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[Janeway Forever]

Congratulations Mara!!!!

[Mel]

Congrats!!!!!!

[Janeway Forever]

Ugh. I hate accidents. I hate people who run red lights. I hate police officers who give bad advice. And I hate insurance companies.

I think that about clears it up. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to update you.

[KateJaneway]

Aha ha ha ha! I conur! Oh!!! And remember to file an accident report!!!! I didn't and I got my license suspended!

So, that being said, I HATE DMV's!

[Janeway Forever]

That's not an issue in VA. And I'll just sue DMV too. HA HA

[Mel]

You got in an accident?? I was out of town and am behind the news. I know how it feels though I am still dealing with insurance companies from my accident and it isnt getting better. It is a pain in the ass.

[Janeway Forever]

Yes I was in an accident. But I haven't even been able to file the claim yet, because of the stupid responding police officer. And I have to schedule a follow up appointment with an orthopedist to look at my knee. Which I can't do until I have a claim number from the insurance company.

And I've been without a car for four days now. And I'm growing very VERY angry.

[Mara Wildman]

Oy, seems like this has been a bad couple of weeks for TVC ppl driving. I got a bunch of stories myself. the day before we left on our honeymoon (which we drove the whole way) Josh got in a car accident. I was behind him in my car so I saw the whole thing. We were leaving the chiropractor's office (we had both just come from work so that's why we were in separate cars) and a kid (maybe 17?) hit him in the side with a mini van. Stupid high bushes in parking lots.... It only caused cosmetic damage to the car and no one was hurt, thank God. Josh's boss' son was with him in the car and they've got a lawyer, so if the other ppl decide to get stupid it's covered. That was his first accident while he was driving.

We stopped in Indianapolis to spend a day with his aunt and uncle and cousins. Pretty much the only family we like to be around, haha. We love our families, but sometimes it's just like "man, I gotta get outta here for a while." So back on the road, we're in Maryland, only a couple of hours away from D.C., and Josh gets pulled over for speeding. I wish the cop had been nicer after we explained the situation. I had been driving for a couple hours and it was freaking me out. I'm not a fan of driving at night anyway, but Keigo (Josh's car; it means "body guard" in Japanese) decided he was too tired to drive up hills. The speed limit was 65 so I'd been going about 70 the whole time I was driving. Once we hit Pennsylvania the car would drop about 30 mph up hills even when I was flooring it. And not even just big hills, but the 5 degree inclines as well. So to make up for it I would soar downhill. It was freaking me out because after I'd passed all the cars the only way I knew there was a road there was because of the reflectors on the side. I was driving too fast for my headlights to show me. I didn't want to bother Josh because he was taking a nap so he could drive longer. Finally he woke up and saw how I was freaking out and decided it was his turn to drive. (Hallelujah!) So he was doing the same thing (but not going quite as fast as I had) and at one point he saw a car on the side of the road with its brake lights on. He had already started slowing down at this point and when he passed the car the lights started flashing and Josh was like "crap...." The situation was briefly explained, but he still gave Josh a $290 ticket. He clocked him at 93 in a 65. 2 more in OK and he would have lost his license! At this point I really wished that I'd gotten that "Just Married" sign for the car that I wanted. If he'd seen that maybe he'd given us a little leeway.

Anyway, one day when we drove into D.C. (we stayed in Annandale, VA, which is about 20 minutes away) we got in a parking garage and Josh scraped the car beside us. The attendant got all our information in case the other driver came back and noticed and said something, but thankfully she didn't.

After D.C., we went to North Carolina to see one of his friends from when he went to school in Texas and also so we could swim in the ocean. When we were heading out the next day, we stopped for gas and Josh wanted me to drive. I was still nervous from the last time I'd driven because I was in unfamiliar territory. So I was messing with the GPS before I pulled out because there was a car anyway. Even after it'd passed I was finishing up what I was doing and the car behind me honked. I glanced and didn't see anyone so I pulled out just in time to see that there was a van coming. I braked, but it was too late. My first accident as a driver. Nothing too bad, just more cosmetic damage. Cop came and took care of everything and we were finally on our way. One thing that angers me about my act-without-thinking reaction is that the car behind me didn't honk for me to go, but because i'd left the gas door open on Keigo...... grr....

Anyway, thank God there was nothing else. I'll give the good stories from the trip later, right now I'm going to help my husband unpack and stuff.

[DDL]

Gee, that's awful! I'm so sorry to hear that a lot of you guys are having accidents/car problems. I'm just glad everyone's okay.

I'm looking forward to hearing the good stories, Mara. =)

[Janeway Forever]

Ok, so my car is totalled. And no longer my car. I turned over the title about an hour ago. And I swore I wasn't going to cry. But the second I saw them bringing it up the road on a forklift, the tears started falling.

They set it down harshly for my taste. I was halfway out of the rental car to yell at the guy to be more gentle when I remembered that it wasn't my car anymore. That's when the tears really started.

I cleaned it out. Sat in it for a minute to say goodbye and how sorry I am. (How silly is it to say goodbye to a car? Or to apologize for it's fate?) Took one last picture. And drove away. I cried the whole way home. And haven't stopped yet.

I've had this car for nine years. I got it four days after my 18th birthday. When I drove it home, it had 6 miles on it.

This is the car that was decorated the day I graduated high school. This is the car that I was driving the night I met Richie's father. This is the car that Richie's father and I broke up in. This is the car that we took to Beach Week. And to Florida more times than I can remember. This is the car that took me to college. And back home again. This is the car Richie came home from the hospital in. It's also the car that took me to see Kate. Twice. It took me to Ohio to meet Tina and Mel. And later it took us to Ohio again to meet Garrett. There are 218,000 miles of memories in that car.

And I'm just having a hard time coping with the fact that I'll never see my car ever again.

[KateJaneway]

Awwwwww! Ill give you a great big hug when I get there!

[Queen Arachnia]

Whoa! Well apparently I missed a whole lot. All of you take care.

My lack of being here was of course due to real life but nothing super huge or extremely important to report about.Though I don't know what I'm going to do with all this stuff I bought for my friend. I got sick the day of her baby shower and the place she was having the baby shower was at a hall er something and I do not have her current address. So for a month I've been trying to get her on the phone but no go. I don't even get a voice mail...just a male voice that says the person I'm trying to reach is unavailable then a voice of a woman saying the same thing in Spanish.

[Mel]

Okay heres my upsate. So the move has been okay, kinda stressful. We drove 700 miles we are about 150 miles out side of st louis. ill keep up all updated when I can

[Janeway Forever]

Awe! You're well on your way Mel. I know it's hard, but I think the move will be a good step. Be careful driving. And drink lots of coffee.

[lauren05]

Hang in there, Mel! That's a lot of miles, I would be stressed too!