Who Am I? Rockefeller?

A couple of weeks ago, a deer hit our car as we were driving home. Literally. We didn’t even see her (him?) coming. At the very last nanosecond, we saw a nose in the window of the driver’s side, and then – BAM! A huge thump, the car swerved a bit, and there was no sign of the animal.
Well, there was no sign of the actual animal. The car, however, showed a lot of sign that the animal had existed. The back door on the driver’s side was crumpled, with a scrape down the edge, and the back rear panel had a dent.
We dutifully reported the incident to the police, and filed the insurance claim. Fortunately, deer/car collisions are so commonplace in Ohio that there are no nasty repercussions, at least police and insurance-wise.
Getting three estimates was another matter. One place didn’t acknowledge our request. The second one said they’d have an estimate in a “day or two.” They must have gone to general contracting school, because we got the actual estimate in two weeks – give or take a day or two (so 17 days later). The third place had the estimate in our email before we even got home. They won.
Best of all, our insurance appears to be the gold star of insurance policies (which may account for why it’s so gosh-darned expensive). We are allowed to have a rental car, for the duration of the repair.
I naively thought this would be a day or two, but it sounds like it might be more like a couple of weeks. Again, in contractor lingo, that could be a month or more!
So today we picked up our rental car. I should have expected something strange when the woman on the phone said, “Do you want a 5-seat SUV like you currently have?”
Um, no. I don’t currently have such a thing. I have a 10-year-old sedan.
She rebounded nicely and said, “The businessmen clean us out of sedans early, so will an SUV be acceptable?”
Why not, I thought.
We picked it up, and here’s why not:
It’s brand, spanking new. I think it had 20 miles on it.
It’s a Cadillac. A Cadillac!! I’ve never driven a Cadillac before! It is a six-seat SUV with trunk space. Trunk? Is that the right term for the back part that would fit a small cow in it?
It’s harder to get in and out of than my old sedan. Only because I’m not used to it, I think. But the bells and whistles are astounding! (and confusing).
It took me a minute to realize that you push the gearshift backward to make it go in “D” (that’s for drive) and you push it forward to make it go in “R” (that’s reverse). I think that’s counterintuitive, but time will tell. I do hope I get it right before I push on the accelerator.
It’s doesn’t have a CD player (WHA???) but it DOES have Sirius XM. All glorious 104 channels. The radio volume and dial are on the console, so you don’t have to reach up to fiddle with them. They are right at your hand!
There is a fancy cover that pulls out to cover up your two coffee holders. So if you spill, you don’t have to look at it!
The console has a little pouch for your phone. It charges your phone while you drive! Without a cord! It’s magic!
I researched this baby online and turns out it costs about $75,000 to purchase such a thing. I will not be spilling coffee, pushing on the accelerator in the incorrect gear, or – god willing – hitting any deer! My insurance might pay for any of that, but I really can’t afford any higher rates. Who am I, Rockefeller?

2 Comments

  1. Lori

    I sympathize with you. When I drove Sarah and Chris to the airport several weeks ago, their vehicle had the same gearshift which took some getting used to. Had to make sure I was going in the right direction.

  2. John Llewellyn

    sound like you are having as much fun as me – being braced up and traveling is such fun
    but we will do what we have to get to summer free!!! ENjoy Sirius – look up radio classics – good number on mine I logged in so I can get it easy!! have a great spring and into summer!
    Love ya!

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