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Automotive excitement
Mar. 15th, 2003 09:10 pmI got up at 8:30 this morning to go running with Pat. Yesterday was warm enough (mid-50s) that we'd decided to try running outside, around Lake Nokomis. (Nokomis and Calhoun are the usual choices; Nokomis generally has fewer people but more airplane noise.)
I usually park near the coffee shop at 50th and 28th, but this time all the spaces were filled, so I had to go around the corner and park on the street.
Getting to the lake was more exciting than I would have liked; the asphalt path down turned out to be still frozen over, and at a 15-degree angle or so. We managed to keep from falling down, luckily.
The main pedestrian path, closer to the lake, was still mostly frozen over or full of water, but the outer path, intended for both pedestrians and bikers, was clear except for occasional puddles. We did four sets of three-minute jogs interspersed with seven-minute walks, which took us most of the way around the lake (2.7 miles total). Then had drinks at the coffee shop, and Pat bought cookies from the Girl Scouts selling outside.
I went to the car to go home, and just as I was about to take the car out of park, a car scooted past me and parked in front of me, dinging my left front bumper in the process. I was so startled that I honked the horn, though obviously any damage had already been done.
I got out of the car to look, and the woman who'd been driving the car said it was all her fault, and she didn't know how it could have happened; she was looking at the friend she was to meet and must have been distracted.
My car seems to have gotten off lightly. The bumper is definitely scratched, and the plastic of the front light is cracked, but that's it. Since my car isn't going to win any beauty contests (it's a 1989 Mazda 626 with a number of dings already), I'm not sure any of it is worth fixing other than the light.
Neither of us was exactly sure what the proper ritual was. I gave her my name and phone number, but didn't have my insurance information with me. Which shouldn't matter, but Minnesota is a no-fault state, so I think both companies have to get into it sometimes. She gave me an old insurance slip that had all the relevant information. Unless there's more damage than is immediately visible (alignment needed, maybe?), I'm probably going to let the whole thing drop and just have her pay cash for the broken light.
This makes three accidents where I've been clearly not at fault, I think. The first (with my old Belair, my first car) was when my car was parked and I was inside getting my hair cut, and the second was with the same car when it got hit from behind by Kathy M. after a restaurant expedition to the Great Wall. That one had a horrible feeling of inevitability to it; I figured out that the roads had iced over during dinner and braked in time, but I could see her silver car coming for what seemed like long minutes until the final crunch.
The fourth accident was possibly partly my fault -- the car two cars ahead of me made a sudden illegal turn, the car in front of me slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting it, and I didn't hit my brakes in time to avoid the car in front of me. My insurance company ended up paying out on that, though I don't know how much (there was little visible damage), but they ended up canceling my insurance when it came time for renewal. That was over 15 years ago now, so I don't think any insurance company cares about it.
After we settled the paperwork, I went home and worked on editing a fanfic story for the Pros library that I've been sitting on roughly forever -- much too long. I promised the first part (of six) this weekend, so that'll force me to work to the deadline.
Went off to the the Minnstf meeting at Dean and Laura's shortly after three. I might have stayed home to keep editing, but this was the voting meeting for the board of directors and I hadn't voted yet. Seemed to hit just about every possible red light on the way, but got there with ten minutes to spare. They thoughtfully provided spare ballots and envelopes, and I dashed off my ballot and put it in the box. There were 49 voting members this year, and 40 of them voted, Laura said. Good turnout.
Had a nice conversation with Eileen and Martin and Laurel and someone I didn't recognize about Buffy and Angel, with diversions to other shows from time to time. Much speculation about what they're not telling us, how the seasons will end, and what's going to happen next year.
Then I went off to dinner at the Great Wall with Joel, Felicia, Judy, Rachel, Jonathan, Carol, and Rachel (who's going by Rumi these days, if I remembered correctly). Joel had already eaten, but was along for company. We ordered N-minus-three dishes plus soup and dumplings, but that was still too much food; I ended up with most of the leftovers. Note to self: Don't order scallops in garlic sauce with these people next time; they were all agreeable to it, but I was pretty much the only one eating them. The crispy juicy dried string beans were a big hit, and the chicken with walnuts all went. The other dish was beef with asparagus, which everyone had some of, but still had a fair amount left over.
Went back to the meeting for a while, and listened to Scott play the 1812 Overture on the player piano (it takes two rolls). Felicia and I had fun conducting and setting off imaginary cannons at the finale. Saw Steve B. as I was leaving; it turned out that he'd figured I would have left by the time he arrived, so he didn't bring the book he'd bought for me (one of Dorothy Dunnett's Johnson Johnson books). I told him if he'd arrived just a few minutes later, he would have timed it perfectly; I would have been gone.
Made my way home via 50th to Minnehaha Parkway; much better route than I'd used before -- I'd either gone south to the Crosstown or north to Lake.
And now back to editing, and then (as has been said before) to bed.
I usually park near the coffee shop at 50th and 28th, but this time all the spaces were filled, so I had to go around the corner and park on the street.
Getting to the lake was more exciting than I would have liked; the asphalt path down turned out to be still frozen over, and at a 15-degree angle or so. We managed to keep from falling down, luckily.
The main pedestrian path, closer to the lake, was still mostly frozen over or full of water, but the outer path, intended for both pedestrians and bikers, was clear except for occasional puddles. We did four sets of three-minute jogs interspersed with seven-minute walks, which took us most of the way around the lake (2.7 miles total). Then had drinks at the coffee shop, and Pat bought cookies from the Girl Scouts selling outside.
I went to the car to go home, and just as I was about to take the car out of park, a car scooted past me and parked in front of me, dinging my left front bumper in the process. I was so startled that I honked the horn, though obviously any damage had already been done.
I got out of the car to look, and the woman who'd been driving the car said it was all her fault, and she didn't know how it could have happened; she was looking at the friend she was to meet and must have been distracted.
My car seems to have gotten off lightly. The bumper is definitely scratched, and the plastic of the front light is cracked, but that's it. Since my car isn't going to win any beauty contests (it's a 1989 Mazda 626 with a number of dings already), I'm not sure any of it is worth fixing other than the light.
Neither of us was exactly sure what the proper ritual was. I gave her my name and phone number, but didn't have my insurance information with me. Which shouldn't matter, but Minnesota is a no-fault state, so I think both companies have to get into it sometimes. She gave me an old insurance slip that had all the relevant information. Unless there's more damage than is immediately visible (alignment needed, maybe?), I'm probably going to let the whole thing drop and just have her pay cash for the broken light.
This makes three accidents where I've been clearly not at fault, I think. The first (with my old Belair, my first car) was when my car was parked and I was inside getting my hair cut, and the second was with the same car when it got hit from behind by Kathy M. after a restaurant expedition to the Great Wall. That one had a horrible feeling of inevitability to it; I figured out that the roads had iced over during dinner and braked in time, but I could see her silver car coming for what seemed like long minutes until the final crunch.
The fourth accident was possibly partly my fault -- the car two cars ahead of me made a sudden illegal turn, the car in front of me slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting it, and I didn't hit my brakes in time to avoid the car in front of me. My insurance company ended up paying out on that, though I don't know how much (there was little visible damage), but they ended up canceling my insurance when it came time for renewal. That was over 15 years ago now, so I don't think any insurance company cares about it.
After we settled the paperwork, I went home and worked on editing a fanfic story for the Pros library that I've been sitting on roughly forever -- much too long. I promised the first part (of six) this weekend, so that'll force me to work to the deadline.
Went off to the the Minnstf meeting at Dean and Laura's shortly after three. I might have stayed home to keep editing, but this was the voting meeting for the board of directors and I hadn't voted yet. Seemed to hit just about every possible red light on the way, but got there with ten minutes to spare. They thoughtfully provided spare ballots and envelopes, and I dashed off my ballot and put it in the box. There were 49 voting members this year, and 40 of them voted, Laura said. Good turnout.
Had a nice conversation with Eileen and Martin and Laurel and someone I didn't recognize about Buffy and Angel, with diversions to other shows from time to time. Much speculation about what they're not telling us, how the seasons will end, and what's going to happen next year.
Then I went off to dinner at the Great Wall with Joel, Felicia, Judy, Rachel, Jonathan, Carol, and Rachel (who's going by Rumi these days, if I remembered correctly). Joel had already eaten, but was along for company. We ordered N-minus-three dishes plus soup and dumplings, but that was still too much food; I ended up with most of the leftovers. Note to self: Don't order scallops in garlic sauce with these people next time; they were all agreeable to it, but I was pretty much the only one eating them. The crispy juicy dried string beans were a big hit, and the chicken with walnuts all went. The other dish was beef with asparagus, which everyone had some of, but still had a fair amount left over.
Went back to the meeting for a while, and listened to Scott play the 1812 Overture on the player piano (it takes two rolls). Felicia and I had fun conducting and setting off imaginary cannons at the finale. Saw Steve B. as I was leaving; it turned out that he'd figured I would have left by the time he arrived, so he didn't bring the book he'd bought for me (one of Dorothy Dunnett's Johnson Johnson books). I told him if he'd arrived just a few minutes later, he would have timed it perfectly; I would have been gone.
Made my way home via 50th to Minnehaha Parkway; much better route than I'd used before -- I'd either gone south to the Crosstown or north to Lake.
And now back to editing, and then (as has been said before) to bed.
