Next time, hit the cat

And so begins 2012! Just when you think things can't possibly get any worse, life throws you a curve ball and teaches you that it truly can get worse. It is a matter of perspective really, in how we look at a situation; is the proverbial cup half empty or half full? At this moment, I am leaning towards half empty. Well actually, I am still finding the glass half full, but it is often difficult to discern between the two.
  Just over a week ago, Melanie was driving home. It was dark, rainy, and the roads were, well, wet. What else would they be when it is raining. She was driving on a familiar street, one that she drives regularly. The road has an "S" shaped curvature to it. Of course at the exact moment she is coming off a 60° turn to the right and about to turn 60° to the left, a cat darted into the road from her left side. Melanie did a very slight swerve to the right. Unfortunately, the curve to road had began its 60° left curve, which put Melanie in the precarious position of not having enough time or distance, to swerve back to the left enough to avoid hitting a construction trailer fully loaded with old roofing debris. Had the road been straight, she would have never hit the trailer. It was the perfect storm. All the pieces fell into place at one exact moment in time, for the collision to happen. Thankfully, Melanie was not hurt in the collision, other than her ego. None of the kids were in the car, and believe it or not, I estimate that Melanie was doing 15 mph, or less at the time of impact. The air bags did not even deploy, most likely because the rate of speed at which the collision occurred and the narrow location of the point of impact. The trailer was just high enough that the point of impact was just above the bumper, which increased the amount of damage, but also helped the vehicle absorb more of the impact, making it easier on Melanie. The truth is, I think very few people would have avoided this collision had they tried not to hit the cat. If I was driving, someone would most likely be looking for a new kitty and I would not have been blogging about this. Sorry kitty.

   My cup is half full because; Melanie was not injured, the kids were not in the car, and she did not hit another person or motorized vehicle. Did we need another expense at this time? I think not. What adds to sting of life's little lesson, is the fact that in the past month prior to this incident, I spent two full weekends, and a couple evenings, endless amounts of research and reading, driving all over town for parts, and over $1,000, working on the car replacing wheel bearings, brakes, parking brakes, serpentine belt, spark plugs and wires, and a new battery. My cup is half full because I saved $1,800 by doing the work myself, plus the fact that only days after the accident, we were planning on taking the car in to get new tires. That would have been another $950 lost, had we put the tires on the weekend before the accident.
  In the end, the insurance company ended up totaling out the vehicle. An engine mount was broken from the frame, which helped put the repair cost well over $10,000. Of course the irony is, I had six payments left on this vehicle, and I was so looking forward to not having a car payment for a while. As my good friend Jeff keeps reminding me; I have gold plated problems. Thanks Jeff, but sometimes I think it is "fool's gold". My cup is half full, because as of now, I no longer have a car payment. My insurance company just sent the bank a check for $2,662 and my account is paid in full.
  And so, the search is on for a replacement vehicle. As I tuck Apollo in bed in the evenings, he has been helping look at different cars on the internet to see which ones he approves of. We have also been looking at pictures of our dearly departed Ford Explorer. Apollo has expressed to that he is sad that the car is "dead" and he has a hard time understanding why I can't fix it. "You are good at fixing things, aren't you dada?...You can fix it." Last night he finally accepted that we will not be getting our Explorer back. As we were looking at cars for sale on the internet, Apollo began to giggle, "Dada, you know what I think is funny?" "What do you think is funny?" I asked. "I think it's funny that mama's car is going to doggy heaven with Lucy, and Harold, and 'kia (Nokia)."  Yup, that is funny alright, but all I could think was; "It should have been the cat."
(Disclaimer: I truly am an animal lover, and I would never wish for anyones cat to be run over.)

This is the trailer that Melanie hit.