Sunday, June 8, 2008

Car Damage

My car survived 16 months of Pennsylvania roads and Philly drivers without so much as a scratch. That includes surviving my first commutes in snow.

Then I moved to little Austin, Texas. Sure, the highways and feeder roads are (very) poorly planned, unable to support the city's rapid growth. Central Austin has an increasing population density, and there's just not enough space for all those cars.

But in comparison with urban areas in the Northeast, driving here is a total breeze. I can get anywhere in less than 20 minutes, and I spend the majority of my time in a 7 mile radius. It's not that hard to get around this city.

But in the last six months, my car has suffered:
  • A stolen stereo, which I have yet to replace. So there's a gaping hole in my dashboard. The stereo wasn't in great condition and I never got good radio reception, so in some ways, I think the joke is on them. However, I'm still not quite used to driving in silence.
  • A dent on the back passenger's side door, thanks to a dent-and-run by a tipsy asshole at Polvo's. (A very nice woman watched him do it and tried to get his license number, but he drove off too soon. Apparently, he got out of the car, surveyed the damage had a moment of moral crisis, and then drove off. Jerk.)
  • Most recently, a broken driver's side door handle. However, I blame this on years of use, rather than the city of Austin. My car just gets more and more pathetic. I'm now exiting on the passenger side. At least I can still open it on the outside...

3 comments:

A Bookish Woman said...

I have to say, imagining you coming out of your car through the passenger door makes me chuckle...but I feel that I'm allowed, considering the awful cars I've had in the past (my last care before my new one, for example, had packing tape holding up the driver's side window for more than a year). Really, terrible cars just make for amazing stories. :-)

Autumn said...

Oh no! Some guy dented your car?! What a jackass. That's so aggravating.

If it makes you feel better, the driver's side window on the Bug is broken, the passenger side door handle sticks, and the alarm has started going off at random times for no apparent reason. I guess it's the beginning of the end...

Anonymous said...

ah, gina. i'm so sorry to hear about all that. that really really sucks. passenger door?...that is a little funny though, I have to agree with Sarah.