I did it again

Yesterday, my shoe strip snapped.

I was walking back to office after getting lunch while chatting with hubby on the phone. Just when I reached the main entrance of our office building, I felt that my right foot was on the coarse cemented ground... & you know what's the reason. I was like "huh? not again??" & tried to let my big toe hang on to the surviving strap (it's a pair of low-heel tongs) but wasn't successful. After wriggling my way to the lift, I dumped the shoe into the dustbin & went up with my right foot bared.

It's a close call... should the shoe decide to give itself up earlier, even just a second earlier, I would be in a fix of embarrassment. But then, that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future considering the fact that I tend to break shoes. Sigh~

When I told my colleagues, they went "aiyo... again?". Only one consoled me by saying her new pair of sandals which cost $70+ also gave way.

It's the way I walk, is it not?

Patience

If not because of a very impatient & inconsiderate driver, I'd have enjoyed my 1st weekend as a new (& nervous) driver.

After work on Fri evening, I went in search of a P-plate.. it's either not available or sold out in DIY shops & supermarkets. No choice, I waited till nearly midnight & drove to the nearest petrol kiosk. Earlier on I'd called & found out which station sold it. Felt both nervous & excited as I was driving for the 1st time after I passed, & alone.

When I was about to pay for my P-plate, there's this uncle before me who'd just made his purchase, looked at the triangle I placed on the counter & then looked at me. I pretended I didn't know he's staring & looked away slowly. But he's curious enough to start asking me:

Uncle: "(pointing at the P-plate) For yourself?"
Me: "Yep"
Uncle: "Just passed?"
Me: "This morning."
Uncle: "Congratulations!"
Me: "Thank you."
Uncle: "So (pointing at our Airwave outside) is that your parents' car? Or your boyfriend's?"
Me: "My husband's. He's overseas so I've to drive myself to buy the P-plate. Only dare to come out at this time before I display (showing the orange triangle) as there're lesser cars."

By then, he's about to leave the counter. So I said another "thanks" to him & he left the store. When I returned to our car shortly after, uncle was still there, in his Volvo S60 (or maybe S80, I'm not sure). He gestured to let me go first. So I drove off first & he followed behind. Then I took the left most lane to turn left & he went straight. When his car drove past, we waved at each other. That's not bad at all on my first, though short, drive. Hee. If only everyone is as friendly & patient as the Volvo uncle. When back, it didn't take me too long to park the car at its original lot, which is next to a Santa Fe. Quite happy with myself as the lots are relatively small at our place & furthermore the next car was a big one. But I definitely need a lot more practices & gotta be prepared to inflict some scratches on 黑仔. Hubby said before he's already well prepared for that.

Saturday afternoon, sis & family came to our place as I asked my BIL to teach me to do parking. But they requested to go for a ride first so I drove them to Lower Seletar Reservoir. Initially they're all very uptight & held on to the handle. But once we started out, they're kinda relieved. BIL even said I drove quite well which actually boosted my confidence as he's usually rather critical & seldom agrees to the things I do. He, who's a very experienced driver of more than 20 years, also taught me reverse parking patiently. The night before, he advised me not to drive to the airport. But after the ride, he encouraged me to do so & I was actually more assured with his support.

Sat night I was having a relaxing bubble bath with some soft music when C sms me & suggested a night ride. After more than an hour, she who came all the way from Alexandra, parked her car at our place & I drove her out. I made a trial drive to the airport so I could familiarise myself with the route. It's a smooth-cruising one on the expressway & I didn't realise I went up to 100km/h (finally know how it feels to be driving at 100km/h!) & had to constantly keep the speed at 90km/h. We're glad that I was prepared for the next day's drive. When I thanked C for accompanying me, she replied that it didn't take her much to do so.. her life only. Haha. C is really a great friend & sure has a sense of humour. She then came to our place for a light supper & chatted till 4am!

Sun, mum came back from church without taking her lunch. So I drove her to Sun Plaza. I couldn't wait to fetch hubby as I had so much to share with him. Then in the evening, the tailgating driver totally spoilt my day. I wasn't even driving too slowly.. if you're familiar with Yishun Ave 2, the traffic (esp. between Yishun & Khatib stations) is usually pretty heavy in the day/night.. I was driving at around 60km/h & he's been following closely for a distance. Then I slowed down in case the traffic lights ahead changed. But he had no intention to do so. The lights did change & I stopped but he didn't. What an idiot.

Both were uncles.. but one could be so nice & the other, a bully without brain.

Accident

Last evening, I was on my way to the airport to fetch hubby when I got into an accident. I stopped at a traffic junction just before Khatib MRT station when a truck banged the rear of our car. It's quite a traumatising experience, especially for a 3-day old driver. After I stopped, I looked at the rear mirror and could see that the truck behind had no sign of stopping & the next thing I knew was it slammed into our tailgate, followed by the sound of shattering glass. I was so shaken that it took me a while to recompose myself. I went to the rear & shock to see that the whole windscreen shattered. He suggested sending our car to his workshop but I refused & asked for his IC. When he gave me, all of a sudden my mind went blank.. I couldn't figure out what details would be the most important to get. So I knocked the window of the car on the next lane (it's red light) & asked him what should I get. Name, IC no., contact no., vehicle no., date & time. I felt so sad that my newly hanged P-plate & the decal hubby bought for me were lying in the midst of the shattered glass. So I picked them up & threw them into the car through that big hole. The boot was filled with shattered glass which went all the way to the dashboard.

I was in such a daze that I still thought of proceeding to the airport as hubby would be waiting for me. So I called my brother-in-law & asked him whether the car was still safe to drive if it's hit at the back. He said yes but asked me to head straight home. Thank God I listened to him as I wasn't able to concentrate thereafter & got lost a lil before I finally reached home safely. How could I have thought of going on to the expressway when the car was in such a condition!?

I thought I could still get a cab to the airport after I returned but it's already 7.40pm then & his flight's ETA was 7.50pm. So I waited for him at home, feeling really lousy. BIL was so nice to rush down & helped me covered the rear. He consoled me that I could still manage to drive back & park nicely.. not bad. Not that I want.. but I had to do it as I was alone. It's a new car & you can imagine how big the pinch in my heart. Anyhow, thanks for his comforting words & great help.

Hubby got very worried when he knew about it. And he also tried to comfort me by saying most importantly I'm safe & sound.. & he's actually quite happy as those scratches we had before would be gone too with a brand new bumper.

This morning we drove to the workshop in Sin Ming Dr & it's funny to see that no car dared to follow behind though hubby drove at a normal speed. Perhaps they're afraid they would become the scapegoat for the damage?

Honey I'm feeling much better today.. don't worry ya? :)

Look at my poor toe

Remember I talked about both of my big toe nails cracked at the base in end Dec? The pedicurist put acrylic powder on my affected nails to keep them intact but this remedy didn't prove to be effective. 1-2 weeks later, they cracked again. Hubby & June had tried to persuade me to go to a GP but I was too scared to do so.

Then on Sun, hubby & I went to J8 for dinner. When we're on an escalator, I gave way to those behind me by going 1 level up (were standing side by side). Just when I shifted to the front of hubby, don't know why he moved his leg too which happened to knock onto the heel of my right foot. My foot in turn hit the step & caused my right big toe nail to tear further & bleed.

So I was really given no other choice but to go to my GP & have it removed. And it's exxxtremely painful to endure 2 jabs of anesthesia on the bony big toe!!! The horrid part was I could still feel a lil pain when the doc worked on my nail! Just that I didn't know he detached the whole nail by cutting it off, according to hubby. Yeekzzz!

There goes my plan of going to bazaar... not even to the market on Thurs evening. Can't run any last minute errands. I better be good these few days otherwise how am I going to walk in Melbourne?? I've also bought some nice heels for CNY.

Loophole !!

Our less than 2-month old car is hospitalised. We felt terribly angry & unjust!

Hubby has been careful with his driving but apparently not all the drivers are so! Last Wed morning he sent me to my office as usual & was on his way to his. He's somewhere near his office when he stopped at a junction, in the right most lane, waiting to turn right. Then came this idiotic driver with his lorry next to hubby's. As the lane the stupid man was in didn't allow him to turn right, he cut into Vince's lane without checking how near our car was. And before my honey could react, his lorry had already hit our left front!!! What a blind & reckless man!

Our poor car's left eye dropped out, with some other injuries.... that driver admitted it's his fault & suggested to bring our car to his brother's garage & he'd pay for the damages. Initially we're not comfortable with this arrangement as it's a brand new car so we preferred to have it repaired by C&C. But when hubby brought the car to C&C to assess, our jaws nearly dropped upon hearing the total estimated costs 44 $4k+!! And the bad news was the guy who assessed our car said from the damages it could not be determined the fault entirely lied with that idiot. So if we were to claim insurance, we might not be able to get full compensation if the culprit denied being at fault. It could be 50-50 or 40-60 or even 30-70. It's definitely not good for us as the newly insured. And we'd been advised by our agent that if the other party's insurance was from a particular insurer (which I'm not going to say here), it's worse as they'd fight till the end to avoid compensation. Furthermore when that idiot knew we intended to bring it back to C&C, he said his lorry belonged to his company who had already told them to bear all accident compensation. Then he told us he'd no $$ to pay for $4k+ & said we would most probably not be able to get the claim. Whereas at his brother's, he would bear all repair costs. So he's indirectly threatening us that he'd not admit it's his fault if we bring it to our insurer!? But what can we do???

Many passed different comments - like taking photos (well... we may, touch wood!, do that next time round but how effective is the evidence?) / should go ahead & claim his insurance (but we don't dare to take the risk!) / bring to our own trustable garage (he already said he'd NO MONEY to pay other than his bro's as he could pay by instalments). We asked around & every1 said there's no way to guarantee that we'll win the case unless damages are obvious, like hitting the rear or perhaps somewhere near the rear, then chances would be high.

We're in such a fix.... wanted our car to be properly repaired but were also considering the consequences if we go ahead with the insurance claim.

Finally after much discussions in less than half an hour, we decided to endure the immense anger & brought our car to his brother's garage. It's not wise to fight with him at this point of time. What if he decides to shake off the responsibility? The following day when we admitted our car, the brother said that younger bro of his had no $$ so no choice he'd have to help him. So I told him since he'd no money, he would better drive carefully! Really irresponsible!

It's just so unfair!! Many around us shared their experiences... some being victims like us, some were the culprits. Apparently we're not the only 1 which made us feel a lil better.

So we've to tell ourselves to look on the bright side : (1)The biggest consolation is my hubby's safety. He's not hurt at all & I really thank God for that. (2)It's better than a hit-&-run case. (3)At least he provides us a car for the time being, though it's a 10 y.o+ Corolla.

Guess it's part & parcel of driving.... But as long as my honey's safe & sound.