the control was to open the gas tank.

It has automatic headlights, which I don't like, and if I can figure it all out, I will disable as soon as possible.

The attendant helped me with the radio, and I actually showed her how to plug in a flash drive to listen to music through that device.

That I could figure out almost immediately.

Then I drove home.

I have driven my wife's Jeeps numerous times, but rarely for long distances.

I had to drive home, it wasn't really a long distance, but it gave me a little time to get used to this car that I am going to have for at least a couple of days, if not more.

Bigger cars handle differently than smaller cars, and I believe that you have much more control with smaller cars, but that could be just me, since that is all I have really ever driven--save a couple of weeks decades ago, when I had no car, and I drove my father's old Checker cab for a spell.

But that was years and years ago, so I had to get used to this loaner car.

There is no telling when I am going to get my car back from the shop, so I better get used to it quickly.

In the shop, the mechanic told me that since so much plastic was involved in the accident, there was no telling when it would get done.

He said he would call me later this week with any details he could give me, so I will be waiting with baited breath.

Funny, the repair place is on Baiting Road, so I guess I will have to wait with baited breath for my car to be fixed on Baiting Road.

How appropriate.

Some guys have all the luck ...

I get a Mitsubishi to drive for a day, a week ... who knows how long.

I am going to sound like a baby now, but I want my car back!

Whaaaaa!

But who knows when that will be.

Hopefully sooner than later.

Your car almost becomes your baby the longer you drive it, as you know all of its nuances like you know your own.

But when you get another car to drive like my situation is, it just isn't the same.

It is a nice car, but it is not MY car.

In the meantime, hopefully, my insurance company can get back my deductible from the woman's insurance company, because I am absolutely not at fault here.

But with New York State's No Fault laws, I end up being at least partially at fault just by literally being there at the moment of impact.

So once again, I do everything right and it turns out wrong.

It all makes my head spin.

Let's see how long this takes.

I would love to drive my own car as we get closer to the end of the year.

Whaaaaa!

Rant #3,835: You've Got Your Troubles, I've Got Mine

How was your Thanksgiving?

Mine was good, gathering with family and friends for a good, old fashioned Turkey Day.

How was your Black Friday?

Mine was good, as I got up early to attend the annual Black Friday Record Store Day, where I bought a couple of things and called it a day.

How was your Thanksgiving weekend?

Well, it started off pretty well, catching up on some TV and doing some other things, but then Saturday night came ...

As I do every Saturday night, I went out to a local fast food place to get my family and I something to eat. It gives my wife a little break from cooking, and I really enjoy going out and getting our dinner from the local places around town.

For my wife, I got her a chicken salad from a place that she likes that features pretty much nothing but chicken. It is a local chain, and I must go there to pick up Saturday dinner for her about once or twice a month.

Then I went to the local Taco Bell just down the road, where I go through the drive-thru to get meals for myself and my son, who had Saturday off from work.

I have noticed that Taco Bell has raised their prices dramatically during the past six months, and they are no longer the place to go to stretch your dollar (Burger King is, at least right now).

Anyway, I gave them my order--they use an AI tool which is annoying at best--picked it up, and pulled away.

I went to the exit, waiting to make a right turn. The light was red, but the car in front of me on the road left enough space for me to make a right turn onto the main road ahead of him--

Which I proceeded to do, but then--

SMASH! BANG! POW!

A car came out of nowhere, going way too fast into the turn lane, never saw me, and hit me on the driver's side in the front by my headlights.

This driver--a young girl--hit me so hard that she blew out her tire and caused other damage to her car, and mine.

I got out of the car, not too happy, and as I was as hot as could be, I asked her for her paperwork. 

She did not provide it to me, and went on the phone, where she was speaking nothing but Spanish.

I gave her some time, and she did not approach me or give me anything, as I had my registration out in my hand to give to her, as is customary.

But she was taking her time, speaking nothing but Spanish, so I thought I needed the police to come here--my first thought was that she was driving illegally, had no insurance ... yes, I admit I thought she might not even be here legally--but to protect myself, I called the police.

They came, and in the meantime, some guy came to the scene--evidently who she was speaking to on the phone--and he spoke English well, although the two of them were conversing in Spanish until the police came.

"How are you doing?" asked one officer as he got out of the car. 

"Not too good," I responded.

"Well, if I were a Yankees fan, I wouldn't be doing too good either," the officer replied, as I was resplendent in my Yankees winter jacket.

I wasn't laughing, but he told me to back my car into the parking lot, which I did, he took my information, and I waited for the police to run my information through their car computer.

"Scott?" they asked. Myself and the man and woman looked at each other--

No Scotts here, although it almost immediately dawned on me that they got that name from my middle name.

"My middle name is Scott, but that is not my first name," I told them.

They made a print out, but it only had my middle name and last name on it--God knows why--so they had to run everything through their car computer again.

When they gave me the correct printout, with "Lawrence" and my last name on it, I noticed that yes, indeed, the woman had insurance, so I took a deep sigh of relief.

The police asked if my car was drivable--which incredibly it was, with even both headlights going on brightly even though the left one was pretty damaged--and they told me to drive home and call my insurance company, which I did.

As I said, the woman was going so fast, entering the turn lane way before its markings on the road, that she at least blew out a tire, and had to wait to be towed.

So I left, happy that my Kia once again saved me from another crazy driver--neither one of us was injured, thank goodness--and drove home, called my insurance company, and have to bring it into the shop today, so as you are reading this, that is where I am.

They arranged for me to get a loaner car, so my car is going to be in the shop for a while--and I have a $500 deductible on collision, so I am going to have to figure out a way to pay that, but the damage will be much more than that.

And after I did all of that, I finally was able to eat--only to find that the fast food place gave me--

The wrong order.

So I ask again ...

How was your Thanksgiving weekend?

And my reply is ...

I hope it was better than mine was. 

Rant #3,834: Let's Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving is almost here, and we are going to celebrate the holiday at my wife's brother's house.

It should be nice.

Every year, I watch "March of the Wooden Soldiers " on TV, and this year will be no different.

In the past here at the Blog, I have posted my own list of the best music to listen to on the holiday.

This list isn't necessarily made up of songs that were directly written with Thanksgiving in mind, but they all fit right into the holiday theme--

Not snuggly for some of them, but for others, there is no better time of the year to listen to these tunes than Thanksgiving.

Here is my list, in no particular order:

Raiders: "The Turkey" 

Raiders: "Birds of a Feather"

Trashmen: "Surfin' Bird"

John Lennon: "Cold Turkey"

Arlo Guthrie: "Alice's Restaurant Massacree"

Yes, i know it is a very short list, but even if i think really hard, I just can't come up with any other songs to put on the list--

Until now.

I got to thinking, and I just knew there had to be some other pop, rock and/or soul songs that needed to be added to this list--

And, miraculously, I actually came up with a new addition:

Little Eva: "Let's Turkey Trot"

This song reached the #20 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962, and while it didnt hit the top spot like the singer's "Locomotion" did, it still has its own charm.

It was written by Gerry Goffin, Jack Keller and Carole King, and I think it tried to revive the old "Turkey Trot" dance of generations earlier--

Meaning that it had absolutely nothing to do with Thanksgiving, other than the "turkey" portion.

But beggars can't be choosers, so I am adding it to the list.

The song might actually be best remembered as being on the film soundtrack of "Easy Rider," not  on the actual soundtrack LP, but in the movie itself.

I hadn't heard this song in eons, but it does fit on the list.

But knowing how I get on Thanksgiving, I probably will eat so much that I doubt I could actually do the "Turkey Trot" even if i wanted to.

Have a great Thanksging, a super Black Friday, a stupendous holiday weekend, and i will be back here at the Blog on Monday--

Fully stuffed.

https://youtu.be/SKRmoIDLxNU?si=SG6pxdpfuTCi8wKl

Rant #3,833: Time

Yesterday, my son completed his psychological assessment. We hope to hear what the findings were sometime before Christmas.

It will be interesting, because we have never really gotten a pinpoint, accurate reading about what exactly his disability is.

Yes, we have had several tests done on him, and the diagnoses really run the gamut of what these disabilities actually are, but these tests really haven't shed too much light on this subject.

They are truly all over the place, and this is precisely why I don't think his public school education was very good.

He is supposedly not autistic, and the schools have a habit of dumping every student they can't figure out into the autism "barrel," because, in my son's case, they simply didn't know what to do with him--

From kindergarten through 12th grade.

He has certainly exceeded every touchpoint and milestone as far as his progress is concerned, starting when some imbecile doctor relegated him to "R" status.

He has a high school education, he has worked since he was 15 years of age, and for someone supposedly with "motion" and "movement" problems, but you would never know it--

His job, as a parking lot attendant, is very physical.

He plays both basketball and bowling on a weekly basis.

He has made himself into quite a bowler--

This past Saturday, he bowled a 167 and a 174, and I wish that idiot doctor was around to see that--

And choke on her words ...

I do mean really choke.

So let's see what the findings are.

My wife and I really need to know, and so does our son.

He is 30 years old, and I think the time has come.

Rant #3,832: Razzmatazz

The world saw it all unfold on late Friday afternoon.

News is usually buried on late Friday afternoon, but you had to be buried under a rock to not have heard about it.

President Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, staged such a feel-good news conference together after their well-publicized meeting that it really made you feel like you had to puke.

The mayor-elect, standing, and the commander in chief, sitting, put on a news conference that was so disconcerting, and so vulgar, that if you didnt at the very least shake your head, you had to wonder exactly what was going on.

Sure, we weren't in with them when they actually talked between themselves, but the President seemed to be little more than a guest at his own news conference, and didn't answer a single question related to anti-Semitism.

He said he knew nothing about the Coast Guard's determination that the swastika is not a symbol of hate--which they have since walked back--and the only wars they spoke about were wars that were "soft" in the presence of the mayor-elect, including those in the Congo and in Ukraine.

Every mention of Israel and Jews was bypassed.

We live in a bizzaro, sick world, and if you needed proof, this news conference was IT.

Somebody was playing the other like a fiddle, but it is unclear which one had the bow in his hand.

The absolute low point of Trump's second term as president ... and don't be surprised if when this garbage runs for his second term as mayor, they roll out portions of this news conference, where Trump said he has a chance to be "a great mayor."

And can you trust either of them after this fiasco? This press conference will have tongues wagging for a long time. Trump is becoming a "politician," and that is not good for anyone.

And let's not forget that he said that he and Bernie Sanders "actually agree" on many topics. This was an absolute fiasco, nothing less.

Maybe they are two very good actors, or maybe they decided to put on a very good face in the midst of numerous disagreements.

Maybe they decided behind closed doors to leave the animosity right there, and put on a happy public face with one another.

But whatever the case, the president seemed to be a monkey to Mamdani's organ grinder, and if anything substantial was accomplished during this meeting, you would never know it by this press conference.

The president, who has previously presented himself as a staunch defender of the democratic principles that make this country great, came off as a Socialist groupie, and the mayor-elect came off as the humanitarian he isn't.

I cannot fathom what good came from this meeting, as it made Trump look, at best, foolish.

And I think this got back to him.pretty quickly, as he back peddled the very next day, stating thst he would not hesitate in bringing federal troops into New York City to regulate crime if necessary.

But the President and the mayor-elect pussy footed around powder-keg questions directed to them by the press.

Maybe they were simply putting on a show for all of us, but honestly, these two--who had literally been at each others' necks for months--came out as kissing Queens cousins--

And one thing I will give them is that they surprised everyone with their performsnce.

But I have to say it was disappointing at best, the low-poont of Trump's presidency, and a total embarrassment for his administration to clean up.

But the garbage is already out of the bag, and let me tell you--

It is going to be hard, if not impossible, to put the trash back into the dumpster.