Bugs Palace!

This Automotive update brought to you buy State Farm Insurance. ….Sigh…..

My last post I mentioned how “parts were on order and the truck should be back by the weekend”.  Well not exactly. I posted the previous item around 12am on Tuesday June 30th. Little did I know 7 hours later, I would be getting a phone call from the alignment shop saying the truck has been stolen from their locked compound. Super.  So off to Caledonia I went. I met with police and filed a report fully expecting never to see my truck again.

That evening, I got a call from the OPP saying that they have FOUND MY TRUCK! Wheels, tailgate, stereo have been stolen and some damage has been done to the truck. Sounds promising, but it’s not. Due to the holiday I wasn’t able to go see the truck until Thursday afternoon. When I finally got to the tow yard I see the old girl has been smacked around on pretty much every single panel. The only way to repair this will be a complete paint and body job, replacing and repairing a good portion of the sheet metal. And that’s just the exterior that I can see.

I spent the 2 days gathering each and every scrap of paper/receipt I could find and forwarded it on to my case worker. Now I just have to sit and wait to find out if they are actually going to write the truck off as I suspect, or try to repair it.

Given the fact that the truck was dragged from the field laying on the suspension (no wheels/tires) I really hope it’s a write off. And if it is a write off, how much of the money will I get back? The pile of cash I poured into this truck getting it exactly where I want it that wasn’t small. Hopefully the settlement will reflect that.

I am beyond frustrated. Fingers cross that the insurance company does what they are supposed to, and actually cover me for the money that I am out and not put up a fight over nickels and dimes.

To be continued…..

Quick Happy 5th birthday to my little man Joey!! Such a funny, loving little bugger. Love him to pieces. While I’m at it, happy 1st birthday to Holden! Silly little beefcake 🙂

School is officially out! Kids are out for the summer, and loving it so far. My summer hours don’t officially kick in until Friday, so they have had a couple extra days at my moms, but they aren’t complaining. They love it there. Especially when their Grandma, Aunts and Uncles take them swimming.

Vehicle updates: Jeep is officially 3 years old this week. So young, with sooo many kms. 95,000 as of last check. Here’s hoping its good for another 500,000 or so 🙂

Thruxton is sitting at 8500km. I’ve already put on 2500km this year. Been nice to actually get lots or riding done. Hopefully the season stays warm and dry late into the year. I’d really like to get 10K added to it this year. Time for an oil change and to book my M2 exit test.

Silverado has been lowered !!! The job wasn’t terrible, but only able to work on it a couple hours here and there. Once it was finally done I took it in for an alignment. And it’s still there. First shop couldn’t get it on their hoist — too low. Second shop found seized adjusters which require removing the upper control arms to repair. Removing the arms will destroy the ball joints. Sooooo new DJM arms have been ordered and will be in this week. With any luck the truck will be straightened out and back in my driveway by the weekend.

Well, been a ridiculous 2 months since I posted. So much happening I’ve simply not had time to post. I’ve been keeping a rough timeline as a draft so I could hopefully remember everything.. Lets see how much I miss ….. In roughly chronological order .. :

Firstly a couple Abigail updates. Abby has finished her first season? of gymnastics. She went once a week all winter and it came to conclusion in Cayuga at a demonstration night. For a girl who started the training without being able to do a cartwheel she has come so far. She practiced virtually non-stop doing the moves she had problems with and got so she’s a pro at them. And the strength this little girl has is unreal. Good job Abs!

While I’m on Abby, she also had her first communion at St. Mary’s church. Once again my angel made her Mommy and I very proud. All prettied up in her white dress, she did her reading and other obligations perfectly. Congratulations on the communion!

Speaking of Church …. (cheesy segue but I’m sticking with it)… Shannon and I took the kids down to Buffalo for their first concert!  Once again, Eric Church did NOT disappoint. The man puts on a phenomenal show. The kids loved it. Sadly it started pretty late on a Friday so they were pretty tired by time he got on stage and we only seen the first 3/4 of the show but watching both kids up on their feet singing and dancing and loving the music was great to see.

What else? Oh ya, a small thing called FLORIDA! Our long awaited trip finally came! May 15th Shannon and I packed the kids/dogs up in the Jeep and headed south towards Mickey Mouses house where we met up with Mom and Dad. We had two wonderful – and hot weeks in the sunshine state. While we were down there we made 5 trips to the Disney Theme Parks. Everyone had an awesome time. We even got Mom on Splash Mountain and a couple other rides! The kids went on pretty much every ride in each park. Only complaints were Joey did NOT like Tower of Terror, and I got sick as hell on Space Mountain. So bad, I had to leave the park for a couple hours. Funny thing was my Chive shirt got Mom/Dad and I a private boat ride back to the park instead of having to wait for a ferry for Mono-rail.

While in Florida Shannon and I made two day trips while Mom and Dad had the kids. First was over to Miami to see the Marlins play. Followed by a trip over to St. Petersburg the next day to see the Tamp Bay Rays play. Beautiful ballparks. Two more knocked off the list 😉

Annnd speaking of baseball (two segues in one blog?!)… Joey and Reese started their first (of hopefully many) season of baseball. T-Ball to be exact. Few things in life are cuter then watching 4-5 year old kids trying to figure out the game. They seem to be picking it up and enjoying it.  He says he likes being the pitcher and first base as they have get the most action. Keep up the good job buddy boy!

Also since we got home from Florida my parents celebrated their 40th anniversary.  Congratulations to the best parent’s anyone could ask for! I hope we be half as good to our kids as you guys have always been to Donna/Katie and I. Love you guys!

I know I missed a bunch of other stuff but I can only remember so much 🙂