I have just returned from my holiday break. It all started on Sunday December 19, when my good friend Jeremy and I went up to my bother’s home in Virginia. The next morning we flew out to Salt Lake where we surprised my family. I had my Aunt Pam pick us up from the airport then we went to lunch; I had Pam invite my parents and my grandma to lunch. Jeremy and I were waiting at the back of the restaurant. As soon as everyone was seated the host informed us and we walked in. The reaction from everyone was priceless. My parents were so excited; it was great. That night we went to surprise my two sisters’ and their families. Jonna and her family were excited to see me; despite being called a brat, I enjoyed the surprise. We then went to surprise Becky. Becky’s reaction was the best! She was laying on the couch, eyes glued to the television, which allowed me to sneak up on her, putting my face next to her face. At this point she proceeded to jump on the couch, like a four-year-old, screaming, “I KNEW IT!” several times in a row. She then hugged me with her arms AND legs causing me to fall back on the couch. Very special moments indeed.
I was initially worried that Jeremy would be rather board at my house but surprisingly we kept pretty busy. We went skiing, well I did, Jeremy snowboarded, it was his first time! We did that on three of the days. We also went to the movies twice and went on two hikes. Not to mention all the Christmas parties. It was really great to spend time with my family during the holidays.
The puzzle that we did at my parent's home in Utah
Jeremy and I on top of the Majestic lift at Brighton Utah
Jeremy an me with Big Willow in the background
We flew out and in to Washington DC. When we landed Shane and Becky picked us up. We took Jeremy to Union Station to catch a train north. I stayed with my Shane’s family and spent a few days spending time with them. We went to see a movie; besides that we simply hung out at home and did puzzles, which I loved. On new years day I stated to drive back to Durham. It was a rather uneventful trip until I stopped for dinner and to get gas. When I was getting onto the freeway, on a rather curvy onramp, I started to slide and my tires hit the soft shoulder and I ran into an embankment. When all was said and done I had no front bumper and some sort of fuel was leaking out from beneath to car rendering it un-drivable. There were no witnesses but a passer by called the Virginia State Troopers. They called a tow truck, filed a report, cited me with reckless driving (I have to go to court Feb 8), and they then dropped me off at the Days Inn where I had a VERY restless night. Be at ease, I was not hurt at all but my car is in pretty bad shape. Now we have to wait until the business week to start to see what the insurance company will do. What a joy. Not the best way to end the trip but it is what it is.
Here is the rest of the story:
As explained in my January 2 post I was in an accident in a little town in southern Virginia, South Hill to be exact. The next five weeks were hell, nevertheless an awesome learning experience. Not only did I have to deal with my wrecked car but I was also was on a new medication for my dystonia that had horrible side effects, the worst of which was playing with my cognition and emotions. Suffice it to say this fact compounded the hellish nature of the situation. NOTE: I have since weaned off the medications and will no longer take ANY meds unless something drastic changes.
Now to my car and dealing with my insurance company. I called and reported a claim the same night of my accident. I was assigned to an agent in Massachusetts; why I was not given a local agent is beyond me. The agent got back to me fairly quickly. I explained where my car was and that the mom and pop body shop didn’t have the capacity to make a proper estimate; she needed to send an adjuster. Luckily, the insurance covered a rental, which I picked up later on in the first week. The body shop told me that an adjuster did come by and look at my car but that they needed the adjuster’s estimate and report. Two weeks after the accident I got a message on my phone from my adjuster indicating that they had made a check out to Honda Finance and me for the amount of the repairs. I was confused as I was under the impression that the insurance company was suppose to be working with and ultimately paying the body shop not me. I promptly called my adjuster and, as usual, she didn’t pick up the phone and I left a message telling her that I was confused as to why she sent me the check and why she was not sending the body shop the requisite documents to repair my car. After leaving two or three messages like this without a response I was getting frustrated.
I finally had my dad and the body shop, as well as myself, call on the same day and leave her a message, one from each of us, demanding that she send the documents and get back to us. I guess that was the trick; she sent the adjuster’s report and the body shop started to work on my car. It took two weeks to make all of the repairs. Last week I heard from the body shop and they told me that the car would be ready by the weekend. As such, I decided to go and cash the check that the insurance company had sent me. However, since the check was made out to Honda Finance AND myself, I could not cash the check. After going to the Honda dealership I found out the necessary hoops that I needed to jump through to get the money to the body shop. Long story short, I learned that Honda Finance had no interest in my car and that the insurance company needed to cut me a new check with the proper lean holder. After signing a legal document saying that I authorized the said body shop to repair my car, which they had already done, they sent a check straight to the owners of the shop. This put considerable delays in getting my car back. I was to turn in my rental before I had my car. After arguing with the insurance company they grudgingly agreed to extend the rental for three days. It was very apparent that the check would not get to the body shop in time and I would have to go without a car for a day or two. Normally this would not be a big deal but I had to be in Virginia for my hearing on the reckless driving charge. The insurance refused to extend the rental even though their incompetence caused the delay. I will tell you about my hearing in a future post but I had to pay for a rental so that I could get up there. The day of my hearing the repair shop got the check and the next day, this past Wednesday, I was able to retrieve my car.
I am so sorry to vent but it helps ☺. Plus my siblings want to know what happened. There it is in sufficient detail. I will post a more pleasant post tomorrow. Have a wonderful day!
