Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Candy, as a veteran of a hit-and-run by a drunk driver while a pedestrian I wanted to say I’m totally with you on how you feel at that moment when the person drives off.  WTF? doesn’t even begin to cover it.  Luckily in my case, other drivers were pissed on my behalf (I was too stunned to do more than gape as the car moved off into the distance as I lay there on the ground) and ran him off the road and held him there until the police arrived. 

Anyway, as a more useful comment, let me say dealerships are the place where you’ll pay the highest cost for repairs.  A lot of insurance carriers make deals with shops that will repair your car at what the carrier considers the “right price” and thus will pay 100% for repairs if you go to an approved shop, or only a portion of the cost if you go to an unapproved shop.  It’s the auto insurance version of what they do with doctors and healthcare coverage.  As a note of concern for your bank balance, I would caution you before you visit the dealership to 1) make sure your Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage on your Personal Auto Policy includes physical damage coverage (hit-and-runs are considered “Uninsured Motorist” accidents); if you have UM/UIM coverage this kind of thing should be covered, and 2) ask your carrier about their policy on use of approved/unapproved shops for repairs.  It’s possible they don’t have restrictions of that sort, but I say the better informed up front the more power you have to get what you want.  Of course, with only bumper dings it’s also possible it will all be under your deductible amount anyway, but another accident I suffered where I was hit from behind taught me sometimes it’s worse than you think.

Was that all a bit much for a Friday?  I felt like Wil Ferrell’s character in Old School during the debate scene there for a minute—don’t know what came over me, I was just channeling a cross between an Insurance Agent and a School Marm. :)

Thanks for the advice, fiveandfour. I’m kind of hoping to avoid the hassle of dealing with the insurance company, because I have a pretty big deductible ($500) plus my rate will probably go up. I’m hoping the dealership will give me a reasonable estimate. There are a couple of other body shops in town that I’ll out as well.

Yeah, I know. I’m still a starry-eyed dreamer.

If it ends up costing more than my insurance deductible, I’m thinking I might go the route Sarah has suggested: making a big, obnoxious “Smart Bitches who Love Trashy Novels” bumper sticker and slapping it over the paint scratch.

Man, this day has sucked. Glad I get to leave the office in 15 minutes.

Bad luck, Kid. What are the chances that it was some teenager driving his father’s car without permission, who will get hung out to dry when the dent on his bumper is noticed? You can but hope…

I am not familiar with Franz Ferdinand, but I am currently listening to a recently acquired waxing by a young singer from Hibbings, Minnesota who will probably go far if he could just learn to sing.

My advice is to get home (safely), make some soup and curl up under a quilt with the new Kleypas.  Nothing beats comfort food and comfort reads at a time like this.

You’re the second person to recommend Franz Ferdinand this week, so I’m going to have to check these guys out.

Have a better weekend!

OUCH! So sorry to hear about the H&R. I’ve had one of those, too. Ass wipe BACKED into me in stop and go traffic on the Bay Bridge, and then the nice folks in the carpool lane let him in so he could speed away. Nothing like a totally crunched fender on your vintage sports car! Grrrrrrrrrrrr. And it was a new car. No fucking plates yet.

I always hope that somehow these folks will get what the deserve: total erectile dysfunction, permanent bells palsy, a nervous tick and a hump on one shoulder, a one-car accident that totals their fucking car.

“The technician will be over some time “between 1 and 5 p.m.,” or so they say. “

You do know this means he’ll either show up around 7 or not at all. 

I keep seeing Franz Ferdinand all over the place.  What’s the deal?  Will it go with the Disturbed, Seether, and Evanescence I listened to today?  ;-)

Hope the Kleypas and FF cheer things up (mighty fine album, btw).

Failing that, have it on reliable authority that H&R drivers eventually end up permanently hungover in an endless infernal game of basketball, where they are the ball.

Thanks for all the commiseration and kind thoughts. So, woo hoo, fixed the Internet connection, but the phone line is acting up—loads o’ static when the DSL modem is plugged in. The technician is puzzled and will consult the Mothership as to how to proceed.

And now I’m afraid to have my car checked out. ARGH.

Franz Ferdinand kind of sound like an unholy mish-mash of The Clash, The Kinks, The Cure (their earlier stuff, anyway), with a dash of Blur and Suede. They sound very, very British—there’s just a sort of sound and chord progression that makes me think “Oh, hey, a British band!” They’re basically loud, buzzy, danceable guitar-based pop music.

This bit from their biography on their website basically sums up their sound and their attitude perfectly, in my opinion:

Some time around the end of 2001, Bob was sitting in Alex’s kitchen. Alex had just been given a bass by his friend Mick, on the condition that he did ‘something useful’ with it.
“Do you want to learn to play the bass then, Bob?”
“No, I’m an artist, not a musician.”
“It’s the same thing.”
“OK then.”
So Bob learned the bass and they planned a band. It had to be something big. Bob wanted it to be on the level of Field Marshall Haig’s tears that fell as he counted the statistics of the men he had sent over the top. Alex wanted to make music that girls could dance to.

Anyway, I’m listening to the album right now, and it’s gewd. Some of the songs are insanely catchy and fun and make me want to shake the booty. Some of the songs sound Beatles-esque, especially the slower numbers.

God, I really, really want to lick Alex Kapranos. Especially when he wears that tight red shirt with the cuffs rolled to his elbows. There’s something so sexy about rolled-up cuffs. Is he gay? I don’t care. I’d lick him anyway.

I also got Employment by Kaiser Chiefs, plus Law & Order by Love Committee (an old funk/disco outfit, got introduced to one of their songs via Dmitri of Paris), and I hope they’re as good.

OK, just popped in Employment. More fun, catchy stuff. They sound like 80s throwbacks, and it’s funny how many bands I like who sound like 80s throwbacks (Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, some of the stuff by Magnetic Fields) given how much I detest actual 80s music. Interpol has ripped off so much of Joy Division’s sound that they should probably pay royalties to them, but I still much prefer Interpol to Joy Division. Weird.

Nicole: the only band I recognized out of that list is Disturbed. You crazy young ‘uns and your crazy young ‘un music….

OK, off to read the Kleypas and take a nap, then I’ll brave the auto body shops. Ugh.

lol probably not my thing.  :-)  I avoid the 80’s like the plague.  Other than me, I’m not quite sure what good came of that decade.  *g*

Computer problems make me nutty and the husband steers clear of me when the computer is fucked.  Having just bought a new one, no problems and it better stay that way!

Right now, I am a huge Killers fan - does that make me a top 40 pop freak?

H&R - I would go ape shit if that happened to me.  You are taking it quite well and I am glad that it wasn’t worse.  Just the other day I was in the car with the two god children and their mother.  It had been 3 hours of chaos, screaming fits and everyone one uping each other in volume.  This car is in front and is plugging along.  I finally am able to change lanes so I can pass Aunt Bea when the SOB glides into the same lane.  I yelled ‘You Fucker!!’ and immediately slapped my hand over my mouth.  Good thing their mother is fairly liberal but I did get the ‘you said a bad word, Aunt Cindy’ thing.  I figure it was that or strangle someone.  I think I chose the wiser of the two options ;)

Good luck with finding a body shop, if it is a leased vehicle go to the dealer and tell them ‘do it right, or you’re getting the car back’.  I pulled that one when a garbage truck opened my SUV like a tin can while it was parked and unoccupied.  Yeah, the city had to foot the bill for that one.

CindyS

As for your H&R, may all his hair fall out except for the combover.  CindyS’s situation happened to five cars in front of my house last month.  The street cleaner hooked onto the last car in the row and pushed it into the next car which then pushed into the next and so on.  Luckily for me, our car was first in line and far enough away so that the car behind it got pushed up to but not into our rear bumper.  Our poor tenant’s car, however, was smushed front and back.

As for your description of FF, wash your mouth out (or Maili will do it for you)—they are not British but are from Scotland (Glasgow, I think).

If you’re up for something completely different, try Mariza, a fado singer from Portugal.  We went to her concert in Washington DC last night, and she’s something else.  Very tall, very slim, very blond, and just fantastic.  I want to be her in my next life, although I’m not sure if I have to be very good or very bad in this one to achieve my goal.

<i>As for your description of FF, wash your mouth out (or Maili will do it for you)—they are not British but are from Scotland (Glasgow, I think).

Oh, I know they’re Glaswegian. But isn’t Scotland part of Great Britain?

God, I find the whole thing so confusing: England vs. Great Britain vs. the United Kingdom. Off I go to Wikipedia to edumacate myself on the difference.

Ugh, that guy who hit you and ran is a bastard. Although sometimes I admit if I open the door and it hits the car next to me, I’ll look to see if it did any damage, and if I don’t think it did or if it’s a really tiny scratch, I won’t do anything. Does that make me a bad person?

Anyway, I haven’t gotten the new Kleypas yet, but I want to. And oh, funny story-it’s illegal to curse in Texas in public. My editor at the college paper found this out firsthand. He lives in an apartment, and the people next to him were having a really loud party, so he called the cops. They came, but everyone ran inside when they did, but when the cops left, they went back outside and got loud again. This happened several times and it’s like 4 in the morning so he goes over and screams “Shut the fuck up you stupid bitch!” He did this in front of a cop too. So she presses charges against him and he presses charges against her, but he gets a $250 fine and she gets nothing, according to his fiance. Apparently if he hadn’t screamed obscenties at her she would have gotten something…so wow. I don’t know what I would have done in that situation.

And oh, did you hear that Albertson’s, a grocery store chain, pulled issues of Seventeen that had an article called “Vagina 101” about vaginal health with pictures of vaginas assuring girls theirs were normal? Apparently some parents didn’t feel that was appropriate. Perhaps they don’t want their daughters knowing they have a vagina. Or at least not until marriage.

I’m just glad you’re okay. Especially okay enough to rant and swear.

If we ever heard crashes in my mom’s vicinity, we waited for her to holler “SHIT!” If she did, we knew she was all right.

“Oh, I know they’re Glaswegian. But isn’t Scotland part of Great Britain?”

Ahh… ‘tis a very tricky issue this one. Immediate disclaimer: The issue of national consciousness over here is pretty thorny and very hard to talk about without going into endless detail. Since I will doubtlessly offend many people with my ham-fisted attempts to summarise part of the debate by either leaving out important points or just plain getting it wrong, please correct me where you feel it necessary - I’m still figuring this one out.

As far as I can gather after living on this island for 15 years or so, you’re both right. Candy is technically accurate, ‘cos British is the adjective for the island of Great Britain which is divided into the countries of England, Scotland and Wales. The UK includes the northern part of the island of Ireland. FF, coming from Glasgow are technically British.

But due to nationalist sensitivity, many people from Scotland and Wales are unlikely to describe themselves as British, because the term has strong associations with English economic and political domination. They more usually term themselves Welsh or Scottish. If you have what’s considered a standard English accent and call someone from these countries British, you’re likely to get a sarcastic remark at best, a good kicking at worst. If your accent is not the above you’ll be deemed to be someone who has fallen for English propaganda, and will be given some gentle correction (ahem).

However people living in England will often use the adjective British to refer to themselves for a broad range of reasons, and will apply it to the Scottish and Welsh when not in their immediate presence in order to boost national pride. So the national press will describe FF’s touring the USA as a “British” musical invasion.

Ooh, Candy, that’s terrible! Talk about a bad day! The hit-and-run, escaping with lights off that way, makes me suspect that he’s a repeat offender. Scumbag.

I witnessed a hit-and-run incident once, just outside of Portland in a parking lot. Actually it was more like a hit-and-crawl. I was walking across the lot when this big-ass Lincoln rammed hard into a parked car. I was just a few feet away and could see the driver’s face clearly—and she saw me looking at her. She had to be at least eighty. She tightened her hands on the wheel, looked like she was about to have a heart attack and then just kept right on driving. Right past me.

It took me a moment to react because I was just standing there drop-jawed at first. Before she reached the exit to turn onto the street I walked (yes, that’s how slow she was going) over to her car and knocked on the window, calling for her to stop. She ignored me and just kept going. I yelled that I’d seen what she had done and slapped the hood of the car, telling her she had to stop. Her eyes widened, but she just looked forward and continued to drive, pretending that I wasn’t there.

I could see the panic in her face and was afraid that if I did more I’d cause her to have a heart attack. She was probably afraid of having her license revoked, etc. Maybe she had a prior. So I let her go but wrote down the license plate number and description of the car and driver and then contacted the police. In a way I hated to turn her in, but the woman simply should not be behind a wheel any longer. Period.

Each time I remember watching this senior citizen making her get-away with the speed of a Portland slug I laugh. Of course, it’s not funny when they’re out in traffic. The majority of traffic incidents or near misses I’ve seen out here (moved here from Chicago several years ago) usually involve ancient drivers who obviously no longer have the mental wherewithal or reflexes needed to maneuver a car. Damn scary.

About the H & R: May the driver’s testicles (or ovaries) shrivel; and may they be cursed with static on the television during their favorite shows. And may their peanut butter always separate; and lo! may their face be forever spotty. This concludes the curse I pronounce on the H & R who hit Candy. May they be dragged down and made to listen to Lovecraft’s entire body of work as read by a Russian translator.

About music: Totally dig the Killers and Franz Ferdinand (go around singing This Fire whenever I’m blue) and will check out the Kaiser Chiefs. What is it with the Prussians in music today? Evanescence I can take or leave. Eh. Tho’ the chick is pretty cute.

Candy!  That totally sucks.  What a douchebag, and I sincerely hope his bad karma turns around and bites him in the ass.  Glad you are okay enough to be pissed, and I hope your new car is back to new soon.  Had a not so great week myself, so you have my sympathy.  BTW, we love you Smart Bitches over at The Lipstick Chronicles (http://www.booktarts.com).  In fact, y’all inspire us to work harder at being bitchier.  Gotta dream big, right?

Just wanted to add that my dh the computer geek had to add some little “filter gizmo” that he got from Verizon to our telephones to prevent static after he installed our DSL.

doG knows what I’d be doing if I didn’t have my own computer tech support at home.  I think of myself as a reasonably intelligent adult, but that stuff is impossible.  My dh is a network administrator, and it took him a couple hours…:-/ and the library won’t let my on my favorite sites (like this one) on their computers because of the “adult” content.

They should have given her filters for phones when they set up the DSL. 

Ah…how I love DSL.  Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Argh!!! What a total flaming ass—and a coward too—to hit and run! Sorry about the new car, and the one good thing is, you weren’t to hurt.