Friday, March 22, 2013

Cars

Sorry, friends and family.  I have not posted for a while because I was in two car accidents - neither of them my fault.  I was T-boned in the parking lot of a mall in mid-January - someone backed out of their parking space into me as I was exiting the mall.  That resulted in a side-ways whiplash to my neck and left shoulder.  Then in mid-February, I was rear-ended quite badly by a big truck when I slowed down to let a city bus go in front of me (it was signalling and we are required to yield).  This aggravated the injuries from the first accident.  I am now recovering well, and have been going for massage therapy plus doing lots of exercise, stretching and rolling on yamana balls.  However, I still have some tight, sore muscles in my neck and back and it is uncomfortable at times to sleep on my left side.  I was quite exhausted and had to take afternoon naps for a couple of weeks.  I also suffered from fears that I was going to be hit a third time, and keep checking my rear view mirror.  It always shocks me to see so many drivers tailgating me, and talking on their cell phones at the same time.  A recipe for an accident.

The Hyundai Sonata stood up very well to both accidents, and in the second accident, it took the majority of the hit just in the trunk lid, the bumper was not even touched:



The car has been fixed with provincial insurer picking up the majority of the costs, plus the car rental.  Fortunately, I had purchased extra replacement cost insurance when I bought the car which covers putting in new, original parts, and so they put in an entirely new truck lid.  The car was all repainted and looks just as good as new.  The car frame had not been damaged at all.

However, I had never really enjoyed driving the Hyundai Sonata - found it too rigid and uncomfortable to drive.  So Neil and I looked at cars for days, test driving lots of different sedans, and decided to buy a new Nissan Altima and we chose it in red!  This should help with visibility.  Here it is:



We purchased the Altima last Saturday and I absolutely love it.  It is a dream to drive - very intuitive especially when turning corners.  Lots of special features, and the seating is outstanding for my body type.  So this should help banish the trauma I went through.  And having a red car is wonderful - I love it.

Hope to get back to regular blogging soon!