Dented Door Blues

Vanless. That's my lot this week. After the great mis-merge of 2012, I had to get the van fixed. No van means no way to transport Maggie.  Come to think of it,  it wasn't a "Miss" merge at all. If I had missed her when I merged, I wouldn't have this problem.

I took the car in on Monday morning and, fingers crossed, I will have it back by Friday.  I really hope that happens because going into what promises to be a rainy weekend without any way to get Maggie places will not be fun. We are fortunate to live where there is so much to do withing walking distance, but we cannot take advantage of that if it's raining. I should hear from them today if  they are ready to paint. If they are it will be dry by Friday. Otherwise it will be Monday.

I originally took the van to the place the insurance company recommended, but that shop was crazy busy and wanted to have the van for a minimum of 6-8 working days and THEN paint. When you factor in weekends that meant two weeks without the van. Not workable.

The new place is called International Sports Motors - because my minivan is so sporty. I know Adam, one of the guys who works there, and his nephew is a peer of Maggie's and he "gets" the need to have the van back.  He actually fixed my old van when Eddie had an encounter with a wall several years ago and did a great job, so I am confident this will work out too.

Right now the sliding door won't close unless the front door is open. The damage is mostly where the two doors meet, but there is a nice scrape on the rest of the sliding door. Fortunately, I did not damage the lift in any way.

Vanless during the week is not a problem. Maggie takes the bus to and from school and she is pretty wiped out after school anyway. I can walk to the supermarket, bank and post office or hop a bus to go anywhere else in town. Better yet, I could actually clean the house and clean out drawers etc. Note: I haven't yet (and it's Wednesday) but I could. The problem is the weekend.

Steve is going away this weekend and we won't even have a backup vehicle. Not that his car would help much. But in a pinch we could put the wheelchair in the back of his car and put Maggie in a specialized car seat. I probably wouldn't try that anyway because the 100 lb wheelchair would have to be lifted in and out of the back and laid on its side. But knowing it won't be here makes me a tad nervous. Obviously in a real emergency I could and would call 911, but something less than dire is always possible in Maggie's World.

With any luck at all I will hear today that we are on schedule for Friday and can take Maggie to the mall or any number of other important places this weekend.

___________
Update - they just called and the car is being prepped for paint now and will be done be Friday, barring any earthquakes, power outages or other catastrophes. Yay!