Various Items

It's about time for an update on the live truck situation.

First, the truck IS in the shop and WILL be fixed. There had been some speculation among my readers that it wouldn't be repaired. My ND and GM never considered not getting it repaired. CP Rick says the body work should be finished some time this week.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) it won't go back into service just yet, because it doesn't have a generator. Jake the Engineer took the old one all apart, spread the pieces all over the concrete outside behind engineering and played with it some last week. He finally pronounced it dead Friday. The ND said a new generator WILL be ordered, probably some time this week. Then Jake will have to install it. I'm sure he's salivating.

Now for the fun part. The Guy in the Silver Honda is not suing me or the station. However, his insurance company has apparently decided that they don't intend to pay for the damage to the live truck, because they insist that the accident was not their client's fault. The station's insurance company is suing the Guy in the Silver Honda's insurance company to make them pay. This is supposedly not an uncommon occurrence as insurance companies hash out their differences, and everyone seems to expect some sort of settlement.

However, while the station's insurance company hasn't named me or my insurance company in that lawsuit, apparently they did file a claim against my personal liability policy as some kind of "insurance" against a loss in their attempt to collect from the other company. It appears that if they can't get that company to pay up, they're going to go after my insurance company next. I KNEW it was a bad idea to give them my personal insurance information.

My insurance company has requested a copy of the police report and has sent me a form to fill out describing AGAIN what happened. The agent with whom I spoke seemed a little confused and said this isn't the normal way of handling these things, especially since I was driving a company vehicle on company time. She said this sounds like I still have nothing to worry about, and that if the police report matches what I have already told them, they have no intention of paying the station anything. I asked her if my rates would increase, and she assured me they wouldn't.

What a mess.

Meanwhile, Kat and Joe are still at my house, and we all (Kat, Joe, Suzanne, my other roommate Emily and I) hung out together last night drinking, eating pizza and talking. I may not have mentioned that Joe and I have known each other almost as long as I've known Kat. He's a good guy, if a little slow sometimes. He and Kat really don't seem like a very likely match, but she seems happy with him.

A good chunk of the conversation was about school. Kat is graduating this semester, and she's freaking out. She's not sure what she wants to do when she graduates, but she also doesn't want to move back home with her parents. I get the sense this trip to see me has something to do with getting her plans sorted out, but I don't know how I can be of any help. Joe, meanwhile, has had some trouble passing a couple of his classes and had to drop one, so he won't be able to graduate until at least after the summer term.

Emily and Kat have really hit it off. You'd think they had known each other for years. The fact that Emily and I hardly know each other at all after living in the same house for four months makes this turn of events seems even more strange.

They were planning to go roller blading together today. Kat also brought her bike, and they were talking about riding later this week if the weather stays nice. Joe doesn't ride OR rollerblade, so I don't know how he plans to amuse himself while the girls are out sweating. I told him to feel free to watch my DVDs, but somehow I don't think he shares my tastes. I just can't see him getting into Withnail and I or Amelie.

Meanwhile, here I sit at work, writing while waiting for Sarah to finish the package. Earlier this afternoon she asked me to stop by Wendy's so she could get something to eat. She got a chicken sandwich and ate it in the van. I have no problem with her bringing food into the Hate Van, but the last few times we've stopped for fast food she has left her trash in there. I find myself somewhat irritated by that, because I am not her manservant and shouldn't have to pick up after her. It's a small thing, really. But it's still irritating.

When she finished her sandwich tonight, she tossed the bag behind the seat. When I saw her do that, I said, "Hey, be sure to take that with you when we get to the station."

"What?" she asked.

"Your trash. Please don't leave it in the van."

"I ALWAYS take it with me," she said. She was angry. By the way, you know how you can tell when Sarah is angry? When she's breathing.

"Um, usually you don't," I said.

"Uh, YES, I DO," she said.

"Look," I said. "I don't want to argue about it. Please just throw it away when we get back."

"I TOLD you I WILL!" she said. "God!"

"Okay."

I got the silent treatment for the rest of the afternoon. We shot our story, and I dropped her off at the station to write while I went to get some b-roll at another location. By then I had forgotten about the trash. When I got to the location and opened the back to get my gear, there was her crumpled Wendy's bag, still in the van.

I am really, seriously starting to dislike her.