January 2, 2015
Dear Everyone:
Happy New Year to Everyone!
The incessant Christmas Carols have finally ceased, thanks be to
Deity-of-Choice.
“Jeannie” continues to improve at her own pace.
The physical therapist who came to her home, as well as the
occupational therapist, proclaimed “Jeannie” ready to continue with her
recovery. She starts working
out at the physical therapy gym next week.
If it’s anything like the one I used over three years ago, they have
lots of interesting equipment to help you get “back on your feet” in the
best way possible. We’ll
know more in a bit.
Meanwhile…
I have been living at my current residence for over five years now.
Each unit has a covered
carport assigned to it; it’s even
included in the deed. So
I’ve been backing out of that carport for over five years.
Last week, I was backing out as usual, checking in both directions for
possible oncoming traffic, when I heard/felt an ominous “crunch”.
My foot was already on the brake, but it was too late.
The right-side
rear-view mirror had connected with the post that
holds up the carport, to the detriment of the mirror.
(The post also suffered a minor spot of compression, but that
hardly matters.)
This was the mirror that showed you if something was on the right side
of your car, particularly any other cars that happened to be in your
blind spot. Adjusting the
mirror was made easy by a mechanism in the driver’s door that let you
move the mirror up-down-left-right, using little servo motors built into
the casing of the mirror module.
In other words, replacing the mirror would mean replacing the entire
module.
A while back the same car had suffered an altercation with a
parking
chock, at the cost of a new front
bumper, so I already knew that my
insurance has a $500
deductible.
I figured the cost of replacing the mirror could be less than
$500; in which case I would avoid reporting the problem to the insurance
company altogether. But
first I needed to find out how much one of those nifty mirror modules
would run.
Ever try calling a
body shop on
Christmas Eve?
Don’t bother. Ditto
the day after Christmas, if it happens to land on a Friday.
I waited until this last Monday to stop in at the same body shop that
had done such a great job on the aforementioned bumper.
It only took a few minutes to determine that they could order the
part from the manufacturer in a couple of days.
It would even come in the correct color, thus avoiding a
three-day paint job.
So I have an appointment next Tuesday to go in and have the mirror
replaced. Less than thirty
minutes and considerably less than the deductible.
In the meantime, I’m driving even more carefully than usually.
You don’t realize how often you check that right-side mirror
until you do it and find yourself looking at a black hole.
Constantly double-checking that blind spot makes me nervous.
But it will all be better soon.
Considering the fact that the car is over ten years old, replacing one
bumper and one mirror is probably
par for the course.
Let’s see if we can keep it that way for another ten years.
Love, as always,
Pete
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