Meltdown

My nerves have been on edge as of late. And so I found myself dropping my car off on Saturday morning to get it serviced -- finally. Tune-up, timing belt replacement and something else. I took a deep breath when they gave me the estimate and told them to proceed. I then took a seat in the waiting area waiting for a shuttle ride home. Seems that they forgot about me though. I was there for an hour and that shuttle is supposed to run once every half hour. Just as well. My phone rang. It was the service rep. Seems that one of those things that keeps your engine from moving around was broken. Probably was broken in the first accident in January. The good folks of Honda could repair it for an additional $200. I called my insurance company. They want an adjuster to look at it before the repair is made. That will be on Monday. So yes, once more I am in a rental car.

Another half hour of waiting around at the dealership. Did I mention that I was half asleep when I arrived there? My original plan was that I would return home, get a little food, and then take a nap. But no. And have you ever tried to get a rental car on a Saturday? Not much selection. I ended up with the smallest thing they had at the time -- a Pontiac Vibe. That thing feels like a boat compared to my Civic. But it was better than the minivan. I was also thrilled by the fact that once more I'd have to shell out some money for a rental car because my insurance does not cover the full amount. Let's not mention the car I turned in last week -- that I actually kind of liked. I'm still waiting for reimbursement for the rental in January. And then I went to drive off and the friggin steering wheel was in my lap -- literally. And I couldn't figure out to adjust it. May have something to do with food and sleep deprivation. Oh yeah, and the pain in my left shoulder had returned full force. Because part of my plan upon returning home was to take some more pills. (And I did call the doctor about it. They said maybe it was time for an MRI.)

Finally I got out of there and got the boat back to my neighborhood. And that's when I lost it. I had to park this thing on the street in my neighborhood. And that's when I hit full meltdown. There was lots of crying and screaming with my insurance company while I sat double-parked waiting for a space to open up. Hopefully we have reached an understanding by now. All I know is that it looks like I won't be seeing my own car until middle of this week at the earliest.


Thankfully I had made a couple of stops on my way home -- BevMo, Office Depot for boxes... But the really important stop was to Seabreeze. (Thank you, Zoomie, for the reminder.) I started with the fried calamari. And some clam chowder.


Then it was onto the main attraction -- garlic crab. It seemed like a no-brainer. I was supposed to have been going to a crab feed last night but I found out Friday night that that would not be happening. After I had been dreaming of crab all week.

And so I felt a little better.

Easing back in

I told y'all there would be more food -- Shrimp and Fingerlings in Tomato Broth. It's cold and wet around here so this has been just perfect. Especially tonight.

Tonight I had the pleasure of leaving work a bit early so that I could drop off my car at the body shop -- again. This past weekend I learned that the manager of the shop is close friend's with my cousin's husband. I also learned that he and his wife live in the same complex where I'm buying my place. Turns out they actually live in the same building as my unit and had been worrying over who their new neighbor(s) would be. So now I have been declared family and am invited to the anniversary party for the shop this Saturday night.

After getting the rental car, I headed straight for Thrive since I've been in pain since last night. Huh. Last night I couldn't find the Vicodin to save my life. I looked down just now and realized that the bottle is right in front of me. And I sat at my desk last night. I guess I was out of it. I guess it doesn't matter much since I now have a new bottle of Vicodin. And one of my real fave -- Flexeril. How some folks feel about Vicodin, Xanax or Claritin? Yeah, that's how I feel about Flexeril. I wanted to do a little dance to welcome my old friend back to my medicine cabinet. (Oh, and in case you're wondering the doctor said that I have muscle injuries that are typical to the kind of car accident in which I was involved.)

So now my tummy is filled with all kinds of tomato-shrimp-potato goodness topped with a little Vicodin and Flexeril. Hopefully I can keep my eyes open for The Bad Girls Club. Because the girls are heading to Mexico this week. And I think one of them might just get arrested.

Again

I was planning on posting about food. Then some skank caused damage to my car on my way to work this morning. She rear-ended the car behind me that then crashed into me. And the skank acted like we were inconveniencing her. Oh, and then a fourth car hit the skank after she hit us but then they quickly fled the scene. Everyone has been asking, "Didn't you just get your car repaired?" Ummm, yeah. That was January. Almost seven years of owning the car with no accidents and then I end up in two in a two month period.

In happier news, I submitted my check for the deposit toward my down payment. It's really happening.

Food will resume later this week.

A red wine kind of night

Silly me thought that I wouldn't have any blog posts after last night's for many days to come. That's what happens when I think.

Yeah, that's my baby. I was making my way across town from work to the freeway when suddenly a woman made a left turn into me. I'm OK. But look at my poor car. And now I have to deal with getting a rental car until it is repaired. Because the cops told me that they thought I should only drive it on the streets. Something about freeway speeds may cause the wheel well to rub the tire and puncture it. So yeah, I had a nice scenic drive home through the streets of East Oakland and other picturesque parts of the East Bay.

I had planned to stop at the grocery store on my way home because I needed cat litter. I was drained and wanted to go straight home at that point. But I didn't. Instead I stopped at the store for the litter. And a bottle of red wine.