Glad that it wasn't a bang on the driver's door, girl! Not long after I got this car, I thought that I went into an intersection on a green ... and a car that came through three lanes hit on the driver's side ... but back at the back tire area. I was ... substantially ... very substantially ... thankful! It seemed to be the general concensus that I'd run a red light ... but I figure that he ran a yellow, as when my car had been turned around about 180 degrees - there, staring at me through the windsheld, was a green light, in the same direction that I'd been travelling ... and if I'd run a red light, it should have been red! Anyway - I also like to pick spaces in parking lots where I can drive out (but must confess to being a bit too lazy/(mis-guided?) to back into empty spaces). I hear that a bit of a longer walk is good for one's constitution? By the way ... did you say that the grandkid is wanting a car? Hhm-mm-mm-m! Hope that the rest of your weekend goes better. I, too, value my wheels ... and one needs be extra careful around here, for if one in 70s or higher is in a fender-bender or two, one is liable to get a letter from the Ministry of Transportation to say that they are cancelling one's driving permit. We have a discussion session of about an hour and a half with about a dozen others, with a test of knowledge and signs, with some being selected for a driving test, every two years after age 80. ole joyful P.S. As I was fairly sure that there were still quite a few good miles in that little 20-year-old Mazda that I'd bought only a few months earlier, after the accident I chose to repair it, at a cost larger than I'd paid for it ... partly for environmental reasons, as it costs a great deal of scarce and precious fuel to dig iron ore from the ground, smelt it, then carry it through all of the manufacturing operations ... plus add quite a lot of petroleum-based plastic, to build a new one, but repair is mainly a lot of work. In addition to the amount that's added to global warming ... and pollution. o j

Stuff happens. What defines you is how you deal with it. You have dealt with it and done everything right and no one was hurt. You're right, it's a good reminder to I had someone back into my car, get out of their truck and look, then pull away and leave. She left three dimples in my bumper. She didn't try to come find me, she didn't leave a note on my car, and she didn't give her contact info to the guy working in the parking lot. She didn't accept responsibility, she didn't apologize --she just left acting as if nothing had happened. That's what really made me angry.

We have had two cases where rodents did damage to our vehicles. Both are parked in our garage. Of course we live near woods and have squirrels, chipmunks, and the occasional mouse. We put out sticky traps on occasion, and under the house where I keep my gardening supplies I have set spring traps. I prefer the spring traps. DH had a mouse nest in the air filter of his motorcycle once. It was found via a routine scope when he took it in for maintenance and an oil change. My car had damage due to rodents chewing wires a couple of years ago. That was around $800. Don’t know if it was a mouse or a chipmunk but suspect a mouse although we never found any sign in the car or engine itself. Just one day some warning lights started coming on for check this and that and the car was due for maintenance anyway so I took it in and they found the damage.

I tried the headlights for the second time last night, but first I learned a couple of things. One is that the lights should be set on Automatic, and the lever should be pushed forward to enable the high beams. My drive from town consists of 5 miles of a 2-lane highway and 5 miles through the woods on both paved and dirt roads. The paved roads are in poor condition. I was driving between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m., so it was dark, but not completely black. The headlights were okay (not great, but not bad) on the highway. Every time a car came toward me, even from a distance, the car switched to low beams, then back to high after the car passed. I got flashed from an approaching driver once, but he was in a black car with no lights at all. I didn't see him coming, and neither, apparently, did my car. But when he flashed his lights my low beams kicked in immediately. The other thing I learned was that the car will not enable the high beams if your speed is less than 20 mph. I have no idea why. It makes no sense to me, especially after I experienced it when I got off the highway. Deer were everywhere, with more bucks than I've seen in a while. I slowed down to make sure I didn't hit any, and also to roll through some of the nastier potholes and bumps, and when my speed fell below 20 the high beams quit--just when I needed them to look out for deer. It was frustrating. I'm sure there's a way to bypass this, probably by getting off the Auto setting. I'll look it up. Last night I turned on the fog lights, and that helped somewhat. So I feel partly encouraged by this experience, but I haven't ruled out getting the lights aimed up a bit.