Hang Out and Post

[-Ryan]

I tend to have awesome teachers.

 

Although a few days ago in business our sub told me he likes to buy guns from Walmart to shoot squirrels. :(

 

And I yet again had laptop issues, Spritzie. This time my battery shorted out when I tried charging my ipod.

[Spritzie]

Ryan, you really need to stop breaking your technology items.

[-Ryan]

Its not my fault! They just dont like me! T-T

[Spritzie]

You broke it. Of course it's your fault. Who else would be at fault?

[Masaryk]

I got into my first car accident today. :( Someone rear-ended me as I was waiting for a pedestrian, so that I could turn onto my street. The back hatch of my wagon is completely caved in, and I'm guessing there's some frame damage. I'm betting the car will be a write-off.

 

Strangely, I'm not really upset about the whole thing. I wasn't mad about it at the time, just a bit annoyed that I would then have to go to the police station, call the insurance company, blah, blah, blah. My husband was a bit mad about it when I first told him, but that quickly changed. Car shopping is one of his favourite things.

[Wembly]

uggh, sadness on the smooshed car. Glad you were uninjured though. I don't really enjoy car shopping. I just told the family to get the same car we had but the newer version. :rolleyes_anim:

[Spritzie]

I'm so sorry! Are you okay?

 

Don't write off your car yet. That happened to me 3 months after I bought my Rav4. I got rear-ended while sitting at a red light on New Year's Eve. (And the guy was sober.) He knew I was there, and knew the light was red. He planned to run it anyway, I guess because for some reason, he thought I was running it too.

 

But he was driving an small 80s pickup truck, which was solid metal. My back window shattered and glass made it all the way to the front seat. The back door was pretty crushed. (He pushed the spare tire which was mounted on the back door, through the door.) I was sure the frame got bent and it would be totaled, but it wasn't. Even though he did nearly $7k of damage, they repaired it. (Though it took them a month and a half to get it fixed.)

[Masaryk]

I am rather sore, but not badly injured. I'll probably go see the doctor or the chiropractor tomorrow, just to get everything checked out.

 

The car is 10 years old, so I'm pretty sure the insurance company will write it off. It just made 295,000 km today. My husband was really hoping it would make it to 500k, but I don't think that will be happening.

[Spritzie]

I'm glad you're okay. Try taking some Aleve or something, to try to get ahead of any muscle tightness and pain. That's what my doctor had me do when he saw me the day of the accident in January.

 

During the first accident, my car was nearly 8 years old. (It was in the end of 2007, and my car was a 2000.) Then in January, it was 11 years old, and the only reason they totaled it, was there was engine damage, and even though it was below their limit of damage vs car value, they were worried about hidden damage.

[Masaryk]

I guess I will just have to wait and see what the insurance adjuster has to say.

 

I found the whole thing to be a rather weird experience. I'm usually a little worried that I will get rear-ended while turning onto my street, since I'm turning off of a really busy street, and I really have to slow down, because the corner of my street is at a >90° angle. Today, I wasn't really thinking about it at all. Then, I checked my mirror, just in time to realize that the person coming up behind me likely wasn't going to stop in time. I couldn't really do anything to get out of the way, since I was at a complete stop, waiting for a pedestrian.

 

Oddly enough, it wasn't nearly as scary an experience as I thought it would be. I have no trouble with the thought of getting right back behind the wheel.

[Spritzie]

Ever since I got rear-ended, I'm obsessive about watching my rear view mirror at stop lights, stop signs, anytime when I slow down or stop. With mine, all I could have done, was pull into the empty intersection. (I was the first car waiting to turn, and there were no other cars around.) But I didn't have time. I glanced in my mirror, saw headlight coming fast, and didn't even have time to complete the thought that they weren't stopping. I had a split second, which wasn't enough to even begin to react.

 

I hate turns like that. I always put my turn signal on as far back as I can, and start slowing down. But there's way too many times when it seems like the person behind me isn't going to slow down at all.

 

I'm still jumpy. It's just hard, since I drive well. I know I not only have to drive for myself, but I have to drive for the idiots on the road. So I'm still a bit nervous under certain circumstances. And of course, Colorado is known for its idiot drivers and severe accidents.

[Wembly]

I hate driving with a passion and avoid it whenever possible.

And of course, Colorado is known for its idiot drivers and severe accidents.

You know, I have heard that before and could never really figure out why. I mean you guys get crazy weather all the time and part of me has this crazy idea that you are all calm and serene in the fresh mountain air :rolleyes_anim: silly I know. People here are just in a super rush all the time and most drive like maniacs. Its an interesting combination of crazy old people and crazy people who weave in and out of traffic to get around said old people.

[Spritzie]

:laughingsmiley: People seem to just be idiots. They don't pay attention, they're always in such a rush. Like when I got rear-ended on New Years Eve in 2007. I was at a red light, waiting to turn into my neighborhood, at 8pm. I'd had my automatic car for 3 months. For the previous 2 years, I drove a manual car, so I had the habit of watching lights for the other direction so I would know when to put the car in gear. That night, the light for the other direction had just turned yellow, so my direction had been red for a few minutes, and the truck plowed into me at a high speed.

 

I got out of the car, sobbing obviously since it was my dream car that I'd finally bought 3 months earlier after wanting it for 12 years. And the guy gets out of the car, looks at me and says "I thought you were going to run it." So yes, he saw the light was red. Yes, he saw my car. No, apparently the fact that my brake lights never came off never occurred to him.

 

And worse yet, a DUI officer was the first on the scene. The guy was 100% sober. My mom immediately called 911. His first phone call was to his mom (He was in his 30s) to discuss how much cash he had on him, because he knew he would be arrested since he skipped a court date for a speeding ticket, and there was a warrant out for his arrest.

 

Then he tried to tell my mom and I he was going to the gas station a block away to get a drink. We had to explain to him that he wasn't going anywhere until the police arrived, at which point he admitted he just wanted to go see his daughter before he was arrested.

 

Then a few months later, I got a subpoena to testify against him in a criminal trial. (It was a full jury panel trial.) Apparently, he was also driving with a suspended license.

 

I must say... he was very lucky he didn't total my car. And that I was absolutely hysterical that night. Otherwise, I would have NOT been happy. <_<

[Wembly]

You know, now that I think about it, Dog the Bounty Hunter from tv does seem to end up in Colorado a lot when he's chasing people who've skipped out on their bail in Hawaii. And the guy who hit you sounds like a real winner there Spritzie. <_<

[Spritzie]

:laughingsmiley: I was so upset. I think the fact that he was sober, and saw me and the red light, made it worse than if he'd been drunk. It actually had 2 criminal cases against him. It was crazy.

 

And my sister has been in quite a few accidents in her 13 years of driving, and only the first one when she was 15, was her fault. The accident that happened when she was 16, the guy who hit her, actually showed up at our door using her info from the accident report, and had a sympathy card and wanted to ask her out on a date. :laughingsmiley:

 

I swear, the people on the roads here, make me want to move to an itty bitty town with a population of about... 50.

 

I have so many close calls, due to people being idiots. Like I've had an old lady turning left in front of me when I was going straight. She had a turn lane, but she pulled into the intersection in my lane, then stopped. Or someone who was turning left in front of me, but didn't have a turn lane, and they stopped in my lane.

 

My husband and I saw a bad accident this morning, that we couldn't figure out what happened, judging by the cars left. (We think there must have been a 3rd car that was already removed. And it had to have been the other one involved.) One car had it's hood smashed nearly to the front window. The other car was entirely on the curb near the other car, with only the left side tires not on the curb. We couldn't see damage other than it being on the curb, so we think it swerved to avoid the accident, and ended up on the curb. They must have already towed the car the hit the other.

[Bloods_Mistress]

Morning guys. Wow, sounds like its been rough for you guys

[Spritzie]

Good morning :)

 

It's why I'm a supporter of IQ tests being required before people can get their license. :laughingsmiley: (And yes, I'm joking.)

[Bloods_Mistress]

lol yeah.....Its actually kinda sad now lax the requirements are for driving. Im actually surprised _I_ was allowed my license. but I drive like a granny, and try to stay to small roads

[Airiya]

I've been driving for almost 4 years now (since I was 16 with a license) and I still get nervous, well more like in places I'm not familiar with.

Like downtown San Diego, California. Omg, so many one way streets and so easy to get into a head-on collision.

Luckily no accidents or tickets so far... and hope it's like that for the future years xP

[rachiee]

The area where I live has some really rude drivers. Seriously, try going to the mall on a Saturday at...2:00 and try not to run into anyone that a.) cuts you off, b.) comes close to hitting you, or c.) all of the above.

I encounter slightly nicer drivers on my walks to and from school- the only rude ones are those jerky junior or senior idiot kids (some of them need to invest in a muffler) xD

Oh yeah, there's also those drivers that don't let me cross the street. I usually end up swearing at them after they've passed. xP

[Spritzie]

I've been driving for almost 4 years now (since I was 16 with a license) and I still get nervous, well more like in places I'm not familiar with.

Like downtown San Diego, California. Omg, so many one way streets and so easy to get into a head-on collision.

Luckily no accidents or tickets so far... and hope it's like that for the future years xP

 

I've been driving for nearly 11 years now. (I got my permit a month after I turned 15.) And I've been driving with a license for nearly 10 years. I still get nervous, even here, in the city I've lived in all my life, and driven in for 11 years. But it's because people are idiots and I nearly got my car totaled once by an idiot. I got forced off the road by another. Then 4 months ago, I did get my car totaled by an idiot. It's not even like the roads here are complicated, they're all just careless and rude.

[Airiya]

Seriously, I drove with a permit when I was 15 also, but kids that age now are so reckless.

I never have road rage just annoys me when they can't flip their turn signal on or speed up when you're trying to change lanes.

I don't know how many "almost" car accidents I've gone through because of that.

And I think is so blegh when I see drivers texting while driving, since using cellphones without a handsfree device is illegal in California.

I remember my high school friends were like "Oh it's illegal to talk on our cells while dricing, so I'll text instead!" I'm like "Seriously...?"

People these days Dx

[-Ryan]

Hello all.

Driving discussion? Mehhh, I has nothing to say about that soooo

Guess who got to make their presentation about squirrels, narwhals, and Unicorns today. My english teacher almost showed it to the 2nd hour class apparently but they ran out of time. I heard it was actually for a good reason, too. :P

[rachiee]

Speaking of squirrels...while I was eating dinner, I looked out the window and saw a squirrel carrying around a jar of peanut butter. Its head wasn't stuck in the jar or anything, because the jar was unopened.

I have no idea why it would want peanut butter, of all things to eat. xD

[Spritzie]

Text messaging while driving is illegal here in Colorado. Phone calls are still okay, though there's age restrictions. I think some are still working on making phones or phones without hands-free sets illegal.