Xiaoniu 小妞

I’m back to blogging; hopefully, I’ll be able to keep up with it for a little while. My blogging is either feast or famine. Plenty has been going on in life to keep me away from the laptop and away from my online activities.

The latest interesting news is that Amy was involved in an accident last week. Before I get to far into things I want you to know she was driving alone and she is not hurt. She only suffered from a bruised and swollen wrist. She was very lucky not to get hurt worse.

She was on her way home and some woman tried to make a left and cross two lanes of traffic. The first lane was full of cars while the right most lane was filled with people making their way to the highway on ramp, and they were traveling at the normal speed in that area. That is the lane Amy happened to be in.

The woman tried to force her way through and ended up pulling right in front of the oncoming traffic. Boom! Amy had no warning and no time to react. She ended up hitting the other vehicle in the side. The other car was a van and finished making its way into the hotel parking lot. Amy’s car was dead and rolled over to the curb.

We’re thankful that Amy wasn’t hurt. It was a “t-bone” crash and Amy’s little car was totaled. Both air bags went off. One hit Amy’s hand, making it swollen. The passenger side air bad smashed the windshield. The car could not move.

The woman that pulled out in front of Amy ended up being a real bitch. She was very nasty and was swearing at Amy as if it was her fault that the accident happened. The woman was not even supposed to be making a left turn there. To get into the hotel you must travel down further, turn around and make a right into the parking lot. Far more inconvenient, but much safer. Fortunately, one of the hotel’s staff witnessed the whole thing and was able to provide a statement for police.

The whole thing ended up being deemed the other woman’s fault. It is eerily familiar to me. Four and a half years ago the very same thing happened to me. Some guy tried to cut through traffic and ended up hitting my truck while I was traveling in the right lane. The guy took 100% liability immediately, but I lost my truck because of it.

I helped pick up Amy from work last Friday and sure enough when we went through the same intersection there were at least three people trying to make the same illegal left turn at the same busy rush hour time. At least none of these people were dumb enough to drive blindly into on coming traffic.

Wednesday Mike and Amy went out car shopping. Just like Sue and I they focused mostly on the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. The 2008 and 2009 Accord is much bigger and very similar to the Camry in size and functionality. We were looking at 2007 models, which were a bit tight for our tastes.

By Saturday they made up their minds and decided to go for the Accord. She ended up getting a very nice dark blue 2008 Honda Accord. I got a chance to test drive it on Saturday morning and it’s a nice car. The color is perfect; my favorite color is dark, deep blue. This one is a perfect match. Mike thinks the car is sexy and just likes to look at it. I don’t think he has even sat behind the wheel. He’s just proud that Amy gets to have it and that it is in the driveway.

They stopped over tonight (Monday night) to show it to Sue and for me to put in the car seat. Sue got a chance to take it for a spin around the block and really liked it too. When we’re ready to replace her car the Accord is going to be a serious choice. We have not driven a Camry yet so we won’t say which we’ll get for sure. It’s just too early.

Here’s Amy with her new car. I took the picture in the early evening so the car looks almost black. In the bright sun it is a deep blue.

Sue taking Emelia in to check out the roomy back seat.

A full frontal shot.

Butt shot.

A shot with the door wide open. You can almost smell the new car smell wafting through he photo.

One thing I like about her car is that it has plentiful room for somebody of my height. With the seat pushed back I can sit comfortably behind the wheel. The wheel tilts and telescopes so that it reaches far enough back to be comfortable. Even with the seat moved all the way back a full size adult (like me) can still fit comfortably behind the seat.

The amount of head room is amazing. In some cars like the 2007 Accord my head would be rubbing the head liner and I would bump it on the way out/in. In this car I have a good 6-8 inches of clearance while sitting. Not bad. Poor Amy and Sue look like little kids behind the wheel. If the seat were any lower they probably couldn’t see over the wheel and dash board.

Lastly, here is Mike showing Amy how an excited new car owner is supposed to jump for joy.

If you’re curious why the license plates look weird it is because I “smudged” them before posting the pictures. I don’t think Mike and Amy would appreciate me posting their license plate numbers all over the web.