WHY SHIT IS SO EXPENSIVE

 

WHY SHIT IS SO EXPENSIVE

                                                                  ALL FIXED UP

OK, I apologize, that should be WHY STUFF…It is just that I am so incensed!

“What Happened, Cranky?”

I’ll tell you.

A few weeks ago, while racing from the Bowlero parking lot as I was a bit late for league warm up, I realized my key fob had fallen out of my coat and was lost in my car’s interior.

In my haste and panic when I could not find the fob, I pulled open the passenger side door to check if the fob had somehow flown into the passenger side.  (I eventually found it barely peeking underneath a seatbelt anchor cover.) When I yanked on the passenger door, it grabbed onto the front side car panel and buckled it.  The door would not operate without effort due to the door panel obstruction.

WTF?

I had no idea how this happened, but apparently the panel had been pushed ½ inch or less backwards where the passenger door would not open unobstructed.  There was no apparent damage to the car otherwise.  Not a scratch or a dent.

I had my friend who is the head mechanic for the local AAA and a borderline genius (just trust me) look at the issue.  I was informed that yes, somehow the panel had been pushed.  He estimated it would cost from $1500 to $2000 to repair.

The first shop I took it to said “Somewhere from $1500 to $2000 to fix.”

I called the insurance company.

“How did the accident happen?”

“I have no idea.”

“When did it happen?”

“Somewhere between end of March and beginning of May.  Possibly someone bumped me in a parking lot…I have no idea.”

I was told the shop I took it to had no relationship with that insurance company.

I took the car to an accredited collision shop that has a working arrangement with my insurance company.

I have $500 deductible, so what ever the cost, that is all I stood to lose.  Truth be told, if the cost was all coming out of my pocket I would have asked,

“Just pull the panel, bang out the crumple, adjust it back where it does not impede my door, and I will spray some paint over the damage so it won’t rust.” 

Probably cost me $750-$800.  With the deductible, I left it to the discretion of the insurance company and the body shop.

I was without my beloved Harvey (Honda HR-V) for two weeks.  Yesterday it was done and I picked it up.

The car is beautiful, no dings, no dents, years of minor scratches were buffed out and the car was completely detailed. 

It is now gorgeous, not that I really care that much…scratches and dents do not really bother me that much, they are inevitable.

“So why are you so incensed? It only cost you $500 and they did a great job!”

The insurance company was billed $7500 to fix a dented ½ inch moved front panel.

$7500!!!

OK, no more than $500 dollars of skin off my teeth, but damn, no wonder insurance is so dang expensive.

The shop charged for every screw and face mask, every rubber glove and every second of labor.  They adjusted shit that did not need adjusting and they painted stuff that did not need painting. 

I wonder, did the insurance agent who approved the job get a little extra in his sandwich bag?

Just got me thinking.  Where else does this sort of thing happen?

 

BTW, after further reflection, I am pretty sure the damage was done when Harvey was parked in my tiny garage almost abutted against a cabinet when New Jersey was hit with a 4.9 earthquake the shaking of which pushed Harvey’s panel.

The news reported back on April 5 that the NJ quake shook lots of people up but there was no known damage.

Apparently, they did not know of the $2000 damage to Harvey that was turned into $7500.

 

 

CRANKY THE BOTANIST

 

CRANKY THE BOTANIST

Ocean View

I am not a botanist, but I am sometimes observant and nature fascinates me.

Mrs. C and I along with occasional second and third generations of cranks and or other relatives and friend drop-ins are at our Jersey Shore rental.  The rental is a small apartment off the garage of Mrs. C’s Aunt Catherine’s home, a mere 50 yards from the beach.

This morning, I took my morning coffee to a bench overlooking the ocean.  

As beautiful and calming as an ocean view is, my eyes were drawn to the large dunes that were built after super storm Sandy many years ago.

DUNES

The dunes protect ocean front homes from rising waters. Of course, this probably ultimately directs the rising water to the bay, making those homes vulnerable to rising waters destruction.  You cannot stop water; you only redirect it…anyway that is another rant.

When they built the dunes, they also planted special grass in neat rows for the roots to grow deep and hold in the sand, which after 12 years has been pretty successful.  What caught my interest was how the fauna of the dunes has changed.

The rows of grass have lost some of their neat farm-like row quality.  Much of the grass has expired or perhaps gone dormant, seemingly in the spots that may drain rain water the fastest.  In place of the grass, several other varieties of plants, bushes or grasses have filled in to also hold the sand.

Of particular interest to me was one small patch of cacti that has taken hold. 

Cactus!

Where the heck did cactus come from?  I’m pretty sure cactus in not indigenous to New Jersey…we have zero deserts in New Jersey.

The cactus was flowering, and I know I had seen these flowers somewhere before…hmm.

Got it!

Auntie Catherine has a pot of ornamental cactus on her back deck where I sometimes BBQ dinner.  One small pot of cacti.

Apparently, the wind has carried her cactus seeds, or a bird has feasted and them pooped a seed onto this one small spot on the dune and from there a crop of cacti has taken root and spread.

Much like animals or plants get transferred across the world’s oceans on ships, tides, or birds, so has Auntie C’s cactus moved to the dunes. 

Sometimes this transfer process we declare as invasive.  Without natural enemies these migrants can change the environment. 

But are they really invasive?  Do they destroy native plants and or animals or do they just change the environment. 

The environment will eventually adapt after maybe hundreds of years.  Hundreds of years to us humans is destructive.  To nature it just is.  The world adapts.  We are just visitors and while we like to think we can control nature, we really cannot.

We can and should do our best to not harm our environment, especially as nature’s adaptive ways might necessitate our species demise, but we are not as controlling of the forces of the environment as we like to think.

Anyway, I wonder how many people will glance at these Jersey dunes in the future and wonder, “Where the Hell did the cactus come from!”

I know.

 

 

D-DAY

 

D-DAY

I don’t believe I’ve ever done anything especially brave in all my years.  I’m not a coward, I am risk adverse, but not a coward.  If called I would serve, and maybe if in different times I would have stepped up to serve.

Anyway, today is a reminder of all those who did serve.  Many voluntarily, some on demand.  All who faced the enemy on that D-Day beach reached deep for bravery I cannot imagine.

Several years ago, I attended the funeral of a friend’s father.  It was a military burial and intensely moving as those services always are.

Afterwards we went to dinner and the discussions were of course on the many exploits and attributes of a man who was truly loved by his family.

The discussion came around to his father’s service.  He apparently was one of the brave soldiers who landed on that D-Day beach and survived. 

The family spoke about how Pop never talked about the war…never.  Except recently when discussing a current movie about the D-Day invasion Pop asked only one question, with a tear in his eye,

“Did they show the blood in the water?”

Thank you for your incredible sacrifice.