new car no more

ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish there was a more harsh way for me to express my frustration, but doing so would not be the wisest thing to do anyway. Ok, here's what happened. Duksim and I were on our way to my dad's house in Round Lake, as his parents were there (flew in from Korea) and were leaving tomorrow afternoon. They wanted to see us before they left, so we obliged. It was raining at a good clip through the drive, so keep in mind the potentially slippery conditions on the road. We were on Townline Rd in Vernon Hills and up ahead we saw people were stopping - probably for an accident that just happened. So of course I slowed down to a stop, but through my rear view mirror, I saw a white Jeep Wrangler bearing down on us at a speed that told me that they weren't gonna stop in time. It was one of those slow-mo moments where I pictured myself saying n-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o (I think you know what I'm talking about). Also keep in mind that this particular road was one lane going in either direction, so there was absolutely no way I could have avoided this. Well, we got hit pretty solid from the back by that Jeep, but since I was still on the brakes, thankfully it didn't turn into some chain reaction accident. So we moved over to the side of the road - along with another pair of cars that apparently had the same kinda accident (what are the odds?) That must have been a spectacle for all the gapers passing us by (yes we were causing the infamous "gaper's delay" here). The people who rear-ended us turned out to be a couple of teenage girls (the driver whom we later found to be around 16 years of age, so she just got her license...great!). She was apologizing profusely stating that she was braking, but her tires were hydroplaning and thus the reason she plowed into our car. Regardless, the look I gave her could have curdled milk. Eventually the cops arrived, 2 cars in fact: one that we happened to flag down, and another that was called by another person. At least those girls were insured, so this will be taken care of hopefully sometime this coming week. But for now, our rear bumper is dented in the middle, and apparently pushed up somewhat, as now we cannot open our rear door (which is also kinda bulging out). So now we have to deal with the hassle of lowering the rear seat to access the hatch area, bring the car in for repairs, get a loaner/rental car until it's done, and so on and so forth...yadda yadda yadda...

Duksim already knows this about me, but whenever things like this happen, it usually takes quite a bit of time for me to get over it. For her, she is pretty good at rolling things off her back and moving on. In this case, for me anyway, I think I will not fully get over this one until we get the car back in its original condition. Of course, I know that now it cannot be classified as a new car anymore, but still - until I see our car back in like-new condition, I shall remain in my dark and moody cave...