My uninsured motorist coverage compensated me for the damage to a car on which I didn’t carry collision. I owned a 27 year old Oldsmobile and the car was hit in the right rear quarter panel by a minivan. The woman who was driving the minivan was being chased by the manager of the Hobby Lobby store because she had stolen a dozen candles. She hit my car as she took off and then clipped another car on the way out of the parking lot. I did get the license number and the police were called. The officer informed me that I had to notify my insurance company even though I did not have collision insurance. Both my car and the minivan that hit me were moving at the time. I called my insurance company and reported the incident and gave them the police report number. A couple of days later my insurance company called back and said that I was covered under uninsured motorists and I was to go get a couple of estimates. My car was so old and battered that it would have been embarrassing to go to a body shop for an estimate. I was also embarrassed that when the incident occurred I had been shopping at the Big Lots store next to the Hobby Lobby for a birthday present for my wife. A couple of days later, I got a call at work from the insurance adjuster. She was looking at my car which was in our driveway as I had ridden to work with my wife that day. She wanted to know what to do with the check. I went back home and she had a check ready for me. She had a computer and printer in the back seat of her car and printed out a check on the spot. I figured she wanted the title to the car, but when I said I would go in the house and get the title she replied, “Not on your life, bub. We don’t want the car. My estimate is less than half its value”. My wife had been after me for several years to get rid of the car, so I thought having it out of the driveway would be her birthday present. At any rate, I cashed the check and was able to buy a present for my wife at a more upscale store. I think I went to WalMart.
Oh boy, I hope Mrs. Triedaq didn’t read that. As an aside, I don’t ever buy my own clothes. I see nothing wrong with what I have until they fall apart. My wife was gone for a couple weeks on a trip and I ended up doing a little shopping for myself. I bought three pair of pants that I thought were kind of neat with flap pockets and everything. Two came from Walmart and one from the outlet mall. When she came home, I proudly showed her what I had done like someone displaying a prize trophy or something. She looked at them and said “we don’t buy our clothes at Walmart”. I was deflated. I still liked them but just use them for changing oil or yard work and never wear them in public.
@Bing–Mrs. Triedaq buys my clothes. Before we were married, everything I had was Searsucker. This was clothing that Sears Roebuck sold to a sucker. The sale people in the clothing department would tell me that what they showed me was the latest fashion, then tell me how nice I looked in it.
I put on a shirt one morning that was in the back of the closet which I think Mrs. Triedaq was going to send to Good Will. I realized that it didn’t fit, but I threw on a tie and my sport coat and didn’t think anyone would notice. Unfortunately, one classroom where I had to teach a class was extremely warm I stripped off my sport coat and tie and then, when I heard some students snicker, I looked down and saw that the buttons were about to pop. I thought very quickly and said, “This is Mrs. Triedaq’s fault. We had a wash machine that I kept going for years. When it broke fro the last time, Mrs. Triedaq went out and bought a new machine of a different make. That new machine shrunk my clothes”. Most of the class laughed, but one sweet young lady came up after class and said, “If you would tell Mrs. Triedaq to use the cold rinse cycle, your clothes wouldn’t shrink”.