This wasn’t the blog post I thought I was going to make next, but this such a random and freak incident that I wanted to write about it.
It was around 4 PM yesterday. I knew there was a storm coming, but I did not expect this. Suddenly the roof starts rumbling. I get startled and look out my window. It’s hailing. You can see my confusion in real-time as I livetweeted the event. (Strong language, obviously)
Golf-ball sized hail. In the middle of Spring. In Texas.
I rushed outside (but stayed under the awning) to get a better look. My car was getting pelted. It was parked in the driveway, and hail was rolling off of the roof and hitting the hood and windshield. And there wasn’t really anything I could do about it. If just one of those things comes at me at the wrong spot at who-knows-how-fast and I’d be hospitalized. So I just had to sit there and watch my poor Camry get beat up.
The hail lasted all of 10 minutes, but it came down hard. The surrounding ground looked like someone had dropped a million white easter eggs.
This car is relatively new. I don’t remember exactly when I got it, but I’ve had it for less than a year. So I was pretty panicked when I thought my car insurance wouldn’t cover it. I checked my policy, though, and I do have comprehensive coverage, but the deductible is nothing compared to what I assume the actual dollar value of the repairs will be.
Twitter probably compresses the quality a bit, so these images just can’t do the damage justice. You’d have to see it. It’s bad. What really matters is that I’m safe, but it’s still a huge bummer – not to mention financial burden – for this to have happened.
And I just left my job.
Today I realized the windshield was worse off than I thought. There’s a big crack in the top middle. It doesn’t obscure my view, but it’s pretty distracting while driving. “Oh yeah. My windshield is cracked.”
The car is still operable, and I’ve already been in contact with insurance to see what I can do to get it fixed up. The deductible will cover a bit, and I’m sure my parents and family will chip in, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to dip into my savings to get everything repaired. I won’t know how much that will be until I get it inspected. I’ve never done anything like this before, but just from a phone call with my dad I think I’m going to have to drop at least a thousand dollars. Maybe. We’ll see. I really hope not.
All in all, it’s definitely stressful and I hate to see savings money just vanish from my bank account, but again, what matters is that I am safe.