It’s a wonder insurance companies still give us the time of day.

But, I guess eye-watering monthly payments have a certain way of keeping their attention.

The thing is…

This year, it’s been one car drama after another.

So, the story goes…

We were away for a couple of weeks at the beginning of the year. And our second car, a little blue hatchback, was left all alone in our driveway.

It turns out, 8-year old factory-fitted batteries don’t like it too much when you ignore them.

When we arrived home I tried to figure out what was wrong. And I did manage to jump-start the car and take it for a drive.

When I came back I parked it on the street in front of our house. And did a quick check that it still started OK.

It does?… cool… must have just lost charge while we were away (he says, trying to sound like he actually knows something about cars!)

So… should be all right now, I thought.

OH, no no no!… definitely NOT all right.

Dead as a doornail when I tried it the next morning.

Oh well… guess we’ll have to get a new battery then. No worries.

But we weren’t in a hurry to get this sorted… as we had the other car working fine. And some bills needed paying first.

So the car sat on the street… for a few weeks.

Then one day, I went to grab the roll of tape I’d left in the car and… what’s this?

DANG IT!

Sometime in the past few weeks, some cheeky sod had broken into the car. Probably during the night. And only a short distance from our bedroom window!

They’d ripped the guts out of the steering wheel surrounds. And made a dog’s breakfast of the lock.

I could see they’d had a jolly good go at starting the car. Hoping to take it for a joy-ride, we guess.

(It happened to another car of ours a year or so back. But had never been a problem for 8 years before that — what’s happening to the neighborhood?!? 🤔)

But remember that battery?

Yeah… even if they had got the lock sorted. And were able to turn it properly. The car wouldn’t even start.

So at least there’s some LOL-factor there. 😆

But if the battery was working then the ALARM would have gone off. And they wouldn’t have done much more than bust the external lock. If they even got that far.

So there was a little self-kicking going on that I didn’t prioritize the battery.

But the thwarted thieves trashed so much in their futile attempts, we had to make an insurance claim. And pay the stupid excess.

And then it was a waiting game, while parts arrived on the slowest trains they could possibly find.

Plus, we had to get the new battery installed. So we could drive it to the repair place.

Then… a couple of weeks back…

Imagine our delight when the repairer calls to say they have the parts! And we can now drop the car in to get fixed.

But even with a new battery, I couldn’t start it. Because the lock was wrecked beyond hope.

So the repairer came along. And even they couldn’t start it. So it had to be towed.

As we waved goodbye to our little car, as it was towed from its snuggly curbside lodgings… the excitement began building in my household…

“Yay, we’re getting the blue car back soon!”

My 18-year old was particularly happy, as it’s the car she’s learning to drive in.

BUT… (you did read the subject line, right?)…

Just two or three days before we got our beloved “Jam” back (affectionately named after the J.A.M. of the blue car’s number plate)…

We’re coming back from my daughter’s tennis finals. With the whole family in the car.

And we’re stopped at an intersection, waiting for cars to pass.

I’m just about to pull out when…

WHAM!!

“Aaahhh!”

“What happened? Are you all right?”

Short story…

Family was fine. 😅

Car… not so much.

Rear-ended by a farm vehicle with massive bars on the front.

NOT a pretty sight.

So… it was a chilly drive home, an hour away over the hills, with a smashed rear window. And a buckled door.

*sigh*

More insurance companies. More repairers. More waiting. More driving around with a taped on plastic rear “windscreen.” More car dramas.

Only solace is… someone else’s insurance company is paying for this one. So no excess for us. 😁

There’s plenty more to tell.

Like the “Can we tell a little fib about the date of the accident?” call from the person who rammed into us. (Hmmm)

That’s a story that needs telling, methinks.

But… I’ve had quite enough drama for this email.

I’ll look forward to catching you in your inbox again tomorrow.

And if you’d like to contribute to Chris’s little fund to help pay for the next car mishap…

Pick anything from this page…

https://milham.me/products

Chris “dusting off his bike” Milham

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Chris Milham