Here in Katie’s Head

On this Thanksgiving Day, I am thankful that my car picked today for its battery to die. I wasn’t in a rush to get anywhere and I had plenty of family members available to shuttle my no-longer-mobile self around.

Tomorrow I will not be so thankful when I’m fighting through crowds of insane shoppers so I can buy a damn battery. I will, however, be grateful to get my independence back.

Posted: 10:09 pm · Category: Cars · Comments: None

Dear driver who hit my sister this evening,

You might want to take a look at the Kansas Driving Handbook, available online in a handy PDF.

Sections of note:

• Speed and speed restrictions, page 11. Hint: the Kansas basic speed law means you’re supposed to slow down when it’s raining.
• Drivers and pedestrians, page 23. Hint: pay special attention to the first rule listed for drivers, which says, “If there are no traffic control signals, drivers must slow down or stop for pedestrians within a marked or unmarked crosswalk.” The introduction to that section is also relevant: “A pedestrian sometimes does thoughtless or foolish things. But, in spite of this, if your vehicle is under control at all times you should be able to avoid hitting him.”

Besides the black eye and some soreness, my sister will probably be perfectly fine. But jeez, slow down when you’re driving on campus. Hell, when you’re anywhere near campus.

Love,

Katie,
who is more likely to hit a parked car than a moving person, mostly because I’m an idiot

Posted: 10:45 pm · Category: Cars, Family, I am an idiot, Status · Comments: None

So at this moment, my dad still has the title in his name and he’s paying the insurance. Next week, we’re switching the title to my name and I’ve just purchased an insurance policy.

I will own. a. car. I don’t really think I should be trusted to own anything, so I’m thinking that there’s gotta be a trick somewhere.

And I feel really guilty that Dad’s giving me a whole car — but then I remember how they didn’t have to pay a cent of my college education and I know that would have cost far more than my car, so…maybe I don’t feel quite so bad. Still spoiled, but deservingly so?

Anyway, the real point: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH CAR INSURANCE? I don’t get it.

I decided to see if Geico and Progressive are really as awesome as their ads claim — if nothing else, I like the idea of getting a quote without having to talk to a real person, especially a real person who’s trying to get hundreds of dollars from me.

First I got a quote from Geico. It was a lot of money, but fair.

Then I got a letter from Liberty Mutual (because the fucking Alumni Association sold my contact info to fucking every company in the world) that said they’re offering a discount to recent graduates. So I called them up to get a quote. HOLY WHOA. They were asking 50% more. Why is there that big of a difference?

(I ended up buying a renters insurance policy from them instead. Hopefully they didn’t rip me off on that one — $13/month sounded like a deal to me.)

Then I went back online and got a quote from Progressive. Even cheaper than Geico — like 20% cheaper. I’m sold.

I understand that insurance is tricky because it’s about complicated risks and a fair amount of randomness, so of course not every company is going to offer me the same exact price. But shouldn’t it all be reduced down to a system that’s at least vaguely consistent? Shouldn’t someone have come up with a universal formula by now?

If Liberty Mutual wants to charge me five or six hundred dollars more than Progressive, how the hell do they stay in business? Are they ripping everyone off, or just new college graduates with a single accident on their records?

I’m sure someone could provide me with a detailed, rational explanation for why insurance companies are so dumb. Or maybe the answer is that Progressive is going to jack up my rates the first chance they get. But, damn, these companies are so dumb.

Posted: 8:28 am · Category: Cars, Rants · Comments: 2

These are all the things I know about car maintenance:

1. When the car is dirty, drive it through the automatic drive-through car wash.
2. When the sticker in the corner of the windshield says it’s time, drive it to the oil change shop.
3. Don’t run out of gas.
4. If you wax the car (optional), clean it really well first.
5. When it makes scary noises or the check engine light comes on, call Dad and then take it to the shop.
6. If the tire’s flat, call Dad. Don’t drive anywhere until he fixes it. Fixing it usually involves an air compressor and a pressure gauge, but I’ve only used those on a bike tire.
7. If the turn signal lights in the dashboard are acting weird, one of the turn lights is probably burnt out. Call Dad.

I think I’m probably capable of handling all the basic stuff myself. The reason I haven’t learned it all already? Every once and a while, I do something really stupid.

And while doing something really stupid in the kitchen (my usual screw-up zone) usually only results in a burn that will heal in a couple weeks, doing something really stupid on a car could, uh, ruin the engine or something. And I hear that engines are expensive.

So I leave the car stuff to people who probably won’t do something really stupid.

But since I won’t have Dad within reach after I graduate, I’m trying to get better at this stuff.

Today I refilled the washer fluid by myself. Well, kinda.

I’m pretty sure that I didn’t do anything really stupid.

Posted: 3:12 pm · Category: Cars · Tags: being stupid, Cars, washer fluid · Comments: 2