My car is home!

It still smells of fresh paint, which is just like the smell of wet fingernail polish. My 13 1/2-year-old car looks almost new! It should. The driver's side was repaired and repainted in April after the February wreck. The passenger's side has just been repaired and repainted after the early October wreck. While it was already in the shop, I asked them to paint the front part of the roof, which has just recently been showing its age with damage to the paint. I attribute that to living in the shadow of both a refinery and a carbon black plant. There's a lot of corrosive materials in the air here. If it is doing that to the roof of my car, I hate to think what it's doing to my lungs.

Little damaged rent car has gone home to Enterprise tonight. They think they can have it repaired through a paintless dent removal process and then buff off the paint transfer from the late October wreck (yesterday). Everyone I've had to deal with, from the police officer to the municipal court clerk to the insurance companies to Enterprise have done everything they can to put me at ease and make me feel better.

It's just a little accident, they tell me. It's not an on-purpose. It happens. No one was hurt. The damage is minor.

All of this is true. It's just metal, in all cases. No one injured, Thank you God.

Of course I've gotten a load of grief from my co-workers, who have delighted in calling me "Crash" and recommending forms of protection from oversized training wheels to toilet-paper roll protective bumpers surrounding the car.

I'm kind of thinking about a novel costume for Halloween -- a bike helmet and an inflated inner tube that would deflect any incoming hazards.

If the adage about things coming in threes has any merit, I should be fine for another good long time.

Oh-- even though I pleaded no contest on my ticket for unsafe lane change, I am going to go to municipal court for two reasons: One, I can get a payment plan to split up my fine into three equal amounts; Two, I'll keep the ticket off my driving record, which means a LOT to me.

Things will be OK, but I do still have some tender feelings, despite all the good efforts to boost my spirits. This too shall pass, given enough time without any repeat performances.

On another positive note, gasoline here has dropped below $2 a gallon, so I can now afford to fill up my car. When it went to the shop, it was considerably higher!