Just what I need...

[RichS]

Had an adventurous day yesterday...

I had to go to work to pick up my check, so I had 3 of my 4 daughters with me. Got the check, made deposit, got gas for my van, and was on the way to get some lunch.

I was in the left lane, about 30 ft. before the intersection. Traffic was stopped. Since I wanted to turn left at the intersection, I turned on my signal and went into the empty left turn lane. About 5 ft. down, I noticed that the traffic had made a space for a Jeep Cherokee to turn left out of a shopping center. The Jeep had just started to pull out of the center when I came to a complete stop - I was going pretty slow up to that point, so it was easy to stop and wait for the Jeep to clear - except that he didn't.

The Jeep's driver pulled it through the two main lanes, paused to look for traffic in the opposite lanes, found an opening, and started to accelerate to pull into traffic. Only thing missing was that he forgot to see if there was anybody in the left turn lane...

The Jeep hit my van in the front center, taking out the hood, right headlight, and the radiator. We were all wearing our seatbelts, so everyone was ok. The Jeep got dented in the left corner - all the driver had to do was to pull on the left front of the vehicle, and he was able to get it fixed enough to drive. My van wasn't so lucky - I had to have it towed back home.

Did I mention that the van was the only vehicle we had running?

My wife's stepparents picked us up, and are letting us use their truck for now. I have to go to the police station to get the report for the insurance co. next week, and hopefully I can get something to get either the van or our truck fixed.

Bonus - The officer was using his car to help the tow truck driver in the left turn lane to back up in order to pull into the nearest parking lot. An older 'gentleman' (using the term loosely) in a Honda CRV pulls up behind the officer - and honks his horn.

The officer leans out his window and yells at the driver to move out of the way, and he just stays there. The officer then gets out of his vehicle. My daughters are around me, so I tell them, "Girls, watch this - this is going to be good."

Officer goes to the CRV and has a 'conversation' with the driver...too bad I couldn't hear what they said, but it looked like a one-sided discussion.

The officer then starts to go back to his car, when the CRV driver says to the effect of, "Even though you're a cop, you can't tell me what to do."

Officer storms back to the CRV, has another 'conversation', and goes back to his car. CRV driver meekly pulls away.

[roothorick]

I was in the left lane, about 30 ft. before the intersection. Traffic was stopped. Since I wanted to turn left at the intersection, I turned on my signal and went into the empty left turn lane. About 5 ft. down, I noticed that the traffic had made a space for a Jeep Cherokee to turn left out of a shopping center. The Jeep had just started to pull out of the center when I came to a complete stop - I was going pretty slow up to that point, so it was easy to stop and wait for the Jeep to clear - except that he didn't.

The Jeep's driver pulled it through the two main lanes, paused to look for traffic in the opposite lanes, found an opening, and started to accelerate to pull into traffic. Only thing missing was that he forgot to see if there was anybody in the left turn lane...

The Jeep hit my van in the front center, taking out the hood, right headlight, and the radiator

For some reason, I can't picture this in my head. I read it three times, and, no, I still don't get it. What happened?

[Pagan]

For some reason, I can't picture this in my head. I read it three times, and, no, I still don't get it. What happened?

It sounds like Mr. Jeep was coming from the right and cut the turn short through the left turn lane without checking to see if anybody was actually using it.

[RichS]

It sounds like Mr. Jeep was coming from the right and cut the turn short through the left turn lane without checking to see if anybody was actually using it.

That's it exactly! Thanks!

No new news yet - I'll see what the police report says when I pick it up tomorrow. I'm really hoping to get one of our two vehicles fixed - we don't have the cash for another one or to fix either or otherwise, and without any cars, we can't go anywhere, like to work in order to afford any transportation.

I must have run into a streak of bad luck - our fridge is about to go, the truck needs $800 in repairs, now the van, and last night our oven stopped working. Like I said, I hope things look better tomorrow.

[Pagan]

That's it exactly! Thanks!

I must have run into a streak of bad luck - our fridge is about to go, the truck needs $800 in repairs, now the van, and last night our oven stopped working. Like I said, I hope things look better tomorrow.

No problem! I'm very familiar with that move 'cause that's kind of how my wreck happened.

The street I was coming up has 3 lanes on each side and I was in the middle-most lane heading towards the light and left-turn bay. The curb and middle lanes had stopped (heavy, heavy traffic due to 5pm rush-hour and Balloon Fiesta) and this ding-dong was trying to turn left out of a shopping center. Those other two lanes had left a gap and she decided to trust them that nobody was coming. BAM! Ran right into her. But, the cops that finally showed up (don't get me started on APD) figured out what happened and assigned all blame to her. Her insurance had to pay to replace the front end of my car and pay for a rental car....over a weekend, too.

All I can say is, 2010 was a shit of a year for a lot of people (including me), and I'm happy to see the bum-end of it. 2011 will be better!

[laborcat]

That's it exactly! Thanks!

No new news yet - I'll see what the police report says when I pick it up tomorrow. I'm really hoping to get one of our two vehicles fixed - we don't have the cash for another one or to fix either or otherwise, and without any cars, we can't go anywhere, like to work in order to afford any transportation.

I must have run into a streak of bad luck - our fridge is about to go, the truck needs $800 in repairs, now the van, and last night our oven stopped working. Like I said, I hope things look better tomorrow.

If it helps, I found a really nice fridge on craigslist for super cheap. Have you tried that?

Also, if it helps, our oven went out early summer and we just got it back working about three weeks ago. I'm sorry you're going through such a rough time. I've been there.

If you're anywhere near me, I have my old fridge hanging out on my back porch, if you want it...

[Andara Bledin]

My fridge dead stopped in the middle of the day. I hit the local rent-to-own place, got a new fridge delivered that night, and saved to pay the full balance before the deadline so I didn't have to pay any interest. Still paid about 15% over list, but at less than $20/week during a time of almost no money, it was totally worth it.

^-.-^

[RichS]

If you're anywhere near me, I have my old fridge hanging out on my back porch, if you want it...

Thanks for the offer - Ohio would be close (I'm in the Thumb of MI), but still a bit of a drive. I've been on Craigslist ever since the fridge started acting up, but for right now I don't have any cash, and it's a little noisy but is still working (crosses fingers).

I have a little bit of an update - I had to get an estimate of the damages, it came up to a little under $3800.

The max amount I can get from insurance? $500. Partially my fault for only having PL/PD on it, but that doesn't help right now. Good news is that we have another loaner that the owner has said that we can use until we don't need it.

I heard from a student that she was able to get money from her student loan to fix her car, since I'm a work-study I can ask, emphasizing that I'm trying to fix my only means of transportation to work and school, if I can do the same - can't hurt, and I can pay that back when tax time comes around. We can probably reduce the repair cost by using new for the mechanicals (radiator, supports, etc.), and use salvage parts for the body (hood/front grille/bumper cover). I don't care what it looks like, as long as it runs and drives.

[Pagan]

Unless you already have a trusted mechanic, you might want to look on here for recommendations. http://www.cartalk.com/ Click and Clack are hysterical to listen to, but they do know what they're talking about.

Finding a mechanic you can trust is the hardest part. I've lucked out that I can trust the guys over at the Pep Boys close by me. They've never been anything but honest with me and don't treat me like an easy mark because I'm a woman and they do good work.