And The Hits Keep On Coming
It was an unremarkable Monday. Got up. Had my protein shake went to the gym. Did upper body & my physical therapy exercises for my “wounded knee”. Watched cute muscle boyz at the gym. Woof! Hey …. I might be aging … but I’m not blind! Went home cooked up another protein shake & eggs for breakfast. Then headed off to meet a client at Peet’s Coffee in Fremont.
Pretty typical Monday so far. Met with Dave & Greg formally of Passage Maker Yachts here in Seattle. Sadly Greg had to close shop because during the height of our “economic downturn” (read Republican cluster-fuck) he could no longer get loans from the bank he had been using for years. So he closed his door. But I digress. I picked up Dave’s MacBook. Got a cup-a-joe … some beans for home … and then homeward bound. Most uneventful.
I’m sitting at the bottom of the hill on 15th Ave NE waiting to turn into my condo’s driveway. Was at a complete stop, had my left turn signal on … and BOOM CRASH FUCK! Some stupid woman plowed into my car’s rear end at 30 MPH … or so. Luckily my foot was still on the break, other foot pushing the clutch in, and my both hands on the steering wheel upon impact. It’s wasn’t like in the movies where everything is all slow motion. Nope. It happened in a matter of seconds. Impact. Being thrust forward. Then nothing except me screaming at the top of my lungs. Not because I was in pain. Though I was a bit. No. Because I was so pissed that my almost 3 year old 2007 Scion tC had been smashed. My 1st accident in over 30 years. FUCK! I pounded the steering wheel with my fists a bit. Gained my composure and got out of the car to assess things.
In typical Seattle fashion no one stopped to offer help or witness. Some guy walking down 125th at least stopped to ask if we were okay. Then kept on walking.
My assailant, Ms Joanne Chung (name changed to protect the guilty) emerged from her implement of destruction, shaken and stirred, but wholly unscathed. She was also immensely apologetic … no matter to me … I was PISSED! But again I controlled my tongue, and suggested we pull off the road and into the parking lot that I was originally trying to get into … before I became boy interrupted.
We did the obligatory info exchange. It seems Ms Chung, just moved to Shoreline via Tacoma. She was only 20 or 30 blocks from home, and me, mere feet. Seems Ms Chung’s license still had her old Tacoma address and her State Farm insurance card was expired. This instilled great confidence in my interaction with her. NOT! She did call her insurance company while we stood there, in the newly falling rain, while we continued to trade information.
I spoke to her agent and gave her all my details, including all my aches and pains. There were quite a few. My neck, shoulders, my entire back were sore and feeling bruised. I also informed her I re-injured my already injured knee. Once all that was done and I was reassured she was indeed insured … we went our separate ways. But the one thing that did occur was Ms Chung admitting in front of me and to her agent, that the accident was entirely her fault. That was music to my ears. At least I wouldn’t have to contest that.
I finally got to my destination …. home! I called Chris and told him what was going on. I called my insurance company (Allstate) and filed my own report. I then loaded myself back into my newly dented car and drove the the north precinct of the Seattle Police Department to file an accident report. On the ride over, there was this nasty vibration sound coming from the rear end. It didn’t give much confidence in my vehicles safety. So I hurried home to fill out the report.
The following (Tuesday) I went to physical therapy, which may have not been the smartest move, and later in the day went to visit my old chiropractor Lincoln Kamell from Eastlake Chiropractic. By the time I was done with all of that … I was even more sore and tired. Sick and tired too … of all the crap that’s been going on this past month. I also brought my injured little tC over to the auto body shop, and then Enterprise picked me up to get my rental. Once done I drove my smelly white rental Dodge Avenger home … and I collapsed. What a fucking crazy day!
On wednesday got the estimate from the auto body shop …. $4,500.00 worth of damage, Yippy! Hell … what do I care as long as it’s fixed right! All of this courtesy of State Farm. They will eventually be picking up the medical bills too. Which means I have to fill out all these forms for the chiropractor so they can process this all through my personal injury insurance. Then when it’s all done Allstate will go after State Farm for the money shelled out. As long as I don’t have to shell out anything, and my car and I get fixed … it’s all good. Hmmm … maybe not so much god as not draining my wallet.
And that my friends has been my week. Damn … I need a vacation!
