The news of the week is my car accident. It happened on Thursday on my way home from Nontron. I went swimming, then food shopping and was heading home after a rain storm. I was going a bit fast into a downhill, curvy section of wet road when the back end swerved. Lola has always had problems holding the road in the rain, and that’s what happened to Will last year. The same thing happened to me a few years ago in the same spot, so I definitely should have known better. I counter-steered, causing the car to veer violently the other direction. She slid off the road, through the guard rail and rolled over 1 1/2 times before ending up on her side / roof. I escaped largely unscathed, apart from some sore ribs where the seat belt held me as we rolled.
I rang Will from the car and asked him to phone the emergency insurance number. I was looking for the info, but because of the position of the car (and a bit of shock), I had a hard time orienting myself to find it. Will phoned them to send a tow truck, and asked Bryan and Carol to come and collect me. I managed to climb out the window, over the car and up a hill, through brambles to the side of the road. B&C arrived around 15 minutes later, but the tow truck took 1 1/2 hours to arrive. When he did, he wasn’t equipped to extract Lola from her current position, and immediately left. Eventually, they sent a different tow truck, equipped with a crane to extract her.
While waiting, I realised that our driver’s licenses and ownership papers were still in the car, and that I had taken the key with me when I first escaped. I was also thinking about all the shopping I had just bought, including two bottles of vodka. So I made my way back down the hill, collected the papers, and also filled a bag with whatever groceries I could reach (including one bottle of vodka). A number of people stopped while I waited, including Daniel and Odielle, our neighbours, who came over to make sure I was ok. There was also a guy who works for the local counsel doing road maintenance, and although he was helpful, also requested my details so they could send me a bill for the damage to the guard rail. Thankfully, the insurance will cover it.
On that subject, we got a lift to Nontron from Gilles and Myriam on Sat morning to see the insurance people. We all agree that Lola is a write-off, considering her age and the extent of the damage. We will have a deductible, and will have to pay for most of the towing. We don’t know how much they plan to give us for her, but the assessor is going to have a look on Wed, and we should know shortly after that. The insurance also pays for three days of car rental, but it requires going to Perigueux to collect it.
So we arranged for a car this week, but instead, Philippe showed up yesterday and offered us the use of Françoise’s car. We used it today to visit the garage where they took Lola to collect any personal items that remained. There wasn’t much in the car, so we went to the site of the accident and were rewarded for our efforts. We found Will’s glasses, my sunglasses, the sat nav, plus some non-perishable groceries including the 2nd bottle of vodka. We’ll be heading into Perigueux this week to find a new car. We would like to get either a Toyota, VW or maybe an Opel (Vauxhall). With the loaner car, the pressure is off to buy something right away, but we’d like to find something quickly in any case.
Apart from that Mrs. Lincoln…not much else happened last week. Will went to the dentist with his jaw x-rays and he confirmed that he’ll need to see a specialist. So he’s got an appointment with him the first week of October in Limoges. We had curry night here on Friday, with Gael and Corrine, our (newish) neighbours. They bought a dilapidated barn in Mazeroux which they plan to do up in the coming year. In the meantime, they rent Philippe’s gîte. She teaches at the primary school in Thiviers, and he is a bee keeper who sells honey at the local markets. They are originally from Paris but moved here from Bretagne last year. We’d met them once before, but this was the first time we’d socialised with just them.
We had also invited a few others, but no one else could make it. Since that was the case, we had a swift dinner with our guests, then headed over to rehearsal in St Pardoux. We got a lift from Gislaine, one of the other members. We have decided on a number of new songs to try for our gig in November, so we gave some of those a go. They will all need a lot of work, but we should have (just) enough time before mid-November. This is for the 2nd Soirée Britannique in Milhac, and I’ve been put in charge of the music. Last year there were two groups, Will & I, plus Barry & Carol, Carol and Terri who did Abba covers. They won’t be performing this year, but the Milhac choir (where I belong) will be singing a handful of songs instead.
Since we’re now playing with Musique en Herbe, my idea was for the group to do its usual thing of multiple performers who play at different times. Including the technicians, this can easily amount to 20 people. Josiene is worried about a group that size, since it means they wouldn’t pay but would be eating the food. This was said in passing, so I need to pin her down on exactly what doesn’t work for her. I will also ask Musique en Herbe if we can cut back on the numbers a bit, but I’m waiting to see what Josiene says first. I may suggest that MeH people also bring food, in effect, making it a combined group effort.
He had been invited over to Sunday lunch at Mo’s house, but without a car, we couldn’t make it. So we had a lazy weekend, which suited me fine. Today we’ve been more energetic and finished painting our bedroom. All that remained was the wood trim around the doors, and the closet doors. Despite that, it’s been at least a month since we did the rest of it, so it will be nice to have one room completely finished. It also means we can move our clothes back from the guest bedroom. Smoo won’t be pleased since he’s been using various piles as his nest.
On that front, both cats are fine, although both Will and I are laden with flea bites. The weather has been cooler and rainy, so they’ve both exhibited the first signs of winter behaviour. The last few days have been warm and sunny, and apart from tomorrow, should be that way for the rest of the week. The lawn needs mowing, but I’m going to give myself a few days before tackling that. We’re also going to give our special plants until the end of the week to soak up as much sun as possible. They are all looking rather tasty, so it should be a good harvest.
I haven’t talked work, but there isn’t much to say. I’ve had one project ongoing for the past few weeks, and I finally put it live on Saturday. It took most of the afternoon, but at least it’s now finished. Will is somewhat busier, but also waiting for people to get back to him. I’m going to hit up some contacts for work since I could really use a big project. I haven’t really had one this year, although I’ve been busy enough just managing existing clients. Abby, the designer I work with in the States, has been feeding me lots of little things. We’re also talking about launching our own site to more easily sell WordPress sites.
The only other news is that today is our 13th anniversary. We’re not doing much in the way of celebration, apart from having lunch in Perigueux one day this week.
I should probably close with a statement about being lucky to be alive. I certainly feel that way, and realise that this was the best outcome of what could have been a terrible situation. At the very least, I will drive more cautiously from now on. Adieu Lola – you served us well.