This Halloween has been full of tricks and treats.
Unfortunately the trick part of the day was not a fun one and it was one that I did to myself.
I was backing out of our garage on my way to the grocery store to pick up candy for tonight’s trick-or-treaters when BAM, I ran into the side of the garage.
I was trying to avoid a car that was parked in our driveway and was concentrating on not hitting that car with the back of my car and totally neglected my side mirror.
I already got an estimate on the damage and to simply replace the mirror and the cracked white casing will be nearly $500. I’m planning to see if there are junkyards nearby or if I may be able to order the part online before shelling out that much dough.
You better believe I filled myself up with lots of treats after that nasty trick.
The peanut butter Snickers from that pack are all but gone.
Dinner
Dinner tonight was festive in colors.
Orange + Black!
Black beans, roasted sweet potatoes and squash served as sides to chicken breasts that I pan fried after seasoning them with mesquite seasoning.
And now I’m hoping for lots of Trick-or-Treaters! I have a very full candy bowl and can’t wait to see some cute and scary costumes.
Question of the Evening
- Have you ever been in an accident or damaged your car?
My accident history looks like this:
- Accident, 2003: Replace bumper of car
- Accident, 2008: Totaled car <— Awful experience
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I fear I will do this every single time I back out of our garage. It hasn’t happened yet but I know it’s bound to. Sorry about the car troubles. Hope your night gets better. 🙂
I was a flower delivery girl in high school and had 3 accidents – all with parked cars or immobile objects. Oops!! PS I had a peanut butter snickers today and was super glad there was only 1 for me to inhale..so delicious!
i’ve been in a couple car accidents and none of them were fun experiences – i’m sorry you broke your mirror! 🙁 i hope you got lots of adorable little trick or treat-ers to cheer you up!
i just tried one of those peanut butter snickers….SO GOOD!
sorry about the car…i had a similar experience, but much costlier. i know how you feel.
I totaled my car in June. I was hit by a 15 year old on a learners permit with no adult in the car. But because I turned out to make a left (she had her blinker on to make a right and didn’t) the accident was my fault.
The claim and settlement actually went very smoothly.
The Kidless Kronicles
Oh that sucks Julie, so sorry! Just some unsolicited advice from my husband that works with cars (owns a used car dealership) all day long…a cracked side mirror should NOT cost you that much money. definitely look into getting the part online or from a junkyard like you mentioned.
I’ve never been in an accident that was my fault. I’ve gotten rear ended 2 times and once my friends dad drilled my fron bumper as he was backing out of his driveway. I’ve always had somone in the family though that works with cars and luckily have always gotten away with cheap repairs.
That happened to me too! Check out Ebay – I got my mirror for $90 and used a youtube video to fix it. Or get the part online and ask the dealership to install it. Good luck!
i am SO doing this! thank you!
Ugh yes, I’ve been in two accidents before! In a parking lot, I was almost completely backed out when the car parked behind me began to pull out. The guy did not look and he tried blaming the accident on me at first. Luckily, he finally admitted that it was his fault.
The worst and scariest accident that I have been in occurred at an intersection. I had two boys in my car (one boy that I babysit and the other was his friend) and I freaked out because I was in pain, but I wanted to make sure that they were safe. Also, I didn’t know how their parents would react–even though the accident was not my fault.
A few months ago we got hit by a biker (a regular bike not a motorcycle) which caused $700 worth of damage. The guy was actually lucky he wasn’t seriously injured because he wasn’t wearing a helmet (and had no bike light on, was riding on the sidewalk, and didn’t stop at a stop sign). Since it was his fault he ended up having to pay, thankfully.
so sorry! you have a great driving history. wow! i’m impressed! e
I’ve totaled two cars: one when I was 17.5 and one when I was 17.99999 (four hours before my 18th birthday). The second one was scary, because I got hit while turning left and the van flipped on its side. I walked away unscathed thank goodness. Lost my license though.
My car has been hit three times. All three times, I have not been in it while it happened. AND all three times have happened in my parents driveway.
1. mom backed it up into boulder while I was at college.
2. mom backed into it with her car.
3. grandmom pulled up too close against the side of it.
luckily I didn’t have to pay for the damages, and no one was injured in any. rough time for the civ though.
My Hyundai Sonata got brutally murdered this past January. It was parked at my brother’s apartment complex, and some time in the middle of the night, a truck flew over the grass [we could tell by the tire tracks in the snow] and slammed into my car head-on. We’re guessing the person driving was probably drunk. Never found out who it was, but most likely was the same guy who also hit two other cars AND a garage all in the same complex. Crazy. And I had to find a new car stat, or I wouldn’t have been able to make the 9.5-hour drive back home that week. Yikes.
When I was sixteen and first got my license, my dad had a very strict rule that I wasn’t allowed to listen to the radio because he just knew I would get distracted tuning the channel. Sure enough, on the way to school, I was playing with my radio, changing the channel and smacked it right into a pole and shattered my mirror. I ended up only replacing the mirror part, which was about 20 bucks (but this was obviously waaay back… like in 2000).
I did the same thing in high school backing down the driveway. We have bushes on one side of the driveway and my dad’s car was on the otherside. I not only broke my mirror, but I also his AND left him a large gash on the side of the car. One of my more brilliant moves 😀
Oh man…some treat… I’ve only been in one accident – my fault. The sun was in my eyes one afternoon (on the way home from my clinical lab science internship as a senior in college…) & I thought the light had turned green, but it hadn’t, so I ran a red light into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. I totaled my car, but the only damage to me was a big bruise on my shoulder. I was LUCKY!
Oh no! That mirror accident has happened to both my older brother and sister at the same drive in restaurant that is in our hometown. Hope you got to see some good costumes! 🙂
No, no, no Julie do NOT pay $500 to get that fixed! Do you have any mechanic friends? I did the SAME. EXACT. THING. to my car… at the bank no less, I have to drive really close to the ATM and I hit the pole on the way off, breaking my glass and leaving my mirror hanging off the side of my car. Go to partstrain.com and buy the mirror and have someone put it on. My stepdad put mine on- it only cost me $56 for the part on that website. Please don’t pay $500!
thank you!!! i’m checking that website right now!
Good! I hope it helps you!
Oh gosh, I am so sorry! I have never been in an accident, but someone hit my parked car and damaged it TWICE, one went on my insurance but the next time the culprit came and confessed 🙂 that was nice!
Oh man…that sucks. I could tell you a story or two about back-up accidents. My first happened when we just moved into our new house. I wasn’t used to backing out of a garage and ended up scraping the side of my car against some yard tools my husband had hanging on the garage wall. Badddd…
The other 3x involved me backing into and/or up against the side of another car parked in our driveway. (I always forgot they were there!) Ugh. Plus driveway sits at a very steep angle…there are problems all around.
Fortunately my husband works at a car dealership and we’ve been able to have the damage (all slight thank God) fixed for minimal.
I don’t back-up when other vehicles are around though. Lesson learned.
Sorry about the accident, although why was there another car parked on your driveway??
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear about your car! And that time it got totaled sounds terrible, I’m so glad you’re okay! Hopefully cute trick or treaters made you feel a LOT better!
yes! Glad you’re ok!
I was in an accident about 2 months after getting my licence, someone wammed into me on on a roundabout! Suffice to say I was pretty shocked. My car was almost a goner even though we both were driving under 50km/h!
I wrote my car off 6months after I got my license – head first into a telegraph pole. Then was involved in a few fender benders (one with my little brother in our own driveway! bugger!). Nothing I didn’t recover from really 🙂 Glad you are ok and It was just the car that was damaged!
I wrecked one suv 13 times. Most were minor, but still. Thats insane. My current car of 3 years has been in one wreck and I was rear ended. Weird. I think that previous vehicle wasn’t meant to be! Also I used to be a bad driver, maybe had something to do with it. 😉 Don’t feel bad! Accidents happen!
Oh. My. Goodness! That much for a mirror?? Praise God it wasnt something worse.
Did you dress up for Halloween or just pass out candy?
I know this is semi rude to ask (maybe) but ive been reading your blog from the begining and find you to be so inspirational. I recently caught the blogging bug and started my own. Except… i have no readers. Id feel honored if you would maybe give my lil blog a shot out on one of your posts? If not i understand, but it never hearts to ask right??
Happy Halloween! You didn’t happen to live in Cary, Illinois when you were young, did you? I ask because I rocked the gumball machine costume in 3rd grade, but was way too shy & mortified when people were laughing at it during the school parade. This might be a day for redemption 🙂
aw, how cute! no – i grew up in palatine. 🙂
Oh no! I did that exact same thing on Valentine’s Day! I went to move my roommate’s car, and sure enough, took the mirror right off. It was a car she was leasing too…Luckily she was very understanding and didn’t beat me up or anything 🙂 I had it fixed that week and I remember it being pretty pricey.
I hope you get it figured out with minor financial distress!
sorry about your car! i damaged my grandma’s car some years ago and was totally confused and upset for weeks because of it. although it wasnt my fault i felt so guilty..
My husband JUST DID THAT 2 weeks ago! Same situation, trying to avoid a car in our driveway. Pain. In. The. Butt!
I’m sorry about your car! I hope you are able to get it repaired for much cheaper! I got into a really bad car accident in 2008. I ended up injuring my wrist and having to deal with therapy, etc for well over a year and a half. It was not fun.
In other words, your dinner looks delicious! 🙂
i recommend replacing the mirror itself (not the white casing) yourself. Mine got cracked after it hit a cone (not sure how it happened) and they wanted to charge me $150 to replace the mirror. I told them I just wanted to buy it and would put it on myself…. cost just $15 bucks. It’s super easy to install and wire.
Good luck finding a cheaper casing!! Glad you’re okay.
I completely broke off my drivers side mirror at my old house, the garage was so narrow and it was hard to get in and out and I backed up and off went the mirror.
It was $650 to fix 3+ years ago. Ouch!
I hear you… car Incidents (or accidents) are so expensive… and frustrating!
Sorry to hear about the accident, Julie… they always happen when you least expect it! At least you have that AWESOME magazine article to keep your spirits up!! I can’t wait to read it!
Hilarious fender-bender story for ya: I grew up on Sanibel Island, which had a drawbridge back in the day to get on and off. When I was about 7 years old, my mom and I were waiting to cross the bridge to the island because the bridge was up, but there were a lot of slow boats going through that day and the traffic was backed up back behind the toll booth. Anyway, my mom was trying to multi-task while we waited, doing SOMETHING other than paying attention – we were literally sitting still, not moving. She should have put the car in park instead of just keeping her foot stomped on the brake… because lo and behold, she absent-mindedly lifted her foot off it, and *bump* off we went into the POLICE CAR that was sitting in front of us. I think that is when I learned my first curse word… hahaha. He slowly put his car in park, got out, and came back and said (probably holding back laughter, now that I think about it…), “Uh, ma’am……….. what exactly do you think you are doing?”
I still tease her about it to this day. 🙂
My first car accident in which I was driving was in 2007. I had just bought my new car 5 weeks before, didn’t look in my blind spot and completely pushed an SUV off the road. There wasn’t much damage but still…I had owned the car for 5 weeks! That was my only accident, but living in Center City Philadelphia was not kind to my car. I had mirrors smashed, bumpers dented, side scrapes, and a smashed windshield. That last one wasn’t pleasant to find in the morning. I finally had enough, and my husband and I decided to sell both our cars last spring. Best decision ever!!
You should see if your mirrors pop-out. Mine do and my husband just ordered a set of side-view mirrors and replaced them himself. If you can live with the cracked casing for a little while this might help you save some cash to get that fixed in the future.
I ran over a sewer cover last year and it popped my two passenger side tires and ruined the rims. The kicker was that the car was only 2 weeks old and it cost be over $950 in damage (and I have a $1000 deductible on my insurance) so I had to pay it all out of pocket 🙁
I totalled my truck in 2007 after hitting some black ice, that’s the only accident I’ve been in that was technically my fault. I had a lady run into the new truck they replaced the other one with not 3 months after but it was a full-size pick up and the lady was driving a camry, she demolished the front of her car but she really only hit the trailer hitch on my truck so there was little to no damage at all to my baby.
Aw, booooo (and not the scary Halloween “boo”). I was rear-ended by my best friend one afternoon when we were skipping school at 16. LESSON LEARNED, lol! Her car was totalled b/c the air bags deployed but everyone was fine…minus being grounded for quite some time.
Doh! I did that to my car last year…sigh. Definitely look into junk yards, I found a replacement side-mirror thingy for around $90 and my coworker installed it for me! Good luck!
oh no! i’ve done the same thing, in high school. i can’t park in garages, it’s bad news for me. 🙂 but my dad takes the cake–once he backed his van THROUGH the garage door! he was distracted by the dog in the car with him that he didn’t even realize it wasn’t open. oh goodness that was horrible.
this reminds me of the VERY FIRST TIME i drove a car way back when i was 16…i had a behind the wheel driving course and the lady instructing me forced me to go through the drive through at the bank…i totally smashed the mirror off the pull through! lol.
xo.
lol. i cannot even count how many times i’ve hit my side view mirror on the side of the garage entering and leaving my garage.
btw, chicken looks amazing!
I am so sorry about your car! I actually purchased an suv last month since we couldn’t “fit” in our car anymore after having a baby in March. TWO weeks after purchasing it, a girl plowed into me leaving me with $8000 worth of damage to my brand new car with 800 miles on it. It was awful!
I’ve totally done the EXACT same thing. Except…my mirror completely fell off. Had an estimate higher than yours (volvo posts are damn expensive!) But was able to locate a used replacement mirror and had it put back on my cart for about 250, plus labor. Take a look on the internet…I’m sure you’ll find the part!
The worst accident that’s been my fault was when I merged without looking and drove a Jeep up off the road and onto a snowbank. It turns out the driver both had a baby in the car with her AND was currently pregnant. I’m so evil without even trying!
It was my car you were avoiding! Ohhh no! I’m sorry ju! Thank you again for taking care of pearl 🙂 (better than teal tortoise huh?)
I did that once and replaced it myself! Go to a junkyard and try to find one – it is only held on by three or four screws. You can do it! 🙂
I have definitely been in an accident. In 2005 I had just got my 2005 Honda Civic at the end of 2005 and it was like the day after Christmas. I slowed down to let someone turn left into an alley & this crazy lady plowed into me. I was so ANGRY!! B/C at the time my car was brand new & this was the 1st brand new car I ever had. Needless to say her car insurance had to pay all the damages & my rental car as well. I’ve had little fender benders in between then but nothing as traumatizing as the previous I listed. Oh Joy! But my car is great and the place we had it done fixed it back to normal 🙂