Wheel Done Fell Off Aftermath: Flirts & Foci
4/24/1

Let�s just make a long, long, horrifically long story as short as we can, shall we.

Yesterday, I finally got in touch with my insurance guy and he had the claim routed to a guy here in Huntsville so I�d get personal attention. Every time I called my insurance company, there is a log generated, so everyone took pity on me and the number one thing was to get my car to a shop and get me a rental car.

That has been done.

The other thing they seemed to be working on was to figure out some way that my wreck wouldn�t cost me. After all, I had just had a wreck about a month ago, and this car falling apart thing was in the same area as the previous damage. One person suggested that they might be able to treat this as an extension of the first wreck so that my deductible would cover both incidents. The �it was a collision with the ground� theory was floated. However, the lady who is actually taking care of my claim said that since the first damage to the car was due to the tire hitting the side of the car, then it�s covered by comprehensive.

I�m not complaining.

The worst case was initially that this is all a mechanical failure and I�d have to pay for it all. My argument about that was if the thingy broke in my driveway, my car would just go klunk and hit the ground. Then I�d have to get the broken piece fixed. However, my rear left body panel, which was just painted less than a month ago, will need either paint or to be totally replaced. The suspension parts have been nearly ground off. And the wheel and tire are quite impressively trashed.

Oh, no. I took pictures of the car including the suspension but I forgot to take pictures of the wheel.

So, time to get another rental car. In the last six months, I have had the following vehicles as rentals due to car accidents: A Dodge Ram 1500, a Geo Metro, and two different Mitsubishi Mirage ES�s. I didn�t want any of those irritatingly cheap cars this time. I wanted a PT Cruiser.

I know, everyone always says I�ll be disappointed by its lack of power and heaviness. But I�d like to experience that first hand while it�s still cool to have one. I called Enterprise, my normal rental place of choice. They didn�t have any cars.

I hadn�t expected them to have absolutely no cars. I was expecting the same party line that I get about their mythical PT Cruiser they allegedly have. �We rented it just this morning.� Yeah, you�re always renting it just this morning.

I called two more places. One had no cars and wouldn�t rent to me since mine was an insurance thing and the other had two, in theory, a Metro or a Cavalier, but they were at the Chevy dealer. I decided I�d pass.

Then I noticed that a local Ford dealer had a rental place there. A Focus would be nice. I called and when they asked how they could help me, I said, �Hi, I�m looking for a place that actually has cars to rent on the lot.� She said she had them and said the types she had was �EscortFocusTaurus��. I confirmed that she said Focus. She said she had a few of them. I told her I�d be there in about an hour and a half.

Aisai helped me get there and at first I picked an orange sedan. I asked and they had no ZX3�s. They also had no Mustangs, but Mustangs are rear wheel drive Taurus coupes anyway.

They actually didn�t have any Escorts, but she did make a pass at me. (That�s a joke, but she did. Details below.) They use the term Escort Focus for those who don�t realize the Escort is a thing of the past.

We checked out the orange sedan and then I got in. The gal went back into the little econo-office they had for the rental people. I changed the mirrors, adjusted the seat, and tried to get the steering wheel to tilt. I couldn�t figure it out, so I went in and asked the lady. She was very nice and got in and tried to do it but then said, �It doesn�t tilt.� She offered to get me a car that had that, but I said it didn�t matter to me really.

I started leaving but before I had gotten off the property, I saw there was a chip out of the windshield.

If that thing cracked on my time, I�d probably have to pay for it. So I took it back and got a green one with a CD player and power everything. However, the Focus SE that I�m driving does not have the Active Stability Control since it doesn�t have rear disk brakes.

I don�t know if it�s the lonely life of being a rental gal or it I was oozing pheromones due to my two days of car insurance hell, but the lady flirted with me. The last rental gal who flirted with me was just all giggly and kept mentioning that she was from out of town, up from Tuscaloosa for just two days tee hee. This recent pass was more a visual thing.

Sure, I had been being witty with her in the econo-office with the older funnier lady. But I was quite shocked when she got into the green Focus in her miniskirt that was as long as�oh�my belt, and said, �Here. Look. This is how the tilt wheel works.�

I averted my eyes, but not very well as they just focused on her calves. She needs to get less sun or she�ll turn into a raisin.

And she knew that I had a wife too, since I had spoke to Aisai in front of her. Maybe it�s that I still don�t wear my wedding ring that makes these women think that I�m d�Uberstud.

I will give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she is innocent and just didn�t know. Dur, yeah.

The Focus drives nicely. It has good vertical damping while keeping the leaning during corners to a minimum. I figure they put some goosh suspension on the SE and compensated for the goosh by putting larger anti-sway bars on the car. The bells and whistles are quite nice.

The other cars I had rented cemented in my mind how I�d never want to own one. The Focus makes me want to get one.

Now, if the Metro also came in a little El Camino type package, as a pick-up, then you couldn�t hold me back.