35 Days of Hell

it all started when...

• my cute little saturn car was registered (yearly tabs)
  
• my cute little saturn was then rear-ended, low-speed, no air bags, etc.
  

he really was a gentleman, no sarcasm here. he pulled over, gave up all pertinent information with no hassle, etc. he was kind and respectful, and quite thankful no one was physically hurt.

• the damage to my cute little saturn is almost entirely a lack of water-tightness in the trunk (car boot). This was due to a Ford F-250 PenisEnvy Diesel (on raised tires) truck attempting to have low-speed unrequited sex with my Saturn.
  
• the saturn is taken to repair, and a rental vehicle is performed on his insurance
• the car boot LID has a small hole in it, the boot lid won't close properly because it has been slightly rumpled. repair is estimated to cost $2000.
• let me repeat this: the car boot LID has a small hole in it, the boot lid won't close properly because it has been slightly rumpled, and the repair is estimated to cost $2000
• his insurance company does not ask me (1) if the car is driveable (it is), nor (2) if a lesser repair would make me happy (ie, making the trunk water-tight and latchable, which would be fine). no, they mark the car as dead. deceased. totalled. destroyed. no longer driveable. pining for the fraking fjords.
• the insurance company offers me MORE than the repairs will cost to buy the car from me, but not enough to buy another car. they then offer me enough to effect repairs AND keep the car, but the car has been reported to the state Department of Licensing as totalled. Remember: the car has a hole in the trunk lid that keeps the trunk from being water-tight. the size of the hole is a few inches across at the widest. $2000. pining for the fjords.
• when i take their lower offer (which allows me to keep the car), i must vacate the rental, even though the repairs have yet to be done (which will happen several days hence, and take a few days to complete). my dime and time now.
  
• i must use a new rental while the repairs are done. my dime.

we are now in october, and the repairs are almost complete.

• remember now, where we left our intrepid heroine: the vehicle was killed by his insurance company for a hole in the lid, so i must visit the washington state department of licensing with the original title
• the DOL kills my car (and its old title) even more dead
  
• the DOL makes my car born-again (with a new title, for a fee, the new title to magickally appear on my doorstep within the next few months)
• the DOL re-registers my car again (for a fee)

ee-hhaa.

dénouement: i have my cute little car back with a water-tight ass-end. not included in any bills: numerous hours of waiting for someone to pick me up, drop me off, wait in line (for repairs, for information, for tabs, for title rebirth, for rental vehicles (plural)). i have tons of paperwork i must hang onto because the state mandates, should my car ever be sold, the future purchaser should know the boot / trunk had a small hole that caused the car to pine for the fjords, and the vehicle was made "driveable" again.

i'm guessing the gentleman who hit me has more headaches than i, as he was driving on his commercial license from out-of-state. his pain and suffering for playing with his radio at the wrong moment are financially much worse, though his truck suffered only the loss of a tiny bit of paint on his tow grill.

so, given mandates and raised insurance rates, it can safely be stated the rear-end is one gift that keeps on giving.

ee-ha.