Quality Time

Sarah called me up after work yesterday and goaded me into going over to the high school to play tennis with her. I had been home long enough to have a couple beers, so I was a little concerned that I was going to embarrass myself. She needed practice to get ready for tennis season, and tryouts are in two weeks I think she said. By the time we got over there, it was the final hour of daylight.

I was surprised--I played pretty well! Although I've never been much of an athlete, I understand the mechanics of all of them. I can hit a baseball fine and things like that. Well, maybe tennis would have been something I could have done well at in school... Who knows. I think the advantage I have is the fact that my arms are so damn long. I was returning shots that were quite a stretch. I also had some killer serves. I was a little concerned with how I might be affected by my age and lack of aerobic exercise, but I did fine. I even joined her for a lap around the court afterward. If we go tonight, maybe I'll run two of them, as one didn't really affect me. No weird pains or aches this morning either. I think this will be a good thing for both of us to do regularly.

It's a good thing that Sarah requested some practice, because she needs to get "it" back. She was struggling to hit even the most basic shots--All of them hitting her racket in the wrong spot. I told her that it was because she had grown since last season, and her arms were longer than they were last year. It's true I'm sure--All of her flubs were hitting the racket too close to the handle instead of in the sweet spot. She was pretty frustrated, but she was starting to get it back toward the end. I told her I had the advantage because my lanky arms have been this long for over 30 years, therefore I know where everything reaches to.

In other news, here's more on the car accident: I have to say, Hartford has impressed me as an insurance company for their "hands on" approach. I got a phone call from them at work today (which I chose not to return due to time constraints) and when I got home after dropping Sarah off from school, there was a message on my machine from them as well. After called the lady back, we went through a question and answer coverage of all the details of the accident which she recorded as we went. She then punched my address into their network of body shops, and told me of one right nearby called Auburn Collision. I told her that would be fine and I'd take it there today after work for an estimate. Evidently, they are all on a network of some kind, and as soon as they do the damage estimate and punch my VIN number in from the car (the VIN holds all the car's options and equipment information in it's coded format) into their system, it tells right away whether the car is considered totaled or not. She also said there's really no reason to contact the driver that caused the accident--They would take care of that. She also assured me that from an insurance standpoint, it was not a chargeable accident to me. (Whether my rates go up remains to be seen...) After I hung up the phone, I got a call from Auburn Collision a few minutes later, and a very pleasant lady welcomed me to their business, telling me how much they were looking forward to serving me. The whole thing so far has been very proactive. I like that.

I'll find out today whether or not my car is totaled. If it is (I'm pretty sure it will be) I'll probably buy it back from them. After all, I know the whole car's history since we bought it new. I did some engine work on it one summer ago and it has brand new tires on it. It gets excellent mileage and it's fun to drive.

Also, now that it's dented it's achieved true commuter car status.