Geek Habitat

The Bad News is …

A couple minutes on Hwy. 1604 this morning, after having left Jordon Ford, a rock flew off or was kicked up by a pickup truck I was following about 3 car length’s behind in the slow lane. The rock slammed into my windshield, cracking it in two star clusters exactly at eye level in the middle of the driver’s field of view. F***! Four-day-old new vehicle, and yet in the previous 14 years of car ownership, I never suffered a windshield crack. (However, the one little divot that’s on the Corolla’s windshield, now that I’ve thought about it, was incurred on that same stretch of highway out by Rolling Oaks Mall.) >sigh<

After having a short, childish crying fit because my 4-day-old “baby” was “hurt”, I called Progessive and filed a glass claim. My ‘06 Ford Escape Hybrid and I are grounded tomorrow between 8 AM and 5 PM, but at least her windshield will be repaired before the sun goes down on her tomorrow.

The Good News…

The great irony is I was only at Jordon Ford today to have two very minor scratches removed from the front and rear bumpers of my Escape — scratches which she’s had since pre-purchase. My salesman offered to loan me a car and asked what I’d like to drive, and I momentarily pondered the thought of saying, “Oh, how about a Mustang convertible?” He’d quoted me a 1-3 hour wait time, and for that I offered that I’d rather stay and avoid the traffic (LITTLE DID I KNOW!) Not more than fifteen minutes passed, and he’s already back, asking me if I can show him where the other scratch is. We do a thorough walk-around, and their paint guy has not only made the two scratches I was aware of disappear, he’s also apparently removed a little white paint speck and a scuff mark on my rockerpanel. The paint job looks pristine now! I thanked my sales guy and happily drove off in my new hybrid. (And not 3 minutes later, on Hwy. 1604, “WHACK!” comes the Bad News windshield crack.)

No good deed goes unpunished, as they say. If I were a deeply religious (as opposed to “just” spiritual) woman, I’d think I was being taught a lesson in vanity. Take new vehicle in for two minor paint scuffs to be repaired ==> suffer two starburst windshield cracks on your driver’s side window. However, I am not so much deeply religious as I am deeply spiritual, and I don’t think the heavens work that way. It’s just rotten, shitty “luck”. And all I have to say to rotten, shitty “luck” is “F*** YOU!”

There. That’s out of my system. Geesh!

P.S. Too funny. The primary Google ad displayed at the top of this entry is for none other than Safelight Auto Glass, the preferred provider of windshield repair service for Progressive and USAA; the very same folks who will be out at our house tomorrow patching up my 4-day-old windshield. So there you have it — at least I’m in good company. Imagine explaining how your windshield got cracked by a falling turkey! (I’m dating myself here… WKRP in Cincinnati: “Honest to God, I thought turkeys could fly!“)