In between my various vehicular skirmishes, I've made good use of my newly found free time by going on weekly field trips with my similarly unemployed cohorts. Our recent excursions include the Ansel Adams exhibit at the Forestry Center, the Portland Zoo, and the Star Wars exhibit at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI). Here are a few cell phone snaps from the zoo and OMSI:
So I've been driving around the monstrous Ford Expedition, all the while feeling incredibly nervous about the possibility of hitting someone. This thing is SO huge and SO unwieldy, I just knew I was going to screw up.
So I'm sure you can imagine what's coming next... I was backing out of a parking space on Saturday when I hit... wait for it... a Honda Civic. Un-fucking-believable. I thought I couldn't hate SUVs any more than I already did. I was wrong.
The damages (to the Honda, of course - none to the Expedition) were thankfully minor, though I'm sure it will be enough that I'll need to use my insurance, thus jacking up my rates for years to come. If you're curious how it happened, hop in an Expedition some day and take a look in the review mirror. You might notice the massive blind spot you have that encompasses anything 6 feet or shorter. Such as a Honda Civic.
Damn it.
I knew there had to be a down side to my rock-and-roll/leisure lifestyle of late, and I found out what it was last weekend. There I was, innocently drinking my gingerbread latte and doing the Saturday crossword puzzle at Starbucks, when a guy taps me on the shoulder and asks: "Do you have a red Honda?"
I instantly knew no good could come of this.
Sure enough, his teenage daughter in her GIGANTIC Suburban had crunched the side of my poor little Honda Civic while pulling out of her parking spot. The damage came to over $3,700 (which of course will be paid by his insurance), and will "hopefully" be done being fixed by the time I leave for Thailand. Ugh.
So, this morning I deposited my poor, damaged Civic at the auto body shop and traded it in for a rental car. Turns out the only option they had available right then was a Ford Expedition, which as far as I can tell is the second-largest vehicle on earth, beat only by the Suburban.
Running errands this morning, I felt like the soccer mom I never wanted to be. The Expedition has enough seats & seatbelts to comfortably fit eight people. I tower above all the other vehicles, and I'm afraid to park next to other cars for fear of doing to them what was done to my car. All of my Thanksgiving groceries and misc. other purchases didn't even begin to fill up the back.
The only thing missing from this picture is a gaggle of screaming kids, and I too could be living my ultimate suburban nightmare. :P
I've been so busy getting ready for my upcoming trip, that I realized I haven't posed anything new to my blog in a while. So just a quick update... I've booked my tickets and am scheduled to depart Dec. 1 for Thailand. I'll spend a couple months dividing my time between Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia before heading to India in early February. My volunteer program starts Feb. 11 and will last six weeks, after which I'll have a few weeks to explore other parts of India. Last but not least, I'll have two weeks in Rome before heading home April 30.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far to my volunteer fee. I really appreciate it!
