Ouch!
A few weeks ago, our Jeep caught a big rock to the windshield. We have always had good glass replacement options through State Farm, but the times have changed. Windshields have a lot of tech in them these days: radar cruise, lane assist, blind spot monitoring, etc.. Even with State Farm’s contribution, it was going to cost us $700-1000 to replace the windshield. Since the crack is on the passenger side and ran down and since a repeat is likely, we are leaving it. The battle scar makes her cool.
This week, we left Austin to have a remote and contactless Thanksgiving in the motorhome. We stayed off of 35W (sort of) south of Fort Worth. It’s a big RV Park with a whole section just for adults. There weren’t too-too many bigots here (though there are a few).
The drive was as you might expect on Thanksgiving Eve up I-35 in Waco: HELL. I hate Waco for a lot of reasons, but their inability to fix their roads (Interstate, local, loop, all of them) is near the top of the list.*
One the way here, at a whopping speed of like 20mph, some chick was on her phone (and doing who-knows-what-else) instead of driving. She “merged” into us. The brush took off her mirror and put a big superficial gash in the front cap, broke some trim, and put scratches all down her side. Physically, we are fine. The other driver is too, except for her crazy.
Some well-meaning people suggested we should have just taken the Waco loop. We have, and it’s just as awful as every other road they have. On the way home, I LOL’d at their suggestion when a sign said the Interstate–with huge backups of traffic from an accident–was 32 minutes, but the loop would take 43.
- My guess on the total damage to the motorhome is $30K (it’s closer to ten since they won’t have to take off the front cap, but we don’t yet have the formal estimate)
- My guess on the damage to her car is $2K.
I got her plate and then noticed that the guy in front of us stopped, too. I went outside to take pics, but he beat me the 45′ to the back of our Jeep. As I was taking a pic of her plate, she jumped out of her car (finally…what was taking her so long?) and yelled, “Bitch! I will fuck you up!” He got in front of her.
What special-kind-of-stupid do you have to be to consider harming someone on a jam-packed interstate with dozens of witnesses wielding cameras? As I was taking pictures of her car, I saw her mic/earbud hanging out the door. And, I guess she couldn’t get where she was going without following him; was she drunk/high and following him so they could make sure she’d get there? E got her (shitty, of course) insurance and gave her ours. We called State Farm and we know they will take care of this for us, crazy not withstanding.
During it all, I made some quip under my breath about our motorhome still being new. She said, “bitch, so was my car.” Yes, yes, yes. Your new-to-you 2015/6 Chevy Malibu that cost you a whopping $10K is totally the same thing as our actually still new 2020 Class A motorhome. Sure. Again, her kind of stupid is special.
It had already been a very stressful two weeks for me at work (I’m about twice as busy as normal, someone got fired on the heels of us losing two other team members, someone in the building has Covid and I had to run up to the building on a day he had been there, so I spent 90 minutes–that I didn’t have to spare–getting tested* that very morning, etc.), so this was just another “AYFKM?” moment.
At least the motorhome can no longer be jealous of the Jeep’s battle scar.
And like the ginsu knives, there is more. When we got to the RV Park, we decided to skip cooking and grab tacos. But we couldn’t shut the door. We leveled several times, repositioned the rig, fiddled with the hardware, removed some hardware and put it back. Finally, something realigned and we were able to lock it and leave. At least the takeout tacos (and vodka+) were good.
I am Thankful for:
In spite of it all, we have a lot ot be thankful for. Here is part of my list.
- a comfortable childfree life with a some luxurious moments
- not being the one who caught covid and brought it to work potentially infecting the 20-something people who need to work in the building instead of from home
- the motorhome & Jeep and the ability to go places while staying away from stupid anti-maskers and their prolific germs; stupidity and willful ignorance should be painful
- pre-retirement, which is giving us time to plan for our move to Colorado
- a Biden-Harris win, every city going blue, our blue states, states that flipped blue, and the potential for more blue from the remaining runoffs
- hope of a vaccine coming and Germany for going first
- not being the cause of an accident on I-35 in Wacko on Thanksgiving Eve in broad daylight at like 20mph
- a lovely Thanksgiving meal of dairy-free and mostly gluten-free treats: stuffed and baked Cornish game hens, mashed with gravy, lemon peas, rolls, and chocolate pie with whipped topping
- early and negative *test results
- the sweet pair of cardinals who really liked the tree outside our window
…but 2020 can still suck it!
Friday was for Jeepin’ Around. We headed to downtown Fort Worth (wow has it changed since we were last there!) and got to walk through the famous Water Gardens. We made a loop and came back to the campsite via Grandbury. The little kitchen store I loved is gone, but not much else has changed. Oh, but the place was hoppin’ and almost no one was wearing a mask, so we didn’t get out or shop there. This Pandemic sure is saving us a bunch of money!
Saturday, we headed straight for Hard Eight BBQ in Stephenville. We have been there a time or two on other travels and couldn’t pass it up, especially since they have open-air seating and space big enough to stay 6′ away from everyone. E got brisket for sandwiches, and I got a little turkey and a little sirloin. Soooo good.