I've Been Busy

I always have a chance to get on the internet at work but lately it's been so busy I really haven't been online much. Yesterday a bus pulled up in front of the hotel and I watched a couple of guys guiding the bus as it pulled under the overhang. At first I didn't believe it would fit but it did - he pulled in about half way to let out the kids inside. They checked in, the kids got out (about 48 of them. Well,unbeknownst to us all, when the kids got out, the bus, being lighter, raised enough to get jammed into the roof. The driver backed out with a loud cruching sound as the bus pulled the side of the roof out, breaking beams and breaking his A/C, freon steaming out.

The maintenance man was in the lobby talking to me and had just gone back to his room. The kids were on the way to their rooms, making alot of noise and I was bracing for the inevitable complaints from other guests. Nobody called except him. He asked if I just checked in a herd of elephants, I told him I did and he was the only one to complain - stop being such a baby. We hung up and 5 minutes later the accident happened. I called him back and told him to come up front - their was something he had to see. He said he was already undressed but I said it would be worth it. It was, these things don't happen very often.

Then I called the local sheriff to get a police report, they called the Florida Highway Patrol, who came out and said it's not their responsibility as it happened on private property. My question was, if it's not the local sheriff's responsibility and it's not FHP's responsibility, who's supposed to take care of it? If someone drives their car into the lobby I'm supposed to just handle everything myself? He went ahead and took care of the report for me, which makes me wonder why he bothered to tell me it was not his resonsibility in the first place.

That's it, the roof didn't cave in and the lights still work, so I'm happy.

Speaking of accidents, someone hit the side of Irma's car. It tore up the front and rear door but it doesn't look like much beyond that was damaged. The other driver was at fault and his insurance company is taking care of it. They gave us a check but they don't give you enough to fix it. You're supposed to take it to a body shop and the body shop gets with the inurance company to get the rest of the money. The insurance company estimate was $2300.00. I got another estimate from someone I know who was in the business for over $7000.00. I took it to another shop to get one and they refused to do it. They said just take it to a body shop and let them deal with the insurance company. How do I know what body shop I can trust to do a good job? If you're not going to come out a look at it and talk to me about it why would I want to do business with you? Irma said someone recommended a shop to her and she took it there. They are supposed to fax an estimate today. I just don't want any problems with the body shop - my history with auto shops is not full of good memories.

I went over the estimate with my friend and looked up the cost of the parts on the internet. The doors are over $1000.00 each. That doesn't include prep, painting and assembly. The insurance company found used doors but they are not the same color so they need to be taken apart and painted so you can't tell. I wish I could just find some doors the same color in excellent condition and I would just do it myself. Maybe I'm being too picky but I've seen cars come from a body shop that look good at first glance but when you look close, open a body panel, you can see the repair was not fully done and it looks bad, especially when you sell the car. The accident was not Irma's fault and I want the car repaired properly - it was almost perfect before this happened - no dents at all and didn't look its age at all.

I wish people would just watch where they are going and not be in such a hurry. Fat chance.


P.S. Irma is OK, no one was hurt, it was a very low speed accident. She was behind a car making a right into a parking lot so she was going slow. The other driver pulled out from that lot making a left right into her side. How you don't see a car right in front of you is beyond me.