*sigh* Why can't more of life be this easy? And why can't more people be this nice?
A couple coworkers and I were at McDonalds for lunch. Towards the end of the meal, a couple workers walked around to the main eating area and asked if anyone owned the tan Corolla outside. I hadn't been paying attention, but when Tim & James got my attention, I said it was mine. They told me a woman outside with the truck next to me had been pulling out and hit me. Doh!
I went out and looked, and it doesn't look all that great but it's really not much damage, and I doubt anything needs replacing. We didn't know what we were doing, and she was particularly worried that if we didn't call the police her insurance company might refuse the claim. We went in to borrow James' phone to call her rep but the line was busy. Tim & James told us since it's on private property, not on the road, not to worry about it, that the cops wouldn't come anyway.
So she gave me her info, I gave her the make/model/year of my car with my name & phone #'s, and I told her I hoped the rest of her day went better.
I'd been in a good mood before, I was in just as good a mood after, if not slightly better. Why? Because if it had been almost any other person in the world, we would've walked out to my car after finishing lunch to find my car damaged, with no note or anything. Most people would've just left. That would've put me in a bad mood. But she is one of the relatively few people in the world who has some integrity, honesty, and respect, and who actually wanted to find the car's owner. Why can't more of the world be this way?
As to the "easy" comment: her insurance company called me today (so she did indeed did call them after returning to work like she said -- more happy points!) to get my address, ask about the damage, and talk about fixing it.
Basically, he gave me 3 autobody shops close to me that all I have to do is call & find one who can see me relatively soon (next couple weeks I'd prefer), make an appt, then call the insurance company and let them know. The autobody shop sends them pics of the damage and a bill, and that's pretty much it. I don't have to do anything else, I don't have to get it fixed & pay out-of-pocket, then try getting a refund check, etc. Hopefully this means no hassle other than trying to find a convenient time.
It can be harder to get, say, the proper bedframe for your bed, than this is turning out to be. Jeremy and I got a headboard and footboard as a wedding gift, but the frame we had was open at the foot and thus couldn't have a footboard attached. So, we went looking for a queen size bedframe that could, picking the closest possible place and going from there.
Well, the closest place, La-z-boy, doesn't sell beds, so no bedframes. HQ right in the same plaza doesn't sell them. Next stop in proximity: Value City furniture. We go to the customer service counter, and tell them what we need. They say sure, they have them in stock. So they ring up an order and have us go around to the warehouse in back to pick them up. We get the box, sign for it, and take it home. Only to open it and discover it's the same damn thing we already had, except without the cool center piece that keeps the boxsprings & mattress from sagging over time. Well, shit.
So we go back (we got there about 30 min after the order was rung up) and said there is NO way these will work, they're the same as what we already had. They get a sales rep who gives the person behind the sales counter a different SKU (same price). We go back to the warehouse.
This time, before we leave, the man in the warehouse actually has the item out of the box for us to see. They're close, but no cigar. These are rails that have slots in the ends (so there's no right-angle bend at the end) for a different kind of headboard/footboard. Basically, we need bolt on (the legs on the h.b. & f.b. just have metal-jacketed bolt holes on the "inside" -- i.e. the side facing the bed -- that the frame needs to bolt to) whereas these are for the kind of h.b./f.b. that have I guess some kind of fittings on the sides (the narrow sides) of them that you sort of hang the rails from (hence the slots in the rails).
He goes back and looks, and finally finds a really dusty frame that's two separate L-shaped lengths that end in a rectangle shaped piece capping both ends. THAT is exactly what we need. He also grabs a box marked "universal center support" to put halfway between the two. Even though our order form is technically for the rails, he and the customer service guy who'd gone down with him, said not to worry going back up to cust. service yet again to change the order, since it'll (a) be the same price anyway, and (b) they found what we need & they know they gave us that rather than what the order form says.
Now, that ordeal was a pain in the ass. I mean, it took us, from when we originally left looking for these buggers, to when we walked back in the door with the right stuff, around 90 min. Had they given us that in the first place, it would've been more like 20 min. I think we shoulda just gone to Mattress Giant (across the street & our next stop if V. C. hadn't worked out) to begin with, 'cause all they sell is mattresses, so they OUGHT to know their stuff wrt beds & bed "accessories". Right?
(Heh, I just tried posting this w/ AIM but the BlogBot gave the error of, "Maximum length (7950) exceeded." Dunno if that's char length, byte length or what. Think maybe I wrote too much this time? 
09:40 AM - People are evil!
