Michael’s Blog

Our 1971 Chevelle was towed on the 13th of August for being dirty and having expired tags. That I could deal with, wife and I were both busy and forgot to register it.

We go down to the tow yard in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road.

We approach a bent gate with barbed wire and a bell on top of it. The gate was chained shut so I shook it to make the bell ring. An employee of this place comes out and asks which car we’ve come for and to provide registration and a valid ID. We hand over the information and wait in the road. She returns and puts a waiver form through the fence. I declined signing it until I saw the car. She asked for the keys so she could move it out of the impound.

She got in the car and began trying to maneuver it around a Suburban that was perpendicular to the chevelle and blocking its exit line by about a foot. She backed right into the Suburban. After making impact, she put it into drive. I heard the engine roar and the car went forward into a dumpster. The impact moved the dumpster about 3 feet toward their trailer.

The woman driving the car jumped out yelling “this car has no brakes, this car has no brakes” when just 2 minutes earlier she was moving forward and backward to make a 1000 point turn to get the chevelle out.

She called the owner and he showed up about 20 minutes later. Its almost 100 degrees outside in Riverside.

I called the Colton Sheriff while waiting and they would not come out to take a report or be mediators to these hostile people because the damage happened on private property.

The owner finally arrives, gets in the chevelle, backs it out, gets out leaving it running and “surveys” the damage.

Instantly he’s defensive and aggressive with us after we witnessed his employee demolition derby our car into 2 inanimate objects. He points at the bumper and says “that was like that when we towed it”. “A chevelle wouldn’t take this much damage from hitting a dumpster”. The bumper was bent upward into the grill and the hood was damaged. After yelling more he said, “get this car out of here” and I told him I want his insurance information.

After moving the car out of the impound I parked outside of the chained gate and waited for the woman who wrecked our car to return with the insurance information. When she presented the card I thanked her. All the while I didn’t swear at these people.

Just as we were about to leave my wife remembered we had not received any receipt or written documentation from them. So I rattled the gate again and she came out. I told the woman we didn’t receive the paperwork and she came down to the gate and put the same damage sheet through the opening. I asked if she had added the new damage she caused and she said no. I took the clipboard by the base to review the paperwork but she wouldn’t let go of it.

That made me curious so I flipped the pages over to see if there was anything else, and below the yellow copy were two square pieces of “paper” that I immediately recognized as polaroid photographs. I flipped one of them up and discovered it was a rear shot of the chevelle taken before they towed the car. As soon as I touched the picture she tried to pull the clipboard back through the gate. So I pulled it back harder out of her hands and examined the other photo. It was a front shot of the car showing the bumper and grill undamaged prior to them taking custody of the car.

She yelled at me to give it back to her and I told her “you have pictures of our car without damage right here!”. And she turned and ran yelling “he took the clipboard and the photos” over and over again. I told my wife to get back to our other car. Then the owner came out yelling “give me that clipboard and those photos”. He was very aggressive, but he was locked in by his own gate. He yelled it one more time and then yelled “open the gate, open the gate!” followed by “you won’t be able to use those photos with the insurance!” “Give me those f’in photos!” with his arm extended angrily through the opening in the gate.

I moved into the chevelle and told him “I have evidence that the car wasn’t damaged before you towed it” hit the gas and left him in a cloud of dust.

My wife said he was standing on the steps outside of that “classy trailer” waiving his fist at me as the cloud of dust settled around him.

Now we have to deal with the insurance.

I’d just like to add a definition for the online gaming community that a friend of mine and myself have come up with to describe other teammates who apparently have no clue what they’re doing when it comes to first person shooters and the like.

Definition:

A “Teambait” is a teammate that lacks the ability to work together, attracts the attention of the opposing team without any strategy and gets us killed in the process.

Example:

We’re running in a staggered formation. We spot an opponent across the map, or on a walkway above us. The teambait fires off a shot, or throws a grenade that misses horribly. Instead of a well timed surprise attack, we’re now the prey as the 3 other members of that persons team are alerted that he is under fire and ambush us.

Our strategy:

1. Use them as human shields. If they’re going to be stupid, let them take the shots and we can take the kill they can’t get.

2. Go the other way. They go one direction, we go the other. I only cover EmpoweredAxis. He is the only overtly offensive player I trust enough to follow.

In closing, if teammates are offering friendly advice like, “stay in this area and draw them in” or, “stop rushing into them, your giving away our lead” your being a teambait and eventually, you’ll be used as such. No one will like you and no one will want to play with you.

If you ever have doubt, follow this creedo, “Never leave your wingman”

This weekend was pretty fun. I spent Saturday evening playing Halo 2 with one of my good friends. Together I’d say we can inflict some pain on other online gamers playing Halo.

I have to admit, there is no greater compliment from the opposing team after a match than hearing them yell “Banshee Bitch!!!!” into the mic. They’re so aggravated and its so gratifying. The Banshee is a hovering plane of sorts that shoots laser blasts. Ascension is a level that lets EmpoweredAxis and I take advantage of the Banshee and the potential mayhem it will cause in our hands. From the skies of the level we can call out the location of the opposing team members and hit them from all angles distracting them from our teammates on the ground gunning them down. The rain of lasers acts like tracer rounds painting our target for our teammates.

The energy weapons on the Banshee disable shields rather quickly and a gunshot to the head seals the coffin and reinforces aggravation.

Considering EmpoweredAxis and I get “teambaits” as we affectionately call them 80% of the time, putting the smack down with Banshee tactics every 100 matches or so is really really gratifying.

I heard from a friend today about an article written in the Los Angeles Times about Lane Splitting.

“They startle you — it might prompt somebody to slam on their brakes and cause a bigger accident.” Taken from:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lanesplit4aug04,1,7371221.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

“Loud noises!” is a reason to hit the brakes? Who taught these people how to drive? If people watched their mirrors they wouldn’t be startled. Of all people, California drivers should be aware that a motorcycle is coming at some point, especially between the number 1 lane and a carpool lane thats backed up. And not just other commuters, but CHP splits the lanes as well. In fact, on many occasions I’ve allowed a CHP to pass me because I was going much slower than he was willing to. I received a wave and followed suit as his wake was pretty comfortable to ride in.

Drivers that are startled aren’t paying attention. They’re on their phones, starring at the sun visor in their car, digging for something near the radio or just simply zoning out and not staying between the lines of their lane. If a motorcycle revvs at a car, its probably because the car is hogging that center line blocking the motorcyclist intentionally or not.

Check out the attached photos. Boxes of Ultimate Bumblebee. One sellers name was Vault Regulator. Work at Target maybe? I saw another stack of Ultimate Bumblebees with Target Receipts taped to them. Maybe that guy works at Target. How nice it must be to have Christmas everyday getting paid $10/hr to ransack rare toys before they go on shelves. $10/hr turns into $100 an hour x5 or x10, however many these guys get their greedy little hands on.