One Strike in 2005

State Farm, the insurance company for the motorist who hit my car, informed me that my claim was being denied. The other motorist maintains that she had a green light when she t-boned my Civic. For her story to be plausible, I must have come to a complete stop at my red light, spotted her in the left most lane of a one-way road, and then timed my acceleration perfectly so that she would hit me smack on the driver's side door. Thus, I must be a brilliant physicist with suicidal tendencies. Damn bitch.

Now I have a $7,500 scrap of metal adorning my driveway. Instead of selling the car to a salvage yard for parts, I decided to donate it Habit for Humanity. They will auction it off and use the proceeds to help fund their non-profit organization.

Lessons learned:
o Carry collision on your vehicle. Without collision, your insurance company does not care about helping you seek damages. At one point I asked the GEICO representative, "So what you're telling me in a roundabout way is that you will do nothing on my behalf and that I'm SOL?" Response: "Yes, sir. That's correct."
o Get contact information for a witness at the scene, even if he's the solicitor by the side of the road.
o When your light turns green, look for drivers who believe that traffic signals are only suggestions. Do it twice.
o Just because the girl who hits you is cute, that doesn't mean she's not a lying bitch.

Despite this rant, I consider myself fortunate. I walked away from the accident without a scratch. And the old adage is true, "If your problem can be solved with money, it's not that interesting." My problem isn't that interesting.