Eventful

Well, to say the last two weeks has been eventful would probably be an understatement. I returned to Arizona on the 8th, along with my friend Lauren and her little 15-month-old boy Daxton. I had a whole slew of ideas for her visit, and we did quite a few things, but because of working around the napping schedules of three children, we rested at home a lot too.

On Saturday night we went with the Giauques to Glendale's glitter and glow event which is the end event of their holiday lights. They have entertainment and hot air balloons all along the downtown Glendale streets.
A week ago, on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day we all went to the zoo. Elia loved holding the giraffe tibia...And the orangutans were Lauren's favorite. Dax didn't tell us what he enjoyed the most, but we'll assume he had fun until he tells us otherwise.
We had a great time there, but on the way home a truck slammed on its breaks and in order to avoid hitting him, I swerved off the road and hit the Thunderbird exit sign instead. I've decided that I want to go to a defensive driving class. After the accidents in Utah (a deer ran out and a semi hit us head-on (neither of which I could avoid)), I just don't feel as confident anymore. I just sort of panic in some situations and I know that isn't good. I don't feel unsafe really, but I do feel I could sharpen up my skills. We were all very lucky (though our car will need about $6,000 of work done).
In fact, Dax slept through the accident and my kids, tired from the zoo trip fell asleep as we were figuring everything out with the car. So the rest of Lauren's visit was spent figuring out the stuff about my car (which ended up being way more frustrating than the accident itself. So, we took it to a shop recommended by the tow truck driver. He told me the shop could pay my deductible (which, from our standpoint sounded really great). What I later found out is he would get the money for the deductible by not fixing minor things like a scratch here or a dent there. I was really unhappy because he didn't tell me that upfront. I thought he would pay my deductible as sort of a way to get me to fix my car at his shop (like windshield places do). SO, when I found that out, I wanted to take my car to a different shop because I didn't trust him anymore to do all the repairs. He wasn't happy and charged me a $75 storage fee x 3 days (though it was there for just a little over 48 hours) + a $250 administration fee! I guess about 5 shops in Phoenix charge that and it is supposed to be for talking to you and setting up your file! So, he only did the take down of my car with the insurance adjuster and he pocketed $475! My insurance I then found out won't cover the storage or admin fee, though I talked them into covering the storage fee. I then had to pay to have it towed to the new shop (where, I will have to pay my $750 deductible). The moral of the story is: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

So now, we are going without a car so that we can try and save the money we are entitled to for the rental car. We get $50 a day for 20 days and whatever of the $1,000 we don't spend (assuming our car is in the shop for that long, which it should be) we get a check for, which will hopefully offset the insurance deductible. Talk about a headache! It was doubly frustrating because Eric was still in China and I didn't talk to him from the time the accident happened on Monday until Wed. morning. Really, I am most upset about that guy at the first shop who I feel took advantage of me because he's upset I didn't want him to fix my car.
I feel bad for poor Lauren who ended up staying with the kids at home during their naps while I ran around trying to figure things out. Fortunately, she likes to read and got a lot of that in. I honestly don't know what I would have done without her here.

For a little laugh after all that serious stuff, this is the link I sent Eric when I wrote him an e-mail describing the accident: http://www.funtoosh.com/dj.php?details=a11~362 I told him to look at the link first, then I put at the very bottom, the details about the accident.

So, besides the lack of a car, things are pretty much back to normal. Eric started classes today in his last trimester! He is looking into some job prospects and has an interview on Feb. 4th with a pharmaceutical company here in Phoenix. It isn't his top job choice, but will be great practice and who knows what will happen. He is scheduled for four 1-hour interviews on Monday!

One more note, for any of you who eventually work for an insurance company, if you are talking to someone who has just had a wreck don't say, "Have a great day!" When they told me that I thought to myself, "It's a little late for that." A more appropriate greeting might be, "I hope your day goes better!"