Act of God
I am glad that June is over. It’s been a bizarre month. It began with a bang but went out with a bust. That’s the reason you haven’t heard much from me of late. There is an unspoken rule on this blog that I am now going to break: Don’t write anything negative. Stay positive & upbeat. Well that’s just not how life is, and sticking to an all positive script on this blog has become stale and boring. It’s not real, it’s not life, it’s not who I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I am by my nature a very positive person. But my friends have a saying about me. Neil never does anything half-way. He always gets into things 110%. So when it rains in my life, it tends to pour. In this case, that happened both figuratively and literally.
So without further ado, here is my Bad News report for the month of June, 2006, featuring both and act of idiocy on my part and an act of God (See, who says bad news can’t be exciting?).
Following a fantastic weekend of activities at the New York Scooter Block Party with my new GTS, life was just settling back into a groove. I was riding my bike on a nice sunny afternoon on Tuesday the 21st, heading from one work site to another, when I did something a rider should never do; I let my mind wander a bit. Such a lovely day, such a nice ride… all of the sudden I wake from my day dream to see a pickup edging into my lane and I over react. I hit my throttle and bank to the right too hard. The GTS, an incredibly responsive bike, obeys my commands and goes hurdling towards a curb. I made a split second decision, either I hit the (way too high) curb or I ditch the bike. Having had a bad accident a year ago, I was not eager to go down with the bike, so I just... let… go.
I cleared the bike so artfully that I made a 10 point landing on my feet that ought to be in the record books. I stood there and watched as the bike fell left and smashed into the curb. It was all over in a split second. The whole front end on the bike smashed in, the pickup trucked continued on his way never realizing what happened to me (he never came into my lane enough to have actually hit me, probably was just reaching for something a drifted a bit).
A couple of bikers stopped to see if I was okay, which I was. I tried to get a tow but because I was in New York State, I had difficultly getting a tow across state lines. After a conversation with a few technical folks I verified the bike’s road worthiness and drive it home. I will hopefully have the bike back in another two weeks or less.
So I figure life isn’t so bad, right? I mean I still have a nice new red Mini Cooper with white racing stripes and a union jack on the roof to drive around in. Oh Ye of Little Faith.
On week later, Thursday, June 29th, I am driving my wife to dinner on her birthday. A band of storms settle directly over Hudson County and proceed to drop 4 inches of rain in a very short amount of time. And, just to show off a little, some nickel sized hail too. Can you see where this is going? I get stuck in downtown Jersey City with almost every street flooded. Have you ever noticed how low to the ground a Mini Cooper is? I did that day. In blinding rain I stall out in a puddle. No tows are available for the night due to flooding. I don’t get the car towed until the next day. What does the mechanic tell me?
Him: “You need a new engine”
Me: “But I only have 2400 miles on it!”
Him: “There is water everywhere”
Me: “Is this covered under warranty?”
Him: “This needs to go through your insurance”
So I speak with my insurance company. The new engine replacement is covered under my comprehensive policy. I asked the insurance agent if this is something that will cause my insurance to go up. “Is this listed as my fault,” I ask. He says “this may cause your policy to go up, but I can’t know that until the underwriters look at it when it comes up for renewal. But this is not listed as your fault; it is considered an Act of God”
