Day: May 10, 2012

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I Hope My Victory Dance Isn’t Going to Shoot Me in the Foot

The mechanic just came by, appalled by the fact that I’m home and my rig isn’t level, sure that I had said I’d be back tomorrow. I told him it’s fine. Since they’re doing the welding in the morning, it’s not worth getting a truck out to relevel me to sleep. They will make sure I’m level for the weekend. I appreciated the concern for my fridge. If two days off kilter is going to kill it, I’m not sure I want to know. 😀

The work should be done by Monday afternoon and I can hit the road on Tuesday. What I’d like on the Monday is to take Miranda out for fuel and propane so I can make sure she’s running smoothly and I can focus on getting through Richmond on Tuesday.

He said that the appraiser came and looked at the damage and will be back with a cheque. Yes, the appraiser is 100% convinced that the damage was caused by the accident. A lot of whooping has ensued (all my windows are open and there are people outside, so I’m a little embarrassed, but anyway). The adjuster still needs to sign off, but, come on, she’s not going to go against the appraiser, is she?

Now, I just need to confirm if I will need to pay my deductible (which would be reimbursed) and the towing fee (which I would fight). I’m probably celebrating a little too early, but I know I will sleep more easily tonight!

I am really irked that my adjuster at Aviva knew about this yesterday, did not let me know, and was unreachable today. The appraiser has also complained about how hard she is to reach. She knows I’m on a time crunch and have been stressed about this. So I am rather less than impressed with her tonight.

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The Benns Church Econolodge in Carrollton, VA

The Econolodge in Carrollton, VA, is super convenient to my friend’s house. I stayed there back in ’08 and remembered that I’d had a good night so with their rates being as inexpensive as they are ($52 during the week), I was glad that they had vacancies this week.

Located just minutes from Smithfield and being close to Newport News, Hampton, and Suffolk, this hotel’s location can’t be beat. The rooms are clean and the staff is just awesome. Everyone is so friendly and helpful.

The hotel serves up a light continental breakfast of bagels, pastries, OJ, and truly vile coffee. That coffee is my only complaint about this otherwise superb budget accommodation. Thankfully, there’s a Starbucks a couple of minutes away in Smithfield. 🙂

I’ve had six good nights there in the last week and hope that I won’t have to return next week. But if I do, it’ll be like going to a home away from home.

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Home Not So Level Home

I just got home to find Miranda tilted. I’d been told she would be dropped back down level in the evening so I could be comfortable. I guess they weren’t expecting me. I’ll be fine for tonight; the tilt is in the right direction for me to sleep comfortably. My cats are fine. Tabitha is mad at me, but Neelix is really happy that I’m home.

When I made my appointment in Richmond at 11:00 tomorrow morning, it was with the idea that I’d have nearly two hours to drive to get there. Now, I only have about 45 minutes. I’ll need to leave here early and will have to kill some time. I’ll probably just go grab a quick breakfast then park myself at a Starbucks for a bit. I’m sure I could move the appointment up, but that would mean being done more quickly and I’d still have the rest of the day to kill. I’m off to research Richmond attractions so I can find something to do to kill the afternoon.

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I Hate Driving an Automatic Car!

I’ve been tooling around in the rental car for a several days now. It’s a four-door Accent. It doesn’t have the rear wiper blade and power doors and windows, but it’s still very comparable to my poor toad. But driving it is another matter. I experienced the same thing in California in 2007 when I rented the same type of Accent.

First off, what happened to fuel efficiency?! When I got the rental car, it had a quarter tank of fuel. With my Accent, I could drive about 150km on that quarter tank before the gas light would come on, and then I’d be able to do another 30 to 60km without running out. I took the Accent home from Enterprise (about 10KM) then drove it to the hotel (about 85KM). About 10KM out from the hotel, so I’d driven 85KM on that quarter tank of fuel, the gas light came on! I put in half a tank of fuel. In my Accent, I could do 300 to 400KM on that half tank, depending on if I was driving in the city or on the highway. With the automatic Accent, I did just over 200KM and the gas light came on. That’s insane! BTW, that comes out to a fuel efficiency of 24MPG with the automatic Accent, while my manual got 30 to 40.

The automatic Accent doesn’t drive smoothly, something that I’ve experienced with all the automatic vehicles I’ve driven, including Miranda. The transmission just isn’t as smart as is a human in knowing when to shift gears. It is so frustrating to know that I should be in a lower or higher gear, but the transmission refuses to shift, resulting in an unnecessary loss of speed or an inability to slow down, both of which can be dangerous. With this Accent, whenever it’s thinking about changing gears, I literally feel it pull back and then push forward as it tries to decide what it’s going to do. It’s really annoying.

I also hate having to keep my eyes glued to the speedometer because there is no other way of knowing how fast I’m going. In a manual car, until 5th gear, I always have a maximum speed I can reach, so it makes it very easy not to speed. Stuck in a 25MPH zone? Stick to 2nd gear. 45MPH? Don’t shift into 5th. This Accent is so quiet that I have hit 70MPH in a 55MPH zone without intending to.

Which brings to braking. With a manual, I just downshift until I coast to a stop. With the automatic, I have to relearn braking distance and have had quite a few sudden stops because I misgauged my speed and distance from the stop sign or red light. This is the only thing I will admit is DUE (dumb user error) and I know braking would become second nature once I got used to driving an automatic car again. Which I hope happens when pigs fly, the moon turns to cheese, and hens get teeth.

My first car, a 1992 Honda Civic, was an automatic and really didn’t enjoy driving it. I only bought it because it’s what was available in my price range from a trusted source at the time. There was no question my next car would be a manual. When I went for the test drive on my 2004 Accent, I hadn’t driven stick in about six years, but the salesman said he would never have guessed that. This is because I learned how to drive stick. I never learned how to drive automatic. And, frankly, beyond what I need to operate Miranda safely, that’s not a skill I would care to master.

It’s going to be interesting to hear all you automatic fans chime in and tell me what a dolt I am (in kinder words, of course *g*). But do I have any other readers who prefer to drive a manual?

 

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Update on the Repairs to Miranda

I just called to find out how the repairs on Miranda are going. She is being serviced by W.S. Campbell in Petersburg, VA.

I expected to leave a message for my mechanic and was surprised and pleased that the lady who answered had a full status update for me and could answer all my questions. I have never in all my years of owning a vehicle had that happen when I call a repair shop!

The shop has all the parts, but the work is being held up by the welder. He is hoping to be there this afternoon or first thing in the morning, but it could be as late as Monday. But once that’s done, the repairs won’t take any time at all. There is no reason I couldn’t be on the way back to Canada by Wednesday morning.

The appraiser did come by and take a look before the work started, but there is no more information about that. I’m expecting to hear back from my adjuster at Aviva at some point. I just emailed her to ask for an update.

Even though the hotel is paid for tonight, I will be checking out sometime after dinner. I need to be in Richmond for 11 tomorrow morning, so it makes sense to do the bulk of the drive tonight, check up on the cats, who must be traumatized by the repair work, and sleep in my own bed. I still feel that it made sense to have the hotel booked for tonight since that lets me use it all day today. I should be on the road most of tomorrow since I won’t be able to be home if work is being done on Miranda. I can stay home over the weekend and then go back to the hotel next week for a few days if necessary.

My friend is super contagious right now, so all our plans have fallen through. 🙁 I think it’s karma for all the times in the past that I told her I was coming to visit and had to cancel! I’m grateful we had two evenings together and I still think the detour was worthwhile, but we’re both extremely disappointed. Hopefully, she’ll be well enough in a few days for us to see each other one more time before I head north.

I’m hoping to be able to do a few touristy things over the weekend since I’ll still have the car. In case anyone is wondering how my time is being spent this week, let me just say that I have a right to make sure my business is running smoothly while I am on vacation, and let’s leave it at that. 🙂 I really can’t be out gallivanting anyway, not with the number of times the phone has been ringing a day and the huge repair bill that is looming.