04/08/2004: "Perception is a funny thing..."

Last week my car got keyed all up the driver's side while I was parked at the university parking lot and I was sooooo pissed off and generally upset; I kept thinking "what kind of person would do this to me?". Particularly since my family is coming to visit this summer, including my dad who had a stroke at Christmas two years ago. He helped me buy the car while visiting me in Anchorge 10 years ago, and I always try to keep it really nice so he'll be proud of how well I've taken care of it. This scratch is really nasty and everytime I'd see it I'd feel bummed, not out of vanity but because it reminded me that someone must have really been angry at me to single out my vehicle like that.

Turns out I had insurance to get it fixed after all so I made an appointment today to get an appraisal of how much it would cost to fix; they cut me a check for $1,100.00!!! I couldn't believe it! That's more than the Kelly Blue Book trade-in value for the tracker itself. So, I decided not to get the scratch fixed professionally, but just do it myself with a ten dollar repair kit. It won't look very good but who cares?

I can either do the responsible thing and put the money towards my various escallating credit card bills and student loans, or...put it in my special "Panasonic AG-DVX100A Fantasy Mini DV Camcorder Fund". What to do, what to do?

One thing is for sure, when I see that scratch now I don't feel bad at all, in fact, it makes me smile from ear to ear.

So, when something happens that makes it seem like the universe is taking a crap on your head, don't jump off a bridge right away, because you never know what good might come from it.