25Jan05 (Monthenor): Two off-topic "comics" in a row? I know, it's not what I'd intended either. GM120 is mostly sketched and sitting on my desk...it might even be done by Friday. But this morning something of vastly more importance forced itself upon me.

It was laundry day so I stayed home to get some comic and chores done. Around noon, on a whim, I looked outside to see what the weather was like. It was pretty sunny and warm, a nice looking day. I saw my car out front where I had parked it last night--

Except it wasn't exactly where I had parked it last night.

And it was at a funny angle, and I was pretty sure I hadn't parked it like that.

And you know what? It looked shorter somehow.

My brain processed all these observations calmly and came back with a simple answer. This is the point where I started swearing vehemently. I swore while finding my coat; I swore while putting on my shoes; I swore while walking downstairs; I swore especially loudly when I got outside.

This is what I saw.

Fortunately the lady who smacked my car into oblivion was not a prick. She had called the cops, an report was filed, and a note on my car gave me the contact officer. He in turn gave me all the relevant insurance info and a story:

A young lady -- we'll call her "Ms. Cause" -- had just pulled out of her driveway down the street. She was going to school. It was very sunny at that point, and the sun got in her eyes. As she reached for her sun visor/sunglasses, she veered a little to the right and plowed my car at full speed. My car in turn tapped a pickup in front of it. Her Ford Explorer hobbled a bit down the road and parked safely, and she called the cops.

I can't say "Oh car, we hardly knew ye", because my car was 21 damn years old. But I'm sad that it went out this way, and particularly that it didn't seem to do much damage to the Explorer. I always figured that if my car got in an accident, it'd give as good as it got.

Some pictures, for posterity and insurance purposes:

A view of the debris field

Another angle on the rear

That's totalled, all right

A little damage in the front

Now I'm waiting on the insurance company to get an assessor out here, 'cause dammit I need this car towed. It's not actually blocking traffic, but I've been watching people slow down to gawk all afternoon. Actually...that might be more effective than stop signs around here. Just put junkers at each corner and remind each driver of their own mortality.

I should write this down.