Crash landing

I've been riding an emotional roller coaster the last couple weeks that hit its highest point Tuesday night ... But we'll talk about that later.

On Wednesday morning, my high was marked with a crash. I'm fine, but my Little Green Machine -- not so much.

I had just finished making my daily run to the municipal building to check the fire station reports. I'd had good conversation with some of the guys there, and I had a skip in my step as I went to my car.

In my routine, I started the car, flipped on the radio and started backing out of my parking space. I looked to my right, continued backing and then looked in my rear view mirror and saw a blur of red flash behind me.

In the ensuing split second, I tried to put my put on the brake and hope that I'd avoid whatever I had coming. But there was a jolt, and I knew.

When everything stopped, I looked behind me and saw a red work van. The other driver and I got out of our cars, me looking at my damage and he looking at his. Both of us were shaking our heads in disgust. I had grumbled about not being more cautious, he called himself out for passing me to closely behind me on his way to a parking spot across the aisle. My rear bumper was cracked and scraped, his rear quarter panel had a dent.

For the record, I've never been involved in any serious crashes, as a driver anyway. But I've had a few minor -- and irksome -- fender benders. And this one was soooo not what I needed right now.

We called police to file a report. I had to take a drug test because it occurred while I was working. I filed a claim with our insurance company. And last night I spent a good 15 minutes on the phone with an insurance adjuster answering questions and providing my recorded testimony as to how the accident played out.

Today, while doing my daily check of police reports, I got to experience the joy of taking notes from a police report involving me.

As my brother told me yesterday, "No good news comes without some bumps, scratches or dents."

Now it's snowing and the weather people are calling for up to 6 inches. Great ... So much for my dreams of having a winter so mild that we'd get no snow.

At least this year we avoided a major snowstorm on Dec. 1. (See 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005.)