Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

I had a pretty good day.  I woke up with the alarm at 9:00am, called Eric, then got up and worked on the computer for a while.  I had called the building manager about the toilet, which has been running non-stop for 2 weeks now and at times sounded like a plane taking off.  It would either sound like running water, or REALLY loud – out of nowhere, like the toilet had just been flushed, even though it hadn’t.

Anyway, the building manager’s wife called at 10:40am and told me that he would be coming between 11-2.  I jumped in the shower, got dressed and waited for him to arrive.

He came around noon.  It took literally 3 seconds (no exaggeration) to fix it.  You know when you take the lid off the back of the tank and look inside and there’s that black ball that floats?  Well, all he did was twist it a little and it stopped running immediately.  He said that vibration causes it to loosen and then it starts to run.  Now I know, if a toilet is ever running, that the first thing to do is tighten up that black rubber float!

Anyway, he was gone in 5 minutes, but not before something EXTREMELY embarrassing happened!  His hands got wet and a little dirty from handling the floater and the stem attached, so I went to get him a rag, but I heard him say, “Oh here’s… and then heard him say, “Oops!”  When I went back and gave him the rag he wiped his hands and then left soon after.

After he left I went back to look at the toilet again to make sure everything was put back right and I noticed something black on the floor between the cabinet in the bathroom and the toilet.  I reached down and realized it was my underwear!  I had left pajamas and underwear on the counter and when I picked up the pajamas, I obviously knocked the underwear down onto the floor, but didn’t notice.  Bret must have seen and picked it up, but then he dropped it again when he saw what it was.  Can you spell “embarrassed?”  I am not so embarrassed that he saw my underwear as I am by the fact that he must have been wondering what they were doing on the floor next to the toilet when I knew he was coming by!!!!!  Yikes!

Anyway, as soon as he left I went down to the laundry room and put in three loads of laundry with all the towels and linens from Robin’s stay, plus some clothes, too (including my black underwear!).  I was going to walk to STARBUCKS, but since I had three loads in and knew I wouldn’t be back for over an hour, I decided to drive, because I didn’t want anyone else to touch my clothes if they wanted to start a wash and all the machines were taken (there are only 4 and one was being used).

So, I drove to STARBUCKS, dropped off some letters in the mail box, and then came back to the apartment, put most everything in the dryer, and hung a few things on the line.  I was going to go food shopping, but I decided to do it tomorrow, after I have lunch with Tifney.  So, I just did stuff around the apartment, cleaning, working on the computer, etc.

I took a nap in the afternoon and then got up to go to yoga.  I left about 10 minutes earlier than usual, and instead of heading right to I-5 to go south to South Park to my yoga class, I decided to drive to STARBUCKS and get myself a decaf latte to drink on the way to class, since I was early.

All of a sudden I was hit from behind.  It was a real shocker!  The car went flying and I hit someone in front of me.  I was really in shock.  Although I wasn’t hurt, I had really been hit pretty hard from behind and my neck had snapped, so I was worried right away that I had whiplash, or at least had pulled some muscles.

All three cars stopped and pulled over and a cop came right away, but he told us he was not in his jurisdiction and that a local cop wouldn’t come if no one was hurt.  He advised us to just exchange information, which we did.

The girl who hit me was a young kid – just 20 years old, who recently moved to San Diego from northern California.  I could see she was very scared.  I assured her that everything would be okay and that we just needed to exchange information, but I was so dazed myself that I forgot to take their phone numbers and addresses.  I just had the addresses of the insured (both were insured by their parents) and I got the email address of the girl who hit me.

Otherwise, I got the name of the drivers, their driver’s license number, insurance company, policy number, vin number and make and model of the cars.  I went to STARBUCKS (at least I was going to have my coffee!) and then went to KEIL’S to get some sushi, because I didn’t have anything much in the house to eat and thought at least I’d have a nice dinner!

When I got home I immediately called my insurance company and gave them all the information.  Someone is supposed to call me tomorrow, and then they have to send someone to look at the damage, which isn’t much.  The light on the bottom next to the license plate is broken on the right side (I’ve had that light break TWICE on my PTs in the past – it must be very delicate!).  It's not the running lights or brake lights.  I think it's called the reverse lights, but I'm not sure.

Also, the license plate is pretty bashed up and the bumper is all scratched, but there’s no damage to the car itself, that I could see in the dark.  I’ll have to look again in the morning.

Meanwhile, the biggest pain in all this is not the accident, or the pulled muscles, or my aching back, but the fact that there’s so much red tape and paperwork with all this and I HATE IT.  I haven’t been in an accident in about 7 years, but Eric was involved in a very minor fender bender (much more minor than this) about 3 years ago and it was SUCH a pain.

So, I’m not looking forward to all that is to come.  I kept asking myself WHY as I drove home.  Why did this have to happen to me, when I have SO much going on right now and I’m so stressed and overwhelmed already?  Is this a wake-up call to realize that things can ALWAYS be worse?  Is this to make me appreciate what I have and not stress or worry so much?  I don’t know.

I ate my sushi, drank my STARBUCKS and watched THE BIGGEST LOSER.  I took two Advil and have been laying on a microwave heating pad all night – on my neck and back.  I can feel it in my neck and my lower back.  I just hope it’s nothing major and I  don’t need to go to a doctor, because I don’t even have a doctor here in San Diego!

Anyway, I don’t feel extreme pain – just like I strained the muscles a little.  I’m hoping that a good night’s sleep and more Advil will do the trick.  We’ll see tomorrow!