34 days ago, I parked our van in a parking space in fron of my shop (the same space I have been using for almost three years) and someone hit it and totaled it. They hit it so hard that it lifted the van off of the ground, set it down on the sidewalk a half-of-a-parking space further down. I spent $2,500 buying a '93 GMC Yukon to replace it, we needed something quick, and it came with more than $1,000 in the stereo system. Today some hit the Yukon, and it was like a sick case of déjà vu. The $100 I had just put in the gas tank cascaded out, and the driver of the car (the owner's brother) was taken to the hospital. There was no insurance documentation (registration or anything). So, basically, I'm screwed.
Then my wife calls to tell me, "Good news, we just got the $1,300 insurance check for the van."
Thought I'd share. It's the second "bang" I've heard in as many months that has resulted in the lss of a vehicle for me.
While I was typing this (or typo-ing this), my father-in-law, who just had hip-replacement surgery, was sent back to the hospital (via ambulance)! He's a diabetic, and his blood bottomed out twice through the night.
Posted by NoTimeToThink (Member # 5174) on :
Sorry, IB; it sucks sometimes...
I keep telling myself "This too shall pass"; until the next thing comes along.
Hang in there...
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
Gosh IB, I'm sorry. That stinks. I'm glad you and your family weren't injured. I'm sure it's hard to see it this way - but what excellent luck to have had two accidents and no injuries to you or yours.
I hope your father-in-law stabilizes quickly.
Posted by Tiergan (Member # 7852) on :
Ouch! I hope the week turns around for you, IB.
Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :
Ack, IB. Sometimes life just sucks. The only comfort (and cold comfort at that) is that this too will pass.
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Hope things turn up for you. I know what a bad week is like.
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
You know IB, the last time I had a day like that it inspired me to write a flash piece. 'Expired Benefits' was bought by the first magazine I sent it to. Going to be out in this quarters Flash Me magazine debuting August. Bad karma has a way of sparking that inner author. Feel the force, stroke that keyboard, write something great.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
My apprentice quit today, stealing $50, too. Father-in-law bottomed out at a blood sugar of 31 (after he ate) he's still not in a room, and they're talking blood fusion.
Posted by Bent Tree (Member # 7777) on :
I feel ya.
Sometimes I feel I was a war criminal in a past life.
Things'll turn around.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Luck is relative. One Sunday morning when I got off from work, my car wouldn't start. (Bad battery.) I had to arrange pickup and then later in the day return with a new battery. (My father the auto mechanic did the work---could've probably done it myself but not as neat or efficiently.)
Meanwhile, there was a union meeting that day. Not a mandatory attendance thing, but I liked to go---it's sometimes the only way to find out what's actually going on at work---so I managed to pull myself together and go.
Which was an improvement in my luck, because the meetings have a membership attendance award, to encourage people to show up, that starts at fifty dollars and adds twenty every time it's unclaimed. My card was drawn---I won two hundred ninety dollars.
If I hadn't gone...
Posted by darklight (Member # 5213) on :
Acording to a guy on the TV yesterday morning, the luck you have depends on the letters in your name. If you have a G or a Y in your name, you're going to be lucky and successful. Even more so I suppose if you have both.
After the two weeks I've just had, I'm considering changing my name.
I'm sure things will get better for you, but I keep thinking things will improve my end, but it never seems to happen!
Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
Hey IB. Sorry things are bad this week. I hope your father-in-law has leveled back out.
The whole having two cars hit is one of those truths are stranger than fiction things.
Would anyone believe it if we actually put IB's week into a novel or short story?
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
quote:Which was an improvement in my luck, because the meetings have a membership attendance award, to encourage people to show up, that starts at fifty dollars and adds twenty every time it's unclaimed. My card was drawn---I won two hundred ninety dollars.
If I hadn't gone...
A random stranger would have stopped you and handed you an unbounceable check for a million dollars.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
My father-in-law is in intensive care. He's had steady 30s blood sugars. Nobody knows why, yet.
Meanwhile, the damages to my truck are significant--but not very visible. A local paper covered it here. His vehicle (actually his poor sister's vehicle) took the worst. You can see how the collision re-parked me in the picture with the absorbent fiber sheets.
Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
It says a lot about Rockland that this was worth of so many lines of print. Closing Rte 1 at for an hour during tourist season was probably the most notable part.
Posted by kings_falcon (Member # 3261) on :
On the more important front, here's wishing the best for your father-in-law.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
quote: It says a lot about Rockland that this was worth of so many lines of print.
Right.
quote: On the more important front, here's wishing the best for your father-in-law.
Thanks, I'll pass the sentiment on.
Posted by snapper (Member # 7299) on :
Hey IB,
I would like to wish your father-in-law a 'get well soon'. Diabetes is no joke. Ihope he gets home soon, as good as new.
I found the detailed news story fascinating. Even slow news days in small towns don't give a fender bender that much attention.
Sorry, about your truck. Hope it doesn't dissuade you in anyway. I'm betting that you'll bounce out of these bad fortunes quick, right TAT2MAN?
[This message has been edited by snapper (edited July 29, 2008).]
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
It'd be nice. I just got in contact with the insurance company, and they're setting me up with a rental tomorrow--possibly they'll settle up soon. There is god news from that: The guy who towed it used to own it, and the friend I bought it from used to work there, and he (the friend) said another employee has a truck (similar, but larger) for sale for almost what I paid for mine. And the stereo (over 1,000 value) made it safely through.
Father-in-law is stable--finally. They mis-dosed some of the medications. One of them changed the rate of absorbtion his diabetes medication into his liver. So (hopefully) it's under control, now.
And, hey, I've had that license plate for a lot of years.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Glad to hear that your father-in-law is doing better. How scary that must have been.
I am wondering, though, if someone put a curse on your parking spot. A disgruntled client, perhaps? Or his girlfriend when he gave you the wrong spelling for her name? Or even just a jilted girlfriend? (And yeah, why couldn't she have cursed HIS parking space?)
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
1) Disgruntled customer??? What's that? If there's only two things I can do in this world, it's draw and tattoo. (Did I mention I have 154 awards?)
2) I always double-check the name spellings (most of the time, I have the customer write out the name), when I do names. I usually turn down girlfriend/wife names and boyfriend/husband names. I usually advise against children's names, too (though they remain popular), because when you have a child's name and birthdate tattooed on you for all the world to see all the world sees it, and shady elements are included. Hence, they now have a name and age if they want to apply them. (Yes, it's a horrible thought, but I'm a father, too.)
3) I don't think too many New Englanders want to be casting spells--look what happened a few years back...in Salem...
4) I have been parking in that spot for the entire three years I've been at this locale, and nothing ever came close. So, if there is some jilted, misspelled-girlfriend with a mad-on for a former customer and I find out about it...I'll be posting the subsequent news story.
Thanks for the concern for my father-in-law. He's lonely and homesick now. At around 73, and never been away from home (except to go to a local campground), the hospital stay is the most miserable part for him.
