A Peek at Life as a Natic

Now that we have the XC90, it is time to get some of the stuff done that we need to make it our own!  The rear windows were tinted but the front two were not which drove Alisha nuts.  I made an appointment with a tint place in Cumming to have them tint the front two windows on Saturday morning.  I will be posting their information once I am sure that everything is well with the tint job.  They were great people and I am sure everything is perfectly fine, but I want to make sure that it is before I tell my readers all about them.  The only thing holding that up is that it had been so rainy and cold recently that the water used to apply the tint has not been able to dry out which is very normal process when you tint.  It has been hard to not roll the windows down for these past 5 days though lol.  I have intentionally avoided toll booths and going through the parking garages has been a pain because I have to pass the ticket thing and open the door to reach back LOL.

Last week, Heather had sent us an invite to head over to their house to throw a little surprise party for Jarrod with a few of our neighbors and some their friends / family.  We headed over at 12:30 while Jarrod was out with Ethan to get ready to surprise him.  Heather did a great job planning it and picking up lunch for us to enjoy.  It worked out perfectly and Jarrod was quite surprised.  We hung out for a few hours and then headed back home to get ready to go out for Kara’s birthday dinner. 

Kara’s birthday is a day after mine and she wanted to head to Maggianos to grab some much needed birthday dinner!  We headed up to Maggianos at Perimeter Mall with Alisha’s mom and met Kara and Lin for some dinner.  As always the food was delicious and we had a great time.  After dinner we were all heading up to our house to spend the night.  We decided to hit Cheesecake Factory for some dessert before continuing home.

After a lot of thinking and looking we finally decided to go for the SUV that we had been wanting… well kinda.  I wanted the Audi Q7, but I am about 10 grand plus short of that dream LOL.

Last Tuesday we became proud owners of a 2007 Volvo XC90.  We need to get the windows tinted, and some new tires on her and will be sure to post pictures as soon as we do….  stay tuned.

Tuesday night after work we headed out to Mall of Georgia to see if Alisha could pick up an outfit for Preston to wear to Mike and Denae’s wedding in April.  She had been sent a link by Andrea an un-named friend of ours that wanted to see my wallet fade away. 

Before stopping to go clothes shopping we made a stop up at Honda Mall of Georgia to test drive an 06 – 07 Honda Pilot.  We had been looking at them online and figured that we would try and drive one to see what we thought.  I thought the outside was not bad but wanted to see what if felt like and what the inside looked like in person.  We drove it and it really did drive pretty well.  The inside was just not what we were looking for though.  It is definitely not a bad car, but after having our hearts set on the Volvo they just didn’t compare.   Back to the drawing board.  Do we cough up the extra doe or do we just bit the bullet and find something else.  Damn this money thing.  Why cant we just be rich?! 

We then left the dealership and headed over to H&M inside of the mall.  Alisha had been online on their site and checking out their clothes so we had to make a stop over there to pick a few things up.  The clothes were very cute but they did not have correct sizes for some of the clothes that we wanted to pick up.  We grabbed a few things but we are still on the hunt for some others.  We left the mall and headed over to Olive Garden to grab something to eat before calling it a night. 

It was a nice night out with the wifey!

So as you all know, Alisha got into an accident in the TL last week.  I got a call from Allstate two days ago to tell me what the status of the car was and they stated that the insurance adjuster has placed about $9,700 worth of damage to the car – ouch!  Good thing for insurance!!!

I am still waiting to hear how long it will take to get it back on the road, but I am just glad that it is repairable!

The damage

This afternoon Alisha and Kara were coming home from Ryan’s house and were stopping in at Asian Table for Thai food.  I ws SO excited!  Unfortunately they did not quite make it there.  I got a hysterical phone call from Kara that I could barely make out that they had been hit.  I was in my pjs and ran out of the house just like that.  I didnt even put shoes on.  I hauled ass down to windmere to make sure that they were okay.  I found the TL pretty beat up, Alisha in tears on the curb (obviously worried about the baby), the driver of the other car with blood down her chin / neck and her daughter in full on tears.  It was not a fun scene to pull up to.  The side curtain airbags deployed in the TL which probably made a HUGE difference for Alisha in the wreck.  Her head could have certainly slammed into the A piller or glass from impact.  Kara was not wearing her seatbelt and hit her head and may have broken a bone in her hand.

Closer up

Alisha was taken to the ER via ambulance and Kara rode along with her.  I stayed behind to make sure the car got towed and everything.  I then headed home to get some shoes and change out of my pj pants before heading up to the hospital.  After being there yesterday I was far from excited to return.  Since the wreck took place on a private property no tickets were given out.  While Alisha would have been in the wrong  because she pulled out “in front of” the other lady, the fact of the matter is that she must have been flying down the little “road”.  You can see it on this map:  CLICK HERE.  It is in the parking lot at the intersection of Windmere and hwy 20.  It is at the entrance from Windmere pkwy.

At the ER they ran tests, checked the heartbeat, and did an ultrasound all of which came back normal.  We were discahrged from the ER at about 9:40 and as we began to drive off, we were called back into labor and delivery.  They wanted to run some more testing to make sure that all is well with the baby.  That is where we are now.  We will be here until at least 3:00 but we have been asked to spend the night and we can leave in the morning.  Most likely that is what we will do.  They are monitoring for contactions to be sure that Alisha does not go into premature labor, and so far so good.

We will keep you updated on this whole ordeal.  We will need to call the insurance company tomorrow to get the car process going.  Our precious car may be totaled   Ohh well… this could have turned out MUCH worse that it did…

So as you,  can imagine Alisha has been out shopping for clothes and scouring the Internet for the cute things that she has always wanted to purchase.  Fortunately for me, she had much more girl things that boy things so I wont go broke LOL. 

She has been out a few times shopping and she is getting the closet going with clothes and stuff for the baby.  We are also planning to put up chair rail in the baby’s room as well as bead board in the playroom downstairs and obviously paint those rooms.  The other night we were laying down and right before we fell asleep it hit me that I may not be able to get a stroller in my car.  The trunk has no space and it just isnt the best car for a carseat.  Also, I would LOVE an automatic after driving a stick for the past 9 years.  Plus it is easier if both of us can drive either car.  Since Alisha doesnt know how to drive a stick, we always need to be sure that her car is at home for her.  It would be nice to be able to freely take whatever to get things done.

Well this has started the search… do I boost the economy with a new car purchase or do I sit tight until December, or do I simply buy nothing at all.  I guess we will need to go test driving (ugh I hate dealing with 30 salesmen) and see where that takes us…I guess we will see where we end up.

If you have any recommendations feel free to leave a comment with them.  We are most likely going to grab something with 3rd row seating – my main concern is just the engine power…. many of the cars just dont have the power that I want in a car.  I have driven a 4 cylinder for 9 years now, I want something that feels like Alisha’s TL.

So as you may know the prelude’s check engine light came on recently and I found out that it was the catalytic converter that was bad.  After almost replacing it myself, I realized that I did not have any bolts (cause the stock ones are welded onto their cat ) I had to put it all back together and I just took it to a shop for them to do.  When I went to pick the car up from them replacing the cat, I made it about 1/4 mile up the road before my car threw another check engine light … this time for the O2 sensor.  I was still trying to get this all done before my birthday but I had to hurry.  So I found the nearly $200 O2 sensor online for about $50 bucks shipped from a company in North Georgia.  I received the sensor in 2 days and installed it, but it was not enough time for me to get enough mileage on the cleared ECU (you need 100 miles after resetting your car’s computer or you will automatically fail for lack of data in the computer).  I knowingly failed my emissions so that I could pay my taxes and then took the car back to the shop to have a oil switch replaced that was leaking oil again.  When I picked the car up from getting that done… guess what… another issue!  Dead battery!

So after replacing my battery I took the car for a test ride to make sure that all was well.  It wasn’t.  The car turned off on my 3 times in a 6 mile trip.  So I went back online racking my brain to figure out what the heck was wrong.  Dan came over yesterday to help me mess with it… and there was nothing to mess with.  The car drove perfectly.  It was absolutely crazy.  I mean, I guess I am not complaining, but I just dont want to have issues in rush hour traffic on Monday when I decided that it is safe to take out. 

As an ode to the prelude: Adam Sandler’s Piece of Shit Car – not work safe only for language (shit)

So as you may have read earlier, my freaking check engine light came on about 2 weeks before my birthday (with holidays and vacation in between) which leaves me very little time to get it fixed.  I ordered the cat which was there when i got back.  I came home from work on Thursday to install it which only appeared to consist of 6 bolts… yeah… not the case.

After 4 hours of squeezing under my car on ramps, trying to break loose 8 year old bolts, i got the cat off of the car.  Then i tried to remove the O2 sensor.. yeah.. that didnt work.  I dont have a O2 socket.  In addition, i found out that the cat I ordered didnt come with bolts and the stock ones are permanently welded onto the stock cat.  So after all of that time and being completely covered in grease, I had to put it ALL back where it came from. 

What a freaking waste of time!

Now I need to get the cat installed professionally, reset the ECU, drive 100 miles, get emissions, and register my car… all before my Birthday! 

So I was driving back from a branch earlier this week and all of a sudden I look down only to find my check engine light illuminated and staring me in the face.  Of course your first though is ohh SHIT!  I decided to ride it out for the hour until I got home as nothing really felt out of wack. 

Keep in mind that my birthday is only a few weeks away and I have to pass emmissions – which requires no check engine lights to be shown- and must also have not pulled the battery in less than 100 miles (which I will have to do to clear the code when Ifix the issue).  So basically, I need to figure out the issue, resolve it, pull the battery to reset the ECU, and then drive it for more than 100 miles, get my emissions done, and register the car all before December 11th and we are leaving town next week for the holidays

When I got home I looked up how to pull my ECU codes on my car at home and for free.  I found that when you jump a certain plug connector that it will cause the check engine light to blink a certain way displaying the error code that you can cross reference to the web.  It was throwing two codes – 1.  Catalytic Converter Insufficient Flow and 2.  EGR clog.

I called Honda to quote out the cat and they wanted $660 for the part alone – ARE YOU SERIOUS! – and the crazy part is that Honda no longer manufactures a cat for the Prelude.  They are actually selling me an aftermarket cat for that insane price.  So i went online and researched away.  I found that you can get an EXCELLENT high flow catalytic converter for $115 shipped to my door.  Done.  I ordered this today which will hopefully be shipped out and get to me before we head to PA for the holidays – lets hope that I do get it before then.

I have done a part of the EGR work in the past with Dan but because we could not get to the remaining ports, the code returned.  We had done 3 out of the 6 ports which had removed the check engine light the last time.  This time i researched how to get to those remaining ports and got ready to do it.  I pulled out the fuel rail and a few other parts and got ready to pull the plugs on the EGR ports.  I got the first 5 out with little issues except for the fact that my battery powered drill was totally dead.  I had one left and was trying to get it out with a totally dead drill and was swapping batteries every 5 minutes hoping it would have enough charge to get me through the job.  Of course this never happened.  I snapped 5 drill bits on this last plug before borrowing an electric drill from a neighbor.  We tried and tried to get this last one out but i snapped another 3 drill bits before taking the ride to Home Depot to get titanium bits.  I finally got it out and cleaned the final port and put her all back together.

Now I just have to get my cat so that I can pull my battery and clear these codes.  Hopefully I get it in time!

Another rainy morning in Atlanta (not that it happens often).  The drivers forget how to keep their cars on the road, drive 40 under the speed limit and traffic is slower than if you walked… As if I was not miserable enough through all of that, the inetitable happens.

So I am talking to Alisha on the phone on the way in when I hear an aweful sound from the back end of the car…. I immediately pull over, look around the car and see nothing.  So i slowly start to drive off and hear the same sound just much slower… YEP its what I thought… a nearly blown rear tire.  The thread on the inside of the tire started to unravel and a few more yards and it will blow   

I had to call the tow truck and had them drop me off at the tire shop for some new rubber… $265 later I’m back on the road… *sigh*.. another day.

Man I cant wait for this 3 day weekend! 

So I took my bike to work this morning to save on gas and was at Publix today in Kennesaw during lunch.  I come out to leave after buying some food for the office to find …. a lady backed into my bike …

Yep Im serious.

The damage is honestly quite minor but I still want it repaired.  In addition to the slight cosmetic damage, my wheel is no longer aligned with my handlebars so that will need to be fixed as well.  I am just hoping that there is no fork damage because of the pressure to the wheel when she hit it.

The lady that hit me was trying to kinda get out of it claiming that there was damage around the area previously and she should not have to pay to repair that damage… please lady…  Then she tried to say that i was parked incorrectly in my spot.  Wrong again.  I don’t pull into my spot like a car does but instead pull up perpendicular to the way a car would park at the very edge of the parking spot.  I do this so that people see me when they come down the isle and don’t whip into the spot bowling my bike over to the ground.  I will be getting quotes on the repair shortly.  I certainly don’t want to take her to the house, but do want it fixed.  I am hoping that i can just buff it and throw a slight coat of touch up paint on her.    

I dont know what it is… but us Natics have the worst luck with cars vehicles.

Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery for more pictures of Alisha’s new car at pictures.neilnatic.com or here

Well, yesterday (Friday) we got the good news that Alisha’s car would be ready to be picked towards the end of the day.  Alisha made arrangements to be dropped off at the body shop so that she could drive it back to the house because I had to stay home for a upgrade for work.  The shop had replaced the rim, headlight, fender, and front bumper with all OEM parts.  After all of the stress we went through trying to get it completed, it was a huge relief to have the car back at the house!

This morning, we decided to finally take pictures of the car for everyone to see.  Even Envy got in on the fun.  Feel free to check out our gallery at pictures.neilnatic.com for more pictures of the car. 

Assurance America (his insurance company) :fu:

I hope you enjoy the $3,300 bill that you will be hit with shortly.  You wanted to cheap out working with me… so now you will have to cough it up the hard way when Allstate comes after you for the money!  :bat:

So as you probably know, the 2004 Acura TL that we bought for Alisha was backed into the day after we bought it by a construction worker with no GA drivers license.  Since then, it has been at a body shop in Alpharetta (Classic Collision) off of highway 9.

So this past week has been a mess.  On Monday, I finally got a hold of his insurance company’s (Assurance America) damage representative as well as investigator after countless phone calls and messages.  They determined that they were going to pay the claim out but needed to send out the damage adjuster to quote out what would need to be replaced or repaired.

On Thursday, I had enough and called them all day long.  I finally (at like 3:00 PM) reached the manager for the damage representative and spoke to him.  He kindly let me know that they had received the quote the previous day at 5:00 PM.  I was VERY upset that no one had called me all day and was sure to let him know that.  He proceeded to tell me that the quote was ready to be paid out.  I asked him what it included so I knew what was going to be replaced.  He responded with…. it looks like the total is $399.xx and they will be repairing your front bumper.  I lost my cool at this point.  I asked him what he planned to do about my rim, fender, and headlight and then told him that there was no way in hell I was going to let him repair that bumper.  It was to be replaced.  He stated that he used to be an adjuster and he has repaired tons of bumpers and they come out just fine.  We argued back and forth and I told him that his quote was pathetic.  There was no way that he was going to repair my bumper and then leave off all of the other items that were damaged.  I told him I bought the car in perfect condition and that I was taking it home in the same shape.  I explained that I did not cause this accident; his client did and they were going to bring it back to the shape it was in before it was hit.    I told him that he had 24 hours to get that adjuster back out there or I was calling Allstate and they would be held liable for everything that Allstate fixes as they would go after them for the money to repair my vehicle.

I spoke with Classic Collision and was assigned a representative from their shop.  I asked him to take down my number, look at my car, and then call me back with what he saw.  He called me back a few minutes later and said that my bumper, headlight, rim, and fender need to be replaced and should not be repaired.  There also may be additional damage once they pull the bumper and everything off of the car .  I then asked him to call the adjuster back and have him come back to review the car with him. 

After nearly a full day of trying to reach the existing adjuster, i had enough.  I called Allstate and filed the claim with them.  I then found out that Classic Collision partners up with Allstate (as well as other insurance companies) and what they quote is what Allstate will pay without sending their own adjuster out to see the car.  This worked out perfectly!

I got a call back from my rep at Classic Collision and he let me know that he was sending a quote for $3,311.66.  Yeah that is almost $3,000 more than the one that Assurance America adjuster sent…

So, they should have the paperwork done on Monday morning as it was completed at 4:00 PM today and Allstate’s contact for the body shop was not in the office to submit the request for the check. 

We are hoping to have the car back before next weekend but it will be close for sure.  We may not have it Friday and may have to wait until the following Monday, but it is MUCH quicker than if we would have waited for the other lame ass insurance company!

This post will be updated with progress.  All updates will be at the bottom of the post.

updated:  4:20 PM April 4th

updated:  11:23 PM April 3rd 

Well, about 36 hours ago we were owners of a BEAUTIFUL charcoal grey 2004 Acura TL with navigation.  This car is freaking amazing.  It had not a scratch on it.. seriously.  I have never seen a car in such great both inside and out.  I was simply amazed! 

So after seeing it on Tuesday night, we decided to go for it.  We bought it around 2:00 on Wednesday afternoon and had Mike go with me to bring it back home from my office where I had it parked.

Well, tonight I get a phone call from Alisha and she let me know that a construction worker fucking backed into!!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!?!??!?!  Not even 36 hours and it is already messed up!!!?!!

Alisha was parked in front of Mike and Aubree’s house as Mike was not home yet.  Mike happened to come outside in the freezing cold against Alisha and Aubree telling him to change and put pants on (instead of shorts).  As he is playing with his car’s remotes he hears a crunch…as he looks into his rear view mirror, and he sees our TL rocking.   The construction van begins to pull away and then speeds up.  The bastards were going to leave!!!!  Mike chased them down and made them come back to exchange paper work and call the cops.  Rico not so suave that was driving didn’t have a license and ended up getting arrested!

I just got off the phone with the insurance company and we are going to take her up to a shop in Alpharetta.  It is a body shop that repairs the Maserati’s, Acura’s, and other nice cars.  I am so pissed!  Just when we were so excited about having her a nice car, this shit happens!  This post was supposed to be of gorgeous pictures of our new baby….

Sorry Andrea.  No pictures today   When she comes back from the body shop we will be sure to post em.

update:  well we just got back from dropping the car off at the body shop.  They had a TON of cars in there so hopefully they wont need it all that long   We will keep you posted on the damage, quote, etc.  Pics will be up tomorrow of the damage.  You cant see as much as there was originally as the guy pulled the bumper back out. 

update:  Here is a picture of the damage.  Because the guy who hit it, pulled the bumper back out, it does not look like much.  I have been told it looked much worse that this.  In addition, there is damage to the rim, front bumper (the side you see there), the headlight, the fender, and possibly the hood or headlight mounting bracket. 

I have made several phone calls to the insurance company and had little response, I finally escalated it to a supervisor and made some headway.  This is what I have determined:

• person 1 owns the vehicle but is EXCLUDED from the policy.  This means that if he was the driver, the insurance company covers nothing as he was excluded
• person 2 is the insurance policy holder
• person 3 is the driver

Basically, then need to speak with both the driver and the policy holder to get their statements as to who was driving.  If they dont return phone calls, there is no telling how long this will take!  They have my statement as well as the police report.  Why the hell cant they just use that?!!?!  How does what the two people have to say overrule the cop on the scene.  It is my word against his at that point.

Well, hopefully they can get ahold of these people and move this claim along.  The body shop I took the car to is very busy and I need to get my claim in there so that they can start working on it. 

Well, regardless of how this insurance thing works out, we will be fine.  Worst case scenario, we will be out of $250 bucks which is my uninsured motorist deductible.  Either way it will work out just fine… just sucks it had to happen this way