well, i took my car to a shop to get an estimate on the damage for the insurance company. the guy looked at it for half an hour and gave me a printout of the necessary repairs. basically, the driver side B-pillar (which took most of the impact force) needs to be hammered back into shape, the passenger side rear quarter panel needs to be realigned, and three of the four doors need to be totally replaced. even with junkyard parts, the estimated repair cost is a hefty $2,868.77 including $74.97 of sales tax.

it’s a good thing i’m not footing the bill.

this is the story of VEHICLE 1.

VEHICLE 1, a 1998 Honda Civic sedan, got up early this morning to get its front driver side tire patched at the body shop because it had been leaking air quite badly. then, on the way home from the body shop, VEHICLE 1 traveled southbound when VEHICLE 2, a commercial work van that was facing the wrong direction on the opposite side of the street, came charging in from across the yellow lines and struck VEHICLE 1 between the front and rear driver side doors. having had its direction of travel altered by the forceful impact with VEHICLE 2, the rear passenger side door of VEHICLE 1 makes contact with the driver side rear bumper of VEHICLE 3, an unoccupied vehicle legally parked on the side of the road.

VEHICLE 3 suffers a dented rear bumper and a cracked driver side taillight, VEHICLE 2‘s front bumper has also been dented, while VEHICLE 1 looks like this:

sigh :(

i know i should be grateful that i had a car to drive between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. i know i should be glad that i didn’t have to walk through the Mojave or ride a donkey through the mountain passes but i’m going to complain a little anyway.

to be truthful, the car–a late ’90s Mitsubishi Mirage powered by a 1.5 liter four cylinder engine that, once upon a time, generated an extravagant 92 horsepower–struggled a bit. okay, it struggled a lot. i spent most of the time cowering in the slipstream of other vehicles, afraid to put the air conditioning on in the 110°F heat for fear that the engine would suffer even more. i watched the speedometer slowly drop as i flogged it uphill, a steady stream of cars passing me by.

but again, i really shouldn’t be complaining. someone was nice enough to lend it to me, it got me safely there, and misery builds character.

well, i locked myself out of the car for the first time ever today. anyone out there who’s ever done the same thing knows exactly how i felt as i stared through the window at my keys dangling from the ignition, dumbfounded by my own stupidity.

luckily, Tom–the Korean guy who worked at the nail salon across the street–just happened to have car unlocking tools in his trunk and graciously helped me get the door open. i gave him six bucks (all the cash in my wallet) and a bottle of lemonade from the corner store to show my gratitude.

there are still some good people in this world :)

the first time i got pulled over was for obeying the law.

it was a dark night, as most nights are, and i was on my way home from a friend’s place. having driven the same route many times before, i went straight in a ‘straight or left turn’ lane and a pig on the other side of the intersection U-turned to follow me and lit up.

to be truthful, i panicked a bit when i saw red and blue in my rearview mirror. my mind raced as i fought to remember every mundane traffic law i could to figure out which one i broke. did i drive over a firehose without proper consent? was one of my taillights out? did i change lanes within 5,000 feet of an intersection? a spotlight shined into my mirrors and a silhouette strolled up as my window rolled down.

Pig: do you know why i pulled you over?

ivan: no, not really

Pig: you went straight in a ‘left turn only’ lane

ivan: i’m pretty sure it was a ‘straight or left turn’ lane

Pig: are you sure, son?

ivan: yeah

Pig: i’ll be right back


15 minutes and two donuts later

Pig: alright. i’m going to let you off with a warning. drive safely.

all in all, a complete waste of my time.