Car accident follow-up.

I feel much better this morning. I'm still sore right between my shoulder blades, but not horribly so. And I'm not scared and shaky today. I'm not very nervous about getting back behind the wheel, which is a good thing.

Our insurance agent called this morning to see if I was okay. (We dealt with the 24-hour hotline last night, which isn't local.) I'm supposed to deal directly with the claims adjusters for all of the details, but our agent wanted me to know that if I'm not happy with the claims adjusters or have any questions, I can come to her. I really love the personal service we get from State Farm.

But so far, everything seems to be going smoothly. State Farm has a list of preferred body shops in the area. If I take the car to one of them, State Farm will deal directly with the body shop to approve the estimate and arrange payment. If we wind up not being satisfied with the work, State Farm will intervene - they've got plenty of leverage, because the shop won't want to lose its preferred status. I picked a body shop that's a couple miles from our house and three blocks away from a rental car company - State Farm will pay for 80% of the cost of a rental while our car is in the shop.

I can bring the car in and pick up my rental in about an hour. Then I just need to swing by the Baltimore Parking Authority with the rental car contract and proof of address, and they'll give me a temporary neighborhood parking permit. So it looks as though I'm only going to lose a couple of hours of my vacation to dealing with the accident. Yay. I think I'll treat myself to lunch, and then spend the rest of the day lounging around reading. Maybe I'll sit on the front steps for a while and enjoy the sun.

Thanks for your good wishes, everyone. They definitely helped.

(no subject)

I carefully chose a car rental place that was three blocks from the body shop. My plan was to walk over to pick up my new car after I dropped off the old one.

I had not run my plan past the people at the body shop.

"You're getting a rental car?" the owner asked me, as we walked around and around my car.

"From the Thrifty down the street," I agreed.

"Are they going to pick you up?"

"Nah, it's just a couple of blocks. I'm going to walk."

He scanned the street, and then looked at me. "Have them pick you up."

I looked around at the boarded-up houses and vacant lots. "I shouldn't walk in this neighborhood?"

"Just have them pick you up."

His receptionist stepped into the conversation. "Thrifty won't pick her up. Is your car an automatic, ma'am? I'll drive you down and bring your car back. You really don't want to walk."

*shrug* So she drove me three blocks to the rental agency. I was a little surprised by the whole thing. There are neighborhoods in Baltimore where I wouldn't walk three blocks in broad daylight, but none of them are on busy major streets like that one. It was awfully nice of her to give me a ride, though.