Or should I say: Christmas Is Here?!
Where did this month, this year go?!
I really was not in the pre-Christmas spirit this month. It started with the car thing, which happened on the first Sunday of Advent. The next two weeks were packed with stress and drama. Looking for the car, making decisions, pressure of finite time with rental-car, having to think about it every day, knowing that Zoran will be leaving soon and I would have to make the final decision myself,.... Then the stress of Ciro being worse and worse, taking him to the vet, feedings, nightly seizures, lack of sleep,....
It dawned on me that Christmas was almost here on the fourth weekend of Advent, when my mom arrived and had me box the presents she brought, and I didn't even get her anything! I realized this year we have the longest Advent, with Christmas day falling on a Sunday, and was greatfull for that extra week to try to get into the spirit.
On Saturday, I made myself finish decorating the tree and putting up the lights outside.
On Sunday, we went to the Christmas concert at the Capitol.
On Monday, I went to reconciliation and to the Celtic concert at the Cathedral.
On Tuesday, mom went with me to that same concert.
On Wednesday, I did some Christmas shopping.
On Thursday, I went to see some weird Christmas lights displays on the 37th street with my friend Joe.
On Friday, mom and I drove through some neighborhoods in Round Rock, like we did last year, that had great lights and even synchronized with music.
On Saturday, we did some baking and I went to Midnight Mass at the Cathedral.
Packed week! I had to force myself to do some of these things. I was going to have as good of a time as I make it.
Christmas day was rainy and cold, perfect for staying inside and relaxing. We had a late start (since I didn't get to bed till 2am) and took our time with coffee and breakfast. Opened presents. Cooked a nice meal. Sipped some wine. Cleaned the fridge to fit all the food. Watched some movies.
It's still hard to believe that in just 3 (!!!!!!) days it will be 2012!
Where. Did. The. Year. Go?!!!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
First Week of Mom's Visit
It has been a week since mom arrived. And it's been a busy one. We are adjusting nicely.
She is still a bit jet-legged, but is almost on Austin time. Every year when she arrives, the first thing she wants to do in the house is wash the windows. :) I never do it, but back in Bosnia that is at least a once-a-month chore, and since she notices dirty windows, she was cleaning one a day for the past week. A little exercise she calls it.
Our first outing was her second evening here, and we started with Costco and HEB, of all places. We are trying to figure out our meal and desert plans for the holidays, but didn't do well on the planning, so we had to go back shopping again few days later.
Saturday we had an early start. I finally finished decorating the Christmas tree, which I did in stages Then we went down south to the tint shop that did windows on my new car. There were few little bubbles they needed to fix, but once I was there I noticed even more bubbles on the read window. They said they would want to redo the entire window, instead of just touch up, so I'll have to come back in January. Good thing I have lifetime warranty on those.
Since we were already on Lamar, I wanted to stop at some food trailers for something sweet. I was looking for the one with those big, fat doughnuts, but couldn't remember its name or location. We went up and down Lamar, Congress, and 1st, asked few people, until we finally found Gourdough's back on Lamar just a few blocks from where we started. But we got a free doughnut for our effort! It was a nice day to sit outside and enjoy our desert.
We somewhat rushed home for an English class that was supposed to be at the library at 4 PM, but it got canceled. I then went to Mass and even though I was supposed to go to a birthday party that evening, I felt so tired that I just stayed in.
On Sunday we went to a concert at the Capitol. Austin Philharmonic Orchestra did a great job, and made it entertaining and engaging. After a short tour of the Capitol afterwards, we continued onto a shopping spree for another 3-4 hours, interrupted just by dinner in between.
Monday evening I went with friends to Celtic Christmas concert at the Cathedral, which was just a spectacular performance of pipes and drums, traditional Celtic instruments, music, and dance. I loved it so much that I had to go again the next evening with mom. She managed to stay awake till 10.45, which is when we got out of the church. It was a long night!
And so all of this fun would be more enjoyable if my little bird Ciro was not feeling so sick. He is getting worse and worse, barely is able to stand without falling. He has seizures almost every night, which keeps me awake. I feed him with baby food and baby bird food in the morning, to give him a jump start, although he eats throughout the day. It's just a sad, sad situation at home, and our hearts ache to see him that way. :(
She is still a bit jet-legged, but is almost on Austin time. Every year when she arrives, the first thing she wants to do in the house is wash the windows. :) I never do it, but back in Bosnia that is at least a once-a-month chore, and since she notices dirty windows, she was cleaning one a day for the past week. A little exercise she calls it.
Our first outing was her second evening here, and we started with Costco and HEB, of all places. We are trying to figure out our meal and desert plans for the holidays, but didn't do well on the planning, so we had to go back shopping again few days later.
Saturday we had an early start. I finally finished decorating the Christmas tree, which I did in stages Then we went down south to the tint shop that did windows on my new car. There were few little bubbles they needed to fix, but once I was there I noticed even more bubbles on the read window. They said they would want to redo the entire window, instead of just touch up, so I'll have to come back in January. Good thing I have lifetime warranty on those.
Since we were already on Lamar, I wanted to stop at some food trailers for something sweet. I was looking for the one with those big, fat doughnuts, but couldn't remember its name or location. We went up and down Lamar, Congress, and 1st, asked few people, until we finally found Gourdough's back on Lamar just a few blocks from where we started. But we got a free doughnut for our effort! It was a nice day to sit outside and enjoy our desert.
We somewhat rushed home for an English class that was supposed to be at the library at 4 PM, but it got canceled. I then went to Mass and even though I was supposed to go to a birthday party that evening, I felt so tired that I just stayed in.
On Sunday we went to a concert at the Capitol. Austin Philharmonic Orchestra did a great job, and made it entertaining and engaging. After a short tour of the Capitol afterwards, we continued onto a shopping spree for another 3-4 hours, interrupted just by dinner in between.
Monday evening I went with friends to Celtic Christmas concert at the Cathedral, which was just a spectacular performance of pipes and drums, traditional Celtic instruments, music, and dance. I loved it so much that I had to go again the next evening with mom. She managed to stay awake till 10.45, which is when we got out of the church. It was a long night!
And so all of this fun would be more enjoyable if my little bird Ciro was not feeling so sick. He is getting worse and worse, barely is able to stand without falling. He has seizures almost every night, which keeps me awake. I feed him with baby food and baby bird food in the morning, to give him a jump start, although he eats throughout the day. It's just a sad, sad situation at home, and our hearts ache to see him that way. :(
Thursday, December 15, 2011
$93 For One Hour Parking!
That's what they tried to charge me last night at the Austin airport. Yup, $93! And with a straight face!
I went to pick up my mom late at night. 11:50 PM is what the entrance parking ticket said. The Bergstrom airport no longer has 30min free parking, and their hourly rate is $3.
They were delayed getting off the plane. By the the time we were at the parking exit ramp, it was about 12:47 PM, just under an hour. As I handed the booth clerk the ticket and my credit card I asked smiling "did we make it in time" - thinking did we make it under 1 hour. To which she replied (after getting out and checking the temporary licence plates on the back of the car): "That will be $93". Um, what?! We were there for under an hour! She changed the digital display on the ramp to read 93.00.
She then said that the car has been parked in the garage for several days, they have patrols that monitor cars, and they have in their system my car VIN number. "Well, it's not correct," I replied, "we were here just tonight."
Her response, "it is correct! We have it here in the system."
I told her I do believe her that she has something in the system, but that it is not correct. I just came tonight. She asked if the car was at the airport at any point that week, and I said no.
She then said that she needs to call her supervisor, to which I replied "You better call him" She didn't like that response, and said "I better?! The only think I better do is charge you $93." Where does she get that attitude?!
When she got off the phone, she checked the plates again, didn't say anything, just changed the display to 6.00, and handed me back my credit card. I asked how much was it, and she said $6. I asked why not $3, but she said it rolled over and hour (while she was trying to sort their wrong information in the system!). It rolled over by 3 minutes. But I was there in under an hour, to which she replied: "Yeah, well that's your defeat!" What's her problem? What did we do to offend her and provoke that kind of attitude? No, "I am sorry for that issue, we messed up,..." No, no, none of that. She just added "Well, there is a number on there if you want to complain." I sure will, I said, and left the place.
I was so tired at that point, and had enough stress in my life to add another drama to it. $3 is not worth it. (a certain Frasier episode came to mind when he didn't want to pay for parking he didn't owe...)
What a disrespectful person!
The moral of the story: Do not give the parking booth clerk your credit card until you know how much they want you to pay.
I went to pick up my mom late at night. 11:50 PM is what the entrance parking ticket said. The Bergstrom airport no longer has 30min free parking, and their hourly rate is $3.
They were delayed getting off the plane. By the the time we were at the parking exit ramp, it was about 12:47 PM, just under an hour. As I handed the booth clerk the ticket and my credit card I asked smiling "did we make it in time" - thinking did we make it under 1 hour. To which she replied (after getting out and checking the temporary licence plates on the back of the car): "That will be $93". Um, what?! We were there for under an hour! She changed the digital display on the ramp to read 93.00.
She then said that the car has been parked in the garage for several days, they have patrols that monitor cars, and they have in their system my car VIN number. "Well, it's not correct," I replied, "we were here just tonight."
Her response, "it is correct! We have it here in the system."
I told her I do believe her that she has something in the system, but that it is not correct. I just came tonight. She asked if the car was at the airport at any point that week, and I said no.
She then said that she needs to call her supervisor, to which I replied "You better call him" She didn't like that response, and said "I better?! The only think I better do is charge you $93." Where does she get that attitude?!
When she got off the phone, she checked the plates again, didn't say anything, just changed the display to 6.00, and handed me back my credit card. I asked how much was it, and she said $6. I asked why not $3, but she said it rolled over and hour (while she was trying to sort their wrong information in the system!). It rolled over by 3 minutes. But I was there in under an hour, to which she replied: "Yeah, well that's your defeat!" What's her problem? What did we do to offend her and provoke that kind of attitude? No, "I am sorry for that issue, we messed up,..." No, no, none of that. She just added "Well, there is a number on there if you want to complain." I sure will, I said, and left the place.
I was so tired at that point, and had enough stress in my life to add another drama to it. $3 is not worth it. (a certain Frasier episode came to mind when he didn't want to pay for parking he didn't owe...)
What a disrespectful person!
The moral of the story: Do not give the parking booth clerk your credit card until you know how much they want you to pay.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Introducing: Pearl
Finally, I have a car! My car! My brand new car!
This beauty is 2012 Iridescent Silver Blue Pearl Hyundai Sonata, or simply: Pearl.
The two week long drama of looking for a car is over. And I am very happy with the choice.
I was looking for a sedan. A bit of an upgrade from my old Corolla. The cars that I considered were
Toyota Camri - Didn't like cheep knobs, handle in the middle of the arm rest on the door.
Honda Acsord - had a tremendous central console and overall 80s interior look
Nissan Altima - Liked overall look but didn't higher price with lesser warranty
Mazda6 - central console not too appealing, lower visibility in blind spots, and not perfect reviews
Ford Fusion - this was the only one I didn't test drive. I guess it wasn't a real contender after all.
Hyundai Sonata - excellent reviews and warranty, but lower blind spots visibility.
I started the process thinking I want a slightly used car, up to 10,000 miles. You know, because of that saying that new car looses 20% of its value when you drive it off the lot. But my experience with these low millage cars was not such. The price difference was just about $3K. Then I also realized that many car warranties are not transferable to the next owner. So then I considered both used and new.
I had my eye on a 2011 Sonata for several months. Pretty much this last year since I started thinking about a new car. And from the beginning I was just concerned with the high side and rear windows and how that affects the visibility. Well, that and just the fact that it's a Hyundai, a brand not that familiar for its quality and with some really annoying, cheep commercials (at least here locally). But my mechanic was advising for that one over Toyota, Honda, and Nissan saying how Hyundai quality went up and for these others it went down. Plus, the warranty was fantastic.
I first looked at the base Sonata model, GLS. It happened to be a used one, and even though it was base, the interior looked great. But at another dealership they showed be used high end model, Limited, and that one was awesome with all the upgrades: leather seats with warmers, lumbar power support on driver seat, navigation system, sunroof, .... all the bells. Those limited's didn't have my ideal color options, they were dark colors, or had high millage on them, so I kept looking. I was getting more than a little stressed out about it because dealerships didn't have used car I wanted and the time on paid rental car was running out. I would have extend for a week or so, but still it was a waiting game for the perfect used car to arrive.
About that time was when I started considering new cars and I realized I could have color and feature options if I get a new car. And, really, the price difference was only few thousands. And the warranty on a new car is 60K miles bumper-to-bumper, but on used one just 36K, minus the miles already on the car.
My friend Maggie suggested I look for new cars through dealership internet sales, instead of visiting them personally. For her it took a lot of pressure on price negotiations, and it worked great for me too. Since the price of new Limited was above my budget, but the base model didn't have some features important to me, like good seats, I started asking about the middle model, SE. Within a couple of days we agreed on the price and they were able to find that model in Houston. I paid the deposit and was supposed to pick up the car on Thursday.
Then I got an urgent message to call them about the car. Apparently the guy I talked to last about it (with internet sales they work as a team, not just one sales person) ordered a car with some upgrades that I didn't ask for, namely trunk spoiler and homelink feature. Now, I didn't know what a spoiler is. I googled some images and was shocked when those big, racing car trunk additions appeared. I had them send me a picture of the car they delivered, and it only had a subdued trunk lip spoiler. They kept telling how I am getting an awesome deal, because even without those upgrades it was an aggressive price. So, I went there on Thursday evening to purchase the car.
The hole day was tiring. I was already stressed out with time constraints up to that point, Ciro was feeling very sick and I had to drop her to the vet, Zoran left for India that Monday...So I just wanted to get it over with. As I was driving through rush hour traffic, I first realized that rental place is going to close before I get there and hopped that I could still leave the car there. Then I realized that the check book I was carrying with me those two weeks to the down payment was from an account that I closed when I thought my purse got stolen back in January. So, I basically didn't have money with me for a down payment that evening. The stress was only building up.
Then when I saw the car, that's when I realized, this SE model is a sports edition (maybe that's what SE stands for). It had two shiny mufflers, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, sports-tuned suspension, 18-inch hyper silver aluminum alloy wheels,...a sports car! It dawned on me that in all that test driving, I never saw the SE model.
I signed a few papers, and then they wanted me to call the insurance to add comprehensive coverage to my policy. They were surprised I was even able to rent a car with only liability coverage. The 1800 Farmers customer service was not able to change the policy, and I would have to call my agent in the morning to do that. And without that coverage the dealership was not letting me drive off with car.
That's where I just wanted to leave. Nothing was going right that evening. I didn't want to complete the financial part either. I just wanted to leave.
I didn't sleep well that night, and in the early morning started to think how I really don't like that car. All these factors just have me a bad feeling about it. So I emailed them back and said I don't want it because of that spoiler. It wasn't just that, but that's what started it.
We went back and forth on that Friday. I asked for the base model with several upgrades that were important to me, like window tint. It has comfortable power seats with lumbar support, really cool interior, and even has voice recognition! And for that same price as that sports model, I will be adding leather seats to the base model! They had that car on the lot, and before the day ended, I was able to drive it off! The leather was ordered and I will drop it off next week for a day to get it installed. The auto-dim rear-view mirror is still not available for aftermarket sale from Hyundai for 2012 models, so they'll replace that some time in the spring.
I thank everyone who helped me with their time, advices, and suggestions during this process. It took a village to help me find the new car. I couldn't have done it without you all!
This beauty is 2012 Iridescent Silver Blue Pearl Hyundai Sonata, or simply: Pearl.
The two week long drama of looking for a car is over. And I am very happy with the choice.
I was looking for a sedan. A bit of an upgrade from my old Corolla. The cars that I considered were
Toyota Camri - Didn't like cheep knobs, handle in the middle of the arm rest on the door.
Honda Acsord - had a tremendous central console and overall 80s interior look
Nissan Altima - Liked overall look but didn't higher price with lesser warranty
Mazda6 - central console not too appealing, lower visibility in blind spots, and not perfect reviews
Ford Fusion - this was the only one I didn't test drive. I guess it wasn't a real contender after all.
Hyundai Sonata - excellent reviews and warranty, but lower blind spots visibility.
I started the process thinking I want a slightly used car, up to 10,000 miles. You know, because of that saying that new car looses 20% of its value when you drive it off the lot. But my experience with these low millage cars was not such. The price difference was just about $3K. Then I also realized that many car warranties are not transferable to the next owner. So then I considered both used and new.
I had my eye on a 2011 Sonata for several months. Pretty much this last year since I started thinking about a new car. And from the beginning I was just concerned with the high side and rear windows and how that affects the visibility. Well, that and just the fact that it's a Hyundai, a brand not that familiar for its quality and with some really annoying, cheep commercials (at least here locally). But my mechanic was advising for that one over Toyota, Honda, and Nissan saying how Hyundai quality went up and for these others it went down. Plus, the warranty was fantastic.
I first looked at the base Sonata model, GLS. It happened to be a used one, and even though it was base, the interior looked great. But at another dealership they showed be used high end model, Limited, and that one was awesome with all the upgrades: leather seats with warmers, lumbar power support on driver seat, navigation system, sunroof, .... all the bells. Those limited's didn't have my ideal color options, they were dark colors, or had high millage on them, so I kept looking. I was getting more than a little stressed out about it because dealerships didn't have used car I wanted and the time on paid rental car was running out. I would have extend for a week or so, but still it was a waiting game for the perfect used car to arrive.
About that time was when I started considering new cars and I realized I could have color and feature options if I get a new car. And, really, the price difference was only few thousands. And the warranty on a new car is 60K miles bumper-to-bumper, but on used one just 36K, minus the miles already on the car.
My friend Maggie suggested I look for new cars through dealership internet sales, instead of visiting them personally. For her it took a lot of pressure on price negotiations, and it worked great for me too. Since the price of new Limited was above my budget, but the base model didn't have some features important to me, like good seats, I started asking about the middle model, SE. Within a couple of days we agreed on the price and they were able to find that model in Houston. I paid the deposit and was supposed to pick up the car on Thursday.
Then I got an urgent message to call them about the car. Apparently the guy I talked to last about it (with internet sales they work as a team, not just one sales person) ordered a car with some upgrades that I didn't ask for, namely trunk spoiler and homelink feature. Now, I didn't know what a spoiler is. I googled some images and was shocked when those big, racing car trunk additions appeared. I had them send me a picture of the car they delivered, and it only had a subdued trunk lip spoiler. They kept telling how I am getting an awesome deal, because even without those upgrades it was an aggressive price. So, I went there on Thursday evening to purchase the car.
The hole day was tiring. I was already stressed out with time constraints up to that point, Ciro was feeling very sick and I had to drop her to the vet, Zoran left for India that Monday...So I just wanted to get it over with. As I was driving through rush hour traffic, I first realized that rental place is going to close before I get there and hopped that I could still leave the car there. Then I realized that the check book I was carrying with me those two weeks to the down payment was from an account that I closed when I thought my purse got stolen back in January. So, I basically didn't have money with me for a down payment that evening. The stress was only building up.
Then when I saw the car, that's when I realized, this SE model is a sports edition (maybe that's what SE stands for). It had two shiny mufflers, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, sports-tuned suspension, 18-inch hyper silver aluminum alloy wheels,...a sports car! It dawned on me that in all that test driving, I never saw the SE model.
I signed a few papers, and then they wanted me to call the insurance to add comprehensive coverage to my policy. They were surprised I was even able to rent a car with only liability coverage. The 1800 Farmers customer service was not able to change the policy, and I would have to call my agent in the morning to do that. And without that coverage the dealership was not letting me drive off with car.
That's where I just wanted to leave. Nothing was going right that evening. I didn't want to complete the financial part either. I just wanted to leave.
I didn't sleep well that night, and in the early morning started to think how I really don't like that car. All these factors just have me a bad feeling about it. So I emailed them back and said I don't want it because of that spoiler. It wasn't just that, but that's what started it.
We went back and forth on that Friday. I asked for the base model with several upgrades that were important to me, like window tint. It has comfortable power seats with lumbar support, really cool interior, and even has voice recognition! And for that same price as that sports model, I will be adding leather seats to the base model! They had that car on the lot, and before the day ended, I was able to drive it off! The leather was ordered and I will drop it off next week for a day to get it installed. The auto-dim rear-view mirror is still not available for aftermarket sale from Hyundai for 2012 models, so they'll replace that some time in the spring.
I thank everyone who helped me with their time, advices, and suggestions during this process. It took a village to help me find the new car. I couldn't have done it without you all!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Parting After 11 Years
With my car.
Green Toyota Corolla CE. year 2000.
Here is a funny thing: as I signed the papers today to transfer the car title over to the insurance company, I realized that it was EXACTLY to the the day today 11 years ago that I bought the car. To. The. Day!
I'll fill you in on its last few days and how it all ended, but let me remember where we've been.
I bought the car few days before I graduated from college. I had just received the driver's licence couple of weeks earlier. I never owned a car before, and knew nothing about cars. Our lab technician Mike took me to few dealerships around Beaumont to help me find a car. All I knew was that I wanted "a small car that I can easily park, that has radio and power locks and windows". How innocent! :) I had just received a $2000 SWE scholarship, and I was able to dedicate just a quarter of that for down payment. And what fit in those parameters was this, almost new car back then, with about 11K miles on it.
We've had our moments. I drove to Austin just 3 days after I bought it, to hunt for an apartment. My first trip longer than 3 hours. I was a bit weary about the drive, so I took a friend with me. On our way back, just 15 minutes before we arrived, I hit a pothole and blew a tire. Neither of us knew anything about changing tires, didn't even know I had a spare tire and tools in the trunk :), so we stopped someone on I10 to change it for us. I took it to the dealership later and they agreed to put on a new tire. About a month later I went with the family to San Antonio. On our way back, in the middle of nowhere, at night, that same tire pealed off at 70 mph, slamming into and breaking the components under the hood and twisting the side metal. It was really scary! I managed to pull over safely. We pulled over a trucker who took me to a gas station to call the police. We waited for the patrol car to came and drove with them back to the highway where my car was. They helped me patch it together with some bungee cords and roll gauze (!), change the tire, gather parts left behind, and then we drove at 30 mph back to Austin. After some convincing, the dealership agreed to pay for the repair. Some $2400! And of course, can't forget the lasting impact the hail storm of March 25th 2005 (a date reserved for hail) left. It was another $4500 damage, a nice check that went toward the closing cost of the house.
The car was slowly accumulating issues after that. I only fixed safety issues, like the engine mount (although the brakes have been in a pretty bad shape lately) and those that prevented it from passing the state inspection. But there was a long list of other issues that was just getting longer:
- windshield got a crack years ago, from a fast driving police car skidding on some rocks. The crack only got longer with years, reaching over to the driver's side.
- driver door handle broke couple of years ago. I just replace it with the one on the back door. That one was now almost at a breaking point.
- windshield wipers' pump broke. I could no longer spray water when using wipers, which caused terrible smudges unless using them in pouring rain.
- The left blinker would sometimes 'stick' and not come on when switched.
- The engine would sometimes stutter when starting, and sometimes shut off. Luckily this was only when starting.
- Wheel alignment was long overdue.
- The brakes...there were days when I didn't think the car will stop at the sign!
- I lost two wheel covers when I drove close to a curb.
- The steering wheel was chafing. Very annoying while driving.
- Floor carpet had holes.
- few months ago my brother locked keys inside, and the guys fishing them out damaged the rubber on the doors, so the car whistled at high speeds.
- Not to even mention the dings from hail and other unknown cars.
- overdue for maintenance by few thousand miles.
- overdue for oil change by few hundred miles.
But, last Sunday it has met its last damage. I was driving to church, mid day, downtown. As I was approaching the light on 10th and San Jacinto, in a left-turn-only lane a vehicle was sitting at the green light. There were no lights on it. I thought for a second if I should go around it or approach behind. I did the later. I guess I thought they are probably a bit slow to react to the light. At about 3-4 ft behind it, still no lights indicating what it's going to do next, the car went full force backwards! I had a split second to decide if I should a)honk, b)switch to reverse, or c) brace for impact. I didn't have time to process that, so I did c). I think I actually did switch in reverse, but I was still holding my foot on the brake. My body did that motion that the dummy dolls in car safety testing commercials do, with head flying forward and body twisting. The air begs didn't deploy, and my body didn't hit any part of the car. As I raised my head up, I saw the hood half way up, and then the car, the black truck in front of me, taking off. I remember seeing their lights for the first time then. I think I saw the last four digits on the licence plates: 9333. It was the new style plates, with 7 alpha-numerics. But I didn't get what kind of truck it was. So...I just took after it! That was my first instinct. I mean, what else was I supposed to do!
I couldn't quite see well in front of me with that hood up. The truck drove really fast. Taking turns into one-way streets. The wrong way! I went after it! The other cars were moving away. I guess they saw how banged up the front of my car was. I chased it for few blocks. But when we got onto Brazos St., with all that construction going on and traffic reduced to one lane, the truck was able to sneak between other cars and take a turn before I could see where it left afterwards. I lost them!
I drove back to the parking garage where I would normally park. Just then I realized that the car was smoking. As I put it into parking gear, it made a really loud revving noise, so I quickly turned it off. I couldn't open the door on my side, so I went out on the passenger side. There was some fluid leaking. Later I found out it was radiator coolant. That's why it was smoking.
The next few hours were somewhat a blur. I went to Mass - I figured that'll give me time to compose and there will be people there who could give me some help. It was first week of Advent, the first Mass with the new translation of English missal, and I don't remember anything from it. When we all walked outside, I asked to borrow someone's phone to dial 911. That was a conversation starter! It took the police about 45 minutes to arrive. I the meantime, I called the insurance, but we got disconnected. Only two friends, Joe and Raul, stayed around until I finished with the cops. It was a super cold and windy day. The cop pretty much just took a look at the damage, took my statement, and said they see those hit-and-runs every day and "that is why he would never drive his personal vehicle in the city". And that's supposed to help us feel safe?!
I took all the things from the car out, went to lunch with the guys, and Raul later gave me a ride home. My head starting spinning from thinking what all needs to happen in the coming days. My brother had an interview tomorrow morning, so that was the first thing to figure out. A good friend, Amela, let me borrow her car for the day on Monday. Zoran made it to the interview, although a bit late because of the traffic. I made it back to the parking garage just before they called the towing company and begged them to let it stay for the day. They were reluctant because of the leaking, possibly hazardous fluids from the car. Applied for a car loan at my bank. Got in touch with the insurance adjuster and begged for an appraiser to come the same day. Went to three dealerships and started test driving some cars. Met with the appraiser, he declared the car totalled, found a tower that could remove the car first thing in the morning. Got the adjuster to arrange the rent-a-car. Picked it up, returned the borrowed car, got home and crashed.
This whole week was pretty stressful. Working and looking for a car on a tight timeline is no fun. But, it too shall pass. It could have been much worse. I did, after all, need a new car very soon.
Green Toyota Corolla CE. year 2000.
Here is a funny thing: as I signed the papers today to transfer the car title over to the insurance company, I realized that it was EXACTLY to the the day today 11 years ago that I bought the car. To. The. Day!
I'll fill you in on its last few days and how it all ended, but let me remember where we've been.
I bought the car few days before I graduated from college. I had just received the driver's licence couple of weeks earlier. I never owned a car before, and knew nothing about cars. Our lab technician Mike took me to few dealerships around Beaumont to help me find a car. All I knew was that I wanted "a small car that I can easily park, that has radio and power locks and windows". How innocent! :) I had just received a $2000 SWE scholarship, and I was able to dedicate just a quarter of that for down payment. And what fit in those parameters was this, almost new car back then, with about 11K miles on it.
We've had our moments. I drove to Austin just 3 days after I bought it, to hunt for an apartment. My first trip longer than 3 hours. I was a bit weary about the drive, so I took a friend with me. On our way back, just 15 minutes before we arrived, I hit a pothole and blew a tire. Neither of us knew anything about changing tires, didn't even know I had a spare tire and tools in the trunk :), so we stopped someone on I10 to change it for us. I took it to the dealership later and they agreed to put on a new tire. About a month later I went with the family to San Antonio. On our way back, in the middle of nowhere, at night, that same tire pealed off at 70 mph, slamming into and breaking the components under the hood and twisting the side metal. It was really scary! I managed to pull over safely. We pulled over a trucker who took me to a gas station to call the police. We waited for the patrol car to came and drove with them back to the highway where my car was. They helped me patch it together with some bungee cords and roll gauze (!), change the tire, gather parts left behind, and then we drove at 30 mph back to Austin. After some convincing, the dealership agreed to pay for the repair. Some $2400! And of course, can't forget the lasting impact the hail storm of March 25th 2005 (a date reserved for hail) left. It was another $4500 damage, a nice check that went toward the closing cost of the house.
The car was slowly accumulating issues after that. I only fixed safety issues, like the engine mount (although the brakes have been in a pretty bad shape lately) and those that prevented it from passing the state inspection. But there was a long list of other issues that was just getting longer:
- windshield got a crack years ago, from a fast driving police car skidding on some rocks. The crack only got longer with years, reaching over to the driver's side.
- driver door handle broke couple of years ago. I just replace it with the one on the back door. That one was now almost at a breaking point.
- windshield wipers' pump broke. I could no longer spray water when using wipers, which caused terrible smudges unless using them in pouring rain.
- The left blinker would sometimes 'stick' and not come on when switched.
- The engine would sometimes stutter when starting, and sometimes shut off. Luckily this was only when starting.
- Wheel alignment was long overdue.
- The brakes...there were days when I didn't think the car will stop at the sign!
- I lost two wheel covers when I drove close to a curb.
- The steering wheel was chafing. Very annoying while driving.
- Floor carpet had holes.
- few months ago my brother locked keys inside, and the guys fishing them out damaged the rubber on the doors, so the car whistled at high speeds.
- Not to even mention the dings from hail and other unknown cars.
- overdue for maintenance by few thousand miles.
- overdue for oil change by few hundred miles.
But, last Sunday it has met its last damage. I was driving to church, mid day, downtown. As I was approaching the light on 10th and San Jacinto, in a left-turn-only lane a vehicle was sitting at the green light. There were no lights on it. I thought for a second if I should go around it or approach behind. I did the later. I guess I thought they are probably a bit slow to react to the light. At about 3-4 ft behind it, still no lights indicating what it's going to do next, the car went full force backwards! I had a split second to decide if I should a)honk, b)switch to reverse, or c) brace for impact. I didn't have time to process that, so I did c). I think I actually did switch in reverse, but I was still holding my foot on the brake. My body did that motion that the dummy dolls in car safety testing commercials do, with head flying forward and body twisting. The air begs didn't deploy, and my body didn't hit any part of the car. As I raised my head up, I saw the hood half way up, and then the car, the black truck in front of me, taking off. I remember seeing their lights for the first time then. I think I saw the last four digits on the licence plates: 9333. It was the new style plates, with 7 alpha-numerics. But I didn't get what kind of truck it was. So...I just took after it! That was my first instinct. I mean, what else was I supposed to do!
I couldn't quite see well in front of me with that hood up. The truck drove really fast. Taking turns into one-way streets. The wrong way! I went after it! The other cars were moving away. I guess they saw how banged up the front of my car was. I chased it for few blocks. But when we got onto Brazos St., with all that construction going on and traffic reduced to one lane, the truck was able to sneak between other cars and take a turn before I could see where it left afterwards. I lost them!
I drove back to the parking garage where I would normally park. Just then I realized that the car was smoking. As I put it into parking gear, it made a really loud revving noise, so I quickly turned it off. I couldn't open the door on my side, so I went out on the passenger side. There was some fluid leaking. Later I found out it was radiator coolant. That's why it was smoking.
The next few hours were somewhat a blur. I went to Mass - I figured that'll give me time to compose and there will be people there who could give me some help. It was first week of Advent, the first Mass with the new translation of English missal, and I don't remember anything from it. When we all walked outside, I asked to borrow someone's phone to dial 911. That was a conversation starter! It took the police about 45 minutes to arrive. I the meantime, I called the insurance, but we got disconnected. Only two friends, Joe and Raul, stayed around until I finished with the cops. It was a super cold and windy day. The cop pretty much just took a look at the damage, took my statement, and said they see those hit-and-runs every day and "that is why he would never drive his personal vehicle in the city". And that's supposed to help us feel safe?!
I took all the things from the car out, went to lunch with the guys, and Raul later gave me a ride home. My head starting spinning from thinking what all needs to happen in the coming days. My brother had an interview tomorrow morning, so that was the first thing to figure out. A good friend, Amela, let me borrow her car for the day on Monday. Zoran made it to the interview, although a bit late because of the traffic. I made it back to the parking garage just before they called the towing company and begged them to let it stay for the day. They were reluctant because of the leaking, possibly hazardous fluids from the car. Applied for a car loan at my bank. Got in touch with the insurance adjuster and begged for an appraiser to come the same day. Went to three dealerships and started test driving some cars. Met with the appraiser, he declared the car totalled, found a tower that could remove the car first thing in the morning. Got the adjuster to arrange the rent-a-car. Picked it up, returned the borrowed car, got home and crashed.
This whole week was pretty stressful. Working and looking for a car on a tight timeline is no fun. But, it too shall pass. It could have been much worse. I did, after all, need a new car very soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)