It's been over four months since I hit the deer with the Jag. Because I hardly tapped the deer, the damage to the car was minimal. Just a broken headlamp glass and the grill was cracked. The grill is plastic. I guess if it would have been chrome the car would have been priced out of the range of most luxury car buyers.
After the accident, I did a police report and intended to file a claim with the insurance company. But then I thought about it and figured that I could probably have it repaired for less than my deductible, which is $500. This damage could not amount to that much and I could probably do the repairs myself. I guess I came to that conclusion after I had a beer or two. That same night I probably thought I was a good dancer and singer as well.
So, I got on eBay and found a used grill in perfect shape. Only $175. Sold.
Then I was so ticked off to learn that the headlight glass could not be replaced, the entire two light giant component needed to be replaced. The thing still worked, just the one small glass was broken. A new one is $775, just for the part. I want environmentalists to get involved in this, if Jaguar just made replacement glass think about how much less would be in landfills.
I finally found a used headlight for sale on eBay, from somewhere in California. I bought it for $200. It said it was waranteed. But when I emailed the guy with a question he answered me back with an attitude. I'm afraid I may have bought this from some gang and a chop shop.
I finally got the headlight and it matches the car except it looks 15 years older than the one that it will replace, which has been lovingly cared for and garaged. Oh, well, I think it may be able to be buffed out.
So, Saturday comes and I take Bob out to the garage to install the parts and finally fix the Jag. We open the hood and just stare inside. Hmmm...this isn't like replacing a lightbulb. There are a bunch of wires and it's way too confusing. He begins to pull on a wire and I tell him to stop, we need to hire an expert. All I can picture is him getting electrocuted or doing more damage than good.
Today, I took it to the local Shell Station, Peach's in Phoebus. The man there was really nice. But after an hour he called to say that the headlight could not be installed there. In order to attach it, it requires removal of the bumper! He did attach the grill and didn't charge me, so I bought him some donuts as a thank you.
To summarize, I now have spent $375. The grill is finally fixed. But, I have to go to a body shop and have the bumper taken off so the used headlight can be installed. Then, it may not even work, I doubt that chop shop took great care in removing it. The warranty on the headlight may be bogus, backed by a bunch of thugs who want to break my kneecaps or I could wake up with a horse head in my bed.
I guess then I'll call the insurance company.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Fountain of Youth
I’m back at the Lakehouse in Wisconsin and watching the lake turn from ice to liquid again.
I discovered that my basement was flooding, it was the sump pump, which had stopped pumping. So I chose a plumber the way most people do. I saw a nice clean truck driving around that had “Plumbing” on it with a phone number.
I could have called the plumber down the street, but his sign is hideous. It has those slide in letters and they are all worn, faded and in different colors and stages of decay. He also has an unsecure wireless network, which is another indicator of half-ass and sloppy.
So, my new plumber pulled up and I was really happy until he backed his trailer over my little flower bed. Oh, well, nothing is blooming yet anyways.
While the plumber was here, I also had him reroute the drainage pipe because the other one drained into the lake, which is supposedly against DNR rules and also caused the land behind my sea wall to be soft and when the ice push came, blew it all apart. (That repair is on tap for next month.) You can see the sea wall in the picture.
The new sump pump is in and when he turned it on, it pumped enough water to raise the lake an inch. It turns on every 3 minutes (yes, I’m timing it) and pumps more water out. Now the side of my house is like a small creek. I’m hoping this will evaporate. I’m also throwing some bird seed in it so the birds take baths and fly off with some of my water on their feathers.
I am beginning to think that this house is on a spring. The plumber told me that there are artesian springs in the area. Maybe I could sell this stuff as some kind of fountain of youth water. I just would have to wear a veil over my face so the customers won’t see it’s a farce.
One thing the plumber told me as we were standing outside watching the sump pump gush water from the fountain of youth is that the eagles eat the ducks that fall asleep on the lake and get frozen in. I was horrified by this story, and I watched the eagles fly all along the icy parts of the lake, looking for their weak prey.
So, after he left, I drove around the entire lake and looked for stuck ducks that I might have to free. One more thing to worry about.
I discovered that my basement was flooding, it was the sump pump, which had stopped pumping. So I chose a plumber the way most people do. I saw a nice clean truck driving around that had “Plumbing” on it with a phone number.
I could have called the plumber down the street, but his sign is hideous. It has those slide in letters and they are all worn, faded and in different colors and stages of decay. He also has an unsecure wireless network, which is another indicator of half-ass and sloppy.
So, my new plumber pulled up and I was really happy until he backed his trailer over my little flower bed. Oh, well, nothing is blooming yet anyways.
While the plumber was here, I also had him reroute the drainage pipe because the other one drained into the lake, which is supposedly against DNR rules and also caused the land behind my sea wall to be soft and when the ice push came, blew it all apart. (That repair is on tap for next month.) You can see the sea wall in the picture.
The new sump pump is in and when he turned it on, it pumped enough water to raise the lake an inch. It turns on every 3 minutes (yes, I’m timing it) and pumps more water out. Now the side of my house is like a small creek. I’m hoping this will evaporate. I’m also throwing some bird seed in it so the birds take baths and fly off with some of my water on their feathers.
I am beginning to think that this house is on a spring. The plumber told me that there are artesian springs in the area. Maybe I could sell this stuff as some kind of fountain of youth water. I just would have to wear a veil over my face so the customers won’t see it’s a farce.
One thing the plumber told me as we were standing outside watching the sump pump gush water from the fountain of youth is that the eagles eat the ducks that fall asleep on the lake and get frozen in. I was horrified by this story, and I watched the eagles fly all along the icy parts of the lake, looking for their weak prey.
So, after he left, I drove around the entire lake and looked for stuck ducks that I might have to free. One more thing to worry about.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Cherry Blossoms
Bob and I were in DC Wednesday, peak time for the cherry blossoms. We drove down to the Tidal Basin area to see them. It was bedlam. People everywhere, horrible traffic, traffic lights weren’t working, and there was not one parking spot to be found. After an hour of driving around, we decided to head back to the hotel. As we entered the highway, I tried to snap a quick picture of the cherry blossoms from the road. I ended up with a close-up of the guard rail.
We ate an early dinner and I was lamenting that the day had such perfect weather and I was disappointed that I didn’t get some pictures of the cherry blossoms. Bob said, “Let’s take the Metro down there. We’ve got over an hour of daylight left.”
It was about a half-mile walk from the hotel to the Metro. We didn’t have a lot of small bills but didn’t want to put a $20 in the Metro ticket machine, because it gives change in those fake looking $1 gold coins. Bob put $5 on his card and I put $2 on mine.
We got on the Metro and asked a lady which stop would get us closest to the Tidal Basin. We got off at that stop and when I put my ticket in the machine to release me from the Metro, it would not take it. I asked the Metro cop why. He said I didn’t have enough money on my ticket. So I put the 85 cents I needed on and we were on our way. (And, yes, on the way home, we ended up with the gold dollar coins.)
Our hour of daylight was quickly evaporating as it took a half hour to get there and about 5 minutes to gather enough change to get out of the Metro station. The first thing we realized it that we had not gotten off at the closest Metro stop. We had to walk about a mile and a half to get to the Tidal Basin. By now we were in a very fast walk.
I wanted to jay walk and cut across grassy areas, but Bob would not cooperate. We had to stay on the sidewalks as the signs told us. We are in a slow jog and I am breathlessly complaining that we would be there by now if we just took my shortcuts. The sun is quickly dropping from the sky.
We ate an early dinner and I was lamenting that the day had such perfect weather and I was disappointed that I didn’t get some pictures of the cherry blossoms. Bob said, “Let’s take the Metro down there. We’ve got over an hour of daylight left.”
It was about a half-mile walk from the hotel to the Metro. We didn’t have a lot of small bills but didn’t want to put a $20 in the Metro ticket machine, because it gives change in those fake looking $1 gold coins. Bob put $5 on his card and I put $2 on mine.
We got on the Metro and asked a lady which stop would get us closest to the Tidal Basin. We got off at that stop and when I put my ticket in the machine to release me from the Metro, it would not take it. I asked the Metro cop why. He said I didn’t have enough money on my ticket. So I put the 85 cents I needed on and we were on our way. (And, yes, on the way home, we ended up with the gold dollar coins.)
Our hour of daylight was quickly evaporating as it took a half hour to get there and about 5 minutes to gather enough change to get out of the Metro station. The first thing we realized it that we had not gotten off at the closest Metro stop. We had to walk about a mile and a half to get to the Tidal Basin. By now we were in a very fast walk.
I wanted to jay walk and cut across grassy areas, but Bob would not cooperate. We had to stay on the sidewalks as the signs told us. We are in a slow jog and I am breathlessly complaining that we would be there by now if we just took my shortcuts. The sun is quickly dropping from the sky.
Bob suddenly stops and takes a picture of a random cherry tree. He explained that this was going to be the best we could do. By the time we got to the Tidal Basin, the sun had set. It was so beautiful but we were unable to capture it with a picture. Guess I’ll just have to buy a postcard
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