The accident itself was fairly run of the mill. Vasilis was at a stop sign close to our house and the car behind him didn't stop in time (for whatever reason this is a terrible intersection, I have seen the remains of at least 5 accidents there). The woman who hit him (most probably on the phone at the time, thank you very little) was driving a borrowed car. Her's was in the shop getting fixed, presumably from a previous accident of hers. Essentially, it was a loaner from that shop.
Either she doesn't have insurance, or didn't want to bother with it, so it was arranged for the same shop to fix our car and bill it to her. There is some damage to the bumper and the back hatchback. It's drivable and the back door closes, but the indicator light remains on and has already drained the battery once because the back light was on and we didn't realize it. Anyway, we of course wanted to get it fixed.
The next day, I went to the shop to show him the damage, ensure he would take care of it and bill her, and arrange a day to drop it off to be fixed. We settled on a day, and he told me he'd have a car I could use for the duration of the repair.
So I go there yesterday (with a fever mind you, which didn't help things). I give him the keys, he says thanks and was about to walk away. I asked if he had a car for me. Him -"No" Me- "But you said..." Him - "Well, I have this one...". It was the damned car that hit us in the first place. I nearly declined, not wanted to take the chance of being accused of adding to the damage (although he seems pretty straight up, so my worry wasn't huge- but you never know). He insisted it was drivable, just has some damage to the front. Not wanting to walk home, and also not wanting to turn down the only option for transportation for the next few days, I took it.
This car is old and sad. I can deal with that, but it has no rear-view mirror, the driver side mirror is cracked and useless, and has no power steering. I am not a complete wimp and can manage without power steering, but this car seems a bit unpredictable and it's just one more thing to think about. My commute to work isn't far, but bumper to bumper at least 1/2 the way. In short, I feel much less than safe driving it.
At this point, I think it will remain parked in front of our home.
I guess there was one good outcome, I now have had the incentive to figure out the bus schedules to get myself to work. So now I am prepared if I ever find myself carless again, or simply want to give it to Vasilis for the day. And honestly, I do enjoy taking the bus. It's just that first test run to make sure I've got the timing right. Made it to work early today, so I've got that going for me.
To tell you the truth, I am a little embarrassed at the thought of pulling through the gate at the campus driving that thing. There's duct tape and string holding what's left of the front bumper together, and one of the headlights is shattered. I've got a rep to uphold, right? =)
2/11 update: On my way home today, another accident at that same intersection. Glad I was on foot. And, YEAH, I got my car back. The back end looks like new, so I should probably thank the woman who hit Vasilis. The guy at the shop even touched up a dent in the bumper that was there when we bought it (even though I told him it wasn't part of the accident).
