i'm a little frustrated b/c this is the second time i am writing this entry. last time i accidentally pressed some key on my keyboard (i'm not even sure which one) and the whole window with my blog entry disappeared.
okay, here we go.
the last time i was writing about my accident, i had not gotten allstate's estimate for the damage to my car. most insurance companies will come to your place of work or residence to look at your car, as to not inconvenience you too much. however, allstate makes you go to their "drive-in claim center" to get an estimate. the drive in claim center is open monday thru friday from 8am-5pm, conveniently, the same exact time i work!!! i arranged for an 8am appontment, and skipped my lunch on that day, as to not reduce my paycheck at all. they gave me an estimate for $1500, which i thought was quite low considering that the other three estimates i had gotten from body shops were: $1800, 2100, and 3300.
the next day, the allstate agent peter called me at work to tell me that he had concluded that the accident was 10% my fault, thus, they would be issuing me a check for $1300, 90% of their estimate, to get my car fixed. i asked him why it was 10% my fault (when the other driver had receied a ticket for failure to yield to traffic, and i had not), and he said that i had failed to prevent the accident. i assured him that there was nothing a could have done, and then he suggested that i could have honked my horn. and in hindsight, i realized that instead of focusing my energy on slamming on my brakes, i really should have been honking my horn like a fucking moron. right.
i told peter to shove it (no, not really). i told him that my insurance company would be contacting him because i did not want to accept that offer. i called my insurance agent and told him the situation, and he said he would try to work out something with allstate. meanwhile, i am driving around a busted up car, with a hood that does not want to stay closed.
a week later, i still had not heard anything else from allstate. then one day when i was driving, i had an epiphany. i realized that when this man pulled out in front of me, not only was he not yielding to traffic, but his left turn was also illegal because he had to cross over a raised median in order to make the turn. i called my insurance and told them, and then they called allstate again, and mentioned to them that the turn was illegal. finally allstate agreed to pay 95% of the repairs. that was last friday.
okay. so on monday morning i brought the car in to be fixed. i took i to a place in wauconda, right by my work. my insurance agent had already talked to the owner, and had faxed him allstate's estimate and everything. about 10am i got a call from the body shop, saying that they had just contacted allstate and all that they knew was that i had rejected the offer for 1300. then i had to call my insurance agent again, and he called allstate, and they called the body shop to sort it out. allstate sent out one of their mechanics to the body shop, and they ended up writing them a check for $2095, which was 95% of the total cost to fix the car, $2205. and they wanted to give me $1300!
during this process of getting my car fixed, allstate is supposed to pay for my rental car too. they are paying 95% (because remember, the accident was 5% my fault, and we always deal in percentages). i got a rental car from enterprise in wauconda, and i asked them for the cheapest car possible. they gave me a malibu maxx (which is HUGE compared to what i'm used to driving) for $24.95 a day. i didn't think it would be too bad, i would only have to pay a dollar or two a day. it's supposed to take about 2 weeks to get it fixed, so at the most it would be 30 dollars.
then, enterprise called me back today to tell me that they had just talked to allstate, and allstate would only pay 95% of the rental car for a $19.95/day car. i don't know where you can get a car that cheap. i got the cheapest thing they had. so basically i have to pay the extra 5 dollars every day, which is an additional 70 dollars. so now the rental car is going to cost me 100 dollars. ugh!!! it never ends!
2005 has probably been the most eventful year of my life thus far. lots of things happened, both good and bad.
i started out 2005 really confused, mostly because i woke up not really sure of where i was, with a black eye and a hangover, and without a shirt. a week after new years i left for spain, which was my j-term class at elmhurst. i was really not looking forward to spain because i was scared of the flight and scared of living with a strange family for three weeks. (to read more about spain, check out my other blog, las aventuras en espana). however, i really enjoyed my time in spain and i made some good friends on my trip.
in february, when i got back and started my last semester at elmhurst, jon and i finally admitted that we had feelings for each other, but i was kind of scared so we didn't get in a relationship. before that, however, we kind of got in a fight and instead of going down to u of i for his birthday, i went up to marquette to visit christie. when i was going to go home the next morning, i went out to my car to see a huge dent in the passenger side. great.
march was a pretty big month. it was the month of our spring break trip to st. george island, florida. we had great weather and were able to enjoy the beach, eat oysters, and of course, get drunk every day. this was also when jon and i started dating, which was awesome.
i had been searching for jobs since i got back from spain, and in april i finally got a job, at fyh bearings in wauconda. i did not know where wauconda was, and because of that i was almost late for my interview. but i got the job, and i was really excited that i could stop searching.
i graduated from elmhurst college with a b.a. in spanish on may 29th. the ceremony was held outside, and although it looked like it could rain any second, it held off. i worked my last day at outback steakhouse in may, and that was a really sad day, because it had been almost my second home since april 2001. i was also sad that i wouldn't get the discount anymore! lol. also in may, jon and i went to lake geneva for two nights for a mini-vacation. we stayed in a really nice hotel, and our room had a full kitchen, a fireplace, a balcony/patio, internet, a separate bedroom, and a full size jacuzzi tub.
i started work at fyh on june 1st. it was really hard at first, learning about bearings, because i did not know anything about them when i started the job. in a few weeks i was able to catch on, but the drive to wauconda was killing me. it usually took me an hour and a half to get home, and when i finally got home i would be in a horrible mood for the rest of the night. i finally convinced my parents to let me get an apartment (they didn't want me to spend all my money on rent), and i rented one in palatine. june was also the month of my 21st birthday- exciting! i had been counting down from over 100 days, so this was a really big thing for me. we all went out to anyway's at midnight, and my brother picked us up in my parents' van. the next day, my birthday, was my 21st birthday/college graduation party. i had a horrible headache the whole day, but it was still a really fun time.
i moved out of my parents' house on july 1st. it was kind of a difficult transition, because i had never lived in an apartment, and i had definitely never lived anywhere without a roommate. july was kind of rough because jon went back to u of i for summer school, so i was kind of lonely in my new place during the week. but it was really great having only a 20 minute drive to work, and having my own kitchen and bathroom.
in august my cousin tom got married. it was the first wedding i had ever been to, so i was really excited. the next day, my little brother went away to school at u of i.
nothing in september really stands out in my mind...
october was halloween, and i dressed up as martha stewart. i celebrated halloween at u of i, and we went to some parties and bars, and it was pretty awesome. october was also my mom's 50th birthday (sorry for telling people your age, mom!).
in november i got a kitten. i had wanted a kitten or a puppy for awhile because i was kind of lonely at my apartment. i found her at adopt-a-pet, and jon and i went over to a "foster mom"'s house to pick her out. she was a black kitten named lottie, and she was really cute and sweet.
december was a bad month. tuesdays were especially bad. on tuesday, december 13th, i was driving home to my apartment and a car pulled out in front of me and i couldn't stop fast enough so i hit him. my car was a little smashed up, and i am still waiting for his insurance company to call me back so i can get it fixed. two weeks after that, on the 27th, i took my kitten lottie to the vet. she had been acting kind of weird, and i thought she might have been constipated. however, she was really sick and had a terminal disease which included fluid in her lungs, and i didn't have a choice but to put her to sleep.
i believe that 2006 will be a better year for me. jon is graduating in may, and then i will be able to see him all the time and i won't be as lonely. maybe we'll get a puppy.