RIP 2004 Saturn Vue

So, granddaughter’s car is totaled.

Inasmuch as there was no front-end damage, repairs looked expensive but doable to me.

But noooo.

Instead, I get a text message “It's hard to tell from the picture but the entire back door needs replacement because it’s crushed in, it doesn't open but there's large gaps and when driving it's very loud and large amounts of wind come in. Also, the back bumper and the area that's meant to house the rear light is all crushed in. Because the vehicle is older, even with the lower mileage, insurance says damages sound like they're more than the vehicle is worth which totals it out.”

And, as I’d surmised, the hit/run driver had no insurance.

I’m pretty sure that driving without insurance AND hit/run is a crime, but I seriously doubt hit/run driver will suffer much in the way of consequences ─ he won’t be arrested, his car won’t be impounded, so we’ll have to be satisfied with the humiliation he must have felt at thinking he’d gotten clean away only to be tracked down through his license plate.

Maybe he’ll do the right thing next time.

Everything happens for a reason so, though I’m sad the life of the Saturn that served me so well is over less than a year out of my custody, I can accept it and be grateful granddaughter was not injured.

If and when it’s time to get rid of the Jeep for whatever reason, I won’t be deeding it to granddaughter or any other relative. I’ll be looking at what financially benefits me and more than likely trading it in.

Elsewhere in my world, shortly after I ignored a call from a number I did not recognize, I got like the strangest email from a company I’d recently ordered from. So seemingly inappropriate, that I thought it might be a catfishing situation (the process of luring someone into a relationship by means of a fictional online persona), but no. Turns out it’s legit from a company representative.

“This is Melanie with ______.com, it looks like I just missed you! I couldn’t reach your voicemail, so I also wanted to shoot you an email in case this works better for you. I'm a gearhead here at ___________ and I would be psyched to get to know you more! I'm an avid climber, skier and love to camp too – what gets you outside? I’d love to hear how the Sun Mask works out once you get a chance to use it. Do you have any trips lined up this summer? Hope to talk to you soon!”

What the heck?

Am I over reacting that this sounds like something you’d see on a dating site?

Suffice it to say, I’ve marked further correspondence from ________.com as spam.

Further elsewhere in my world, I finally ran into my buddy Apache and asked if, during his late PM/early AM walks, he’s seen which residents are doing laundry.

He said, “Yes, it’s me”.

“No, I mean in my building”.

“Yes, that was me and Diane last week”

As to why they were doing laundry in my building, he had no explanation, but was upset because someone reported him and management had given him a talking to.

“What about all the other people”, he said he’d asked management.

He’s right about that, because I tracked one whole week of hearing rulebreakers doing laundry at 11:00 pm, being awakened at 2:30 am the next morning, 11:30 that night, 3:00 am the next morning, 10 pm the next night, 4:45 am the next morning.

In speaking with the new Community Manager about it, I’d asked if he couldn’t set the laundry room doors to automatically lock at 10 pm. He actually said it’s being looked at.

The new Community Manager is a hoot. He’s short, plump, rosy cheeked, exudes likeability, comes across as very sweet and giggles like a girl. But, I’m not holding my breath as to if and when automatic locks will be done. In the grand scheme, the noise is a minor inconvenience.

As for the woman downstairs, underneath my unit, she was losing her mind with complaints to the office about me waking her up at 3:30 am, when she thought the noise was coming from me. Now all of a sudden she says she no longer hears it.

What’s that about?

Returning to my unit yesterday from the mailbox, I spied her outside her unit.

That in itself is unusual, because something is not right about her. She says she doesn’t like people, won’t talk to any of us, stays hidden inside her unit with the windows and blinds shut tight and the maintenance guys tell me she freaks out and requests they come seal any perceived little hole or crack anywhere because, using her words, “Bugs will get in and eat me”.

Yet here she was, outside her unit, sitting on the bench outside, in conversation with that Big Friendly Guy (BFG) I’d mention was using a cane.

He’s no longer using the cane, by the way.

Because the woman had chased me away when I’d attempted to introduce myself shortly after she moved in, I hesitated in speaking but, since she was with BFG, I ventured “Hey folks” and, addressing her directly, asked if the noise was still bothering her.

No hard mean look this time, just an “I don’t hear it”.

It’s impossible she doesn’t since her bedroom is right next to the Laundry Room.

I can only assume that inasmuch as she has no problem sitting chatting with BFG and she does have an occasional male visitor, the people she doesn’t like are limited to the female gender. Thus, the losing her mind when she thought the noise was coming from a female way older than she, but a target for being way prettier.

Whatever.

Guurl bye.