Hello old friend

At last it's over; the long personal nightmare of driving the rental Suzuki Forenza. If you're thinking of buying one, I suggest renting first. One of the windows never worked and two days before returning the car to Enterprise, the small orange engine shaped idiot light came on. The car only has about 30,000 miles on it and averaged only 22 mpg for the five weeks I had it (this is a Corolla sized car with a 2 ltr. four banger)... what a sled.
Forty-eight days from the day I was hit on my way to work till my car was back the way it should be... a little better actually. The side of my car Kenny G hadn't damaged had been smacked about a year ago by a brave Marine pilot splitting lanes on his crotch rocket one morning. He didn't stop or anything; probably too busy defending my freedom to worry about some trivial little hit & run. Marine officers get saluted @ the gate leading into the base, civilians like me are told we can fill out a form if we feel like waiting. Of course, I was on my way to work so I didn't have time. Anyway, I got the motorcycle dent fixed for an $88 add-on to the other damage (two hours labor charge), can't beat that with a stick. To victimhood, "no" say I.
Speaking of Kenny G, Why would anyone buy a Christmas album recorded after 1969? Give me Vince Guaraldi, the Rat Pack and their ilk any time.
To handle the 90 minute errand of returning the rental and picking up my own car I took the whole day off. This allowed me to do my wrapping and mail a package to my brother Roger. It feels strange to have everything wrapped before Christmas Day. I won't have any excuse for being late to the family gathering this year...oh wait, traffic! I'll be there as soon as possible, it's not my fault!
The Kenny damage came to about $1,700. How could that take five weeks? Progressive was so busy defending Kenny's past premium payments, I think they lost track of the fact that they were paying for my rental car. I wonder if there is a statistical science dedicated to the "break-even" point; the place where you need to stop arguing price and just pony up. The actual work only took eight working days so if we call one weekend a gimme, they paid for 25 days of rental on the Suzuki to bicker price with Toyota.
Now I'm home; Vince, Frank, Dino and their ilk are on the stereo and there is much unapollogetic singing about a baby in a manger and that feels like the kind of Christmas Dad used to get excited about. Nice.