It Was an Accident, I Swear

The other day, I was involved in my first automotive collision in more than six years. It wasn’t fun. I was eastbound in the right lane, and another vehicle was eastbound in the left lane. A third vehicle turned from a north-south street into the eastbound left lane, with no regard whatsoever for the vehicle already occupying that lane. To avoid being T-boned by the offending vehicle, the car that started out in the left lane moved into my lane and stopped short of a collision with the third vehicle. I hit the brakes, but didn’t have time to stop. I braced myself for collision, and the front left corner of my car hit the back right corner of the second vehicle. Once it was over, we pulled off to the side of the road, and the third vehicle took off. One bystander (who came running when he heard the screeching tires and CRUNCH of car-on-car) managed to get a partial license plate number. I didn’t sustain any injuries, nor did the people in vehicle number two, but we called the police to get the accident report filled out. If I’d considered it, I might’ve spent more time talking with the people in that vehicle about the wisdom of involving the police. I suspect that the damage done to my vehicle will be well under my $1000 deductible, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the other driver’s situation isn’t too terribly different. The police officer who wrote up the accident report explained that fault wouldn’t be assigned to either of us because the third vehicle caused the accident, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that our insurance companies won’t boost our premiums, regardless of the fact that they’re not going to pay out. That sucks. I called my insurance company, but they still want me to call back and answer some questions about my claim. I think I’ll ask if I can hold off on filing the claim until I visit the body shop to see if it’s really worth it.

Anyway, I’ve been enjoying the motorcycle a great deal. I’m much more comfortable on it now, and I’ve even got the driving test skills down pat so that I can pass when I go to get my license (I’m currently riding on a permit, which means no riding at night, no passengers, and no freeways…I fudge a little bit on the riding at night part, but I’ve been really good about the other two).

I’ve been busy as hell these last couple weeks, it seems. I’m pretty damned exhausted, to be honest. This weekend should provide me with a bit more rest than I’ve gotten recently, but I’ll be working all next weekend. It’s worth it…I’ll be saving up my flex time (“professional days” we call them) for when my mother, brother, and lover visit in early August. We might even pop for a whale-watching trip on the ocean (~$90/person for a little over a half-day). We’ll see.

On a final note, I managed to watch two Michael Moore movies this past weekend: Sicko and Bowling for Columbine. While he definitely manipulates his viewers into seeing the truth from a particular angle, he also has some very compelling arguments to make that our nation must begin to address soon. I also see that there’s a movie in production called Fahrenheit 9/11.5. That oughtta be interesting! As for tomorrow, it’s Harry Potter for me.