Daydreams and Reality...: June 2009

West Texas was once part of the Permian Basin. The basins of the area, the largest being the Midland Basin and the smallest being the Marfa Basin have since dried up and the area has become a desert. The forecast for this region generally calls for clear skies, with little to no precipitation. I learned recently that it is not considered hot in West Texas until the thermometer hits 100 degrees! This year, however, we have seen some uncharacteristic weather for the area. We have endured many rain, thunder, and hail storms along. Don't get me wrong I love the rain but I could live without another hail storm. (see previous post) Because it usually doesn't rain the ground and the drainage systems are not prepared for such an on slot of liquid. It is in this weather that makes me glad that I have my KIA and not my previous vehicles, a Honda Civic or a Volkswagen Jetta! Here are a few pictures I took while I was out yesterday.

Disclaimer: All of the pictures where taken while stopped at a red light or when parked on the side of the road. No dangerous maneuvers were taken during taking of pictures.

The Saturday before Easter I went to a friend’s house in Greenwood, which is like 30 minutes from my house for a barbeque. After having a wonderful time I need to get home. We were having a surprise birthday party for a friend that night. As I was driving home I could see on the horizon that a storm was coming in. By the time I heard the weather service warning on the radio about severe thunderstorm with golf ball size hail on the radio I was about 10 minutes from home. I thought if I can just make it home I will be able to put my car in the garage. About one minute later the hail started. I franticly looked for somewhere to park and protect my car. Everyone else had the same idea. I found a spot under the protégé at a hotel. The available spot left the driver’s side, some of the roof, and hood of my car exposed to the hail. I sat in my car for about 10 minutes trying to survive the storm. Can I just tell you that being inside a car during a hailstorm is awful? I was almost in tears saying over and over again, “Please Heavenly Father, make it stop! Please make it stop!” When the hail stopped I ventured out and drove home. At first I thought that I might have gotten out of the storm without any damage but then I thought I looked at the driver’s side passenger door! I just about died. There was this HUGE dent in the door. Upon further inspection I found more smaller dents on the driver’s side and hood of my car! I was devastated and kind of mad; my poor baby had been hurt! About 2 weeks later I had the estimate done to see how much it would cost to get my car fixed. I figured that my luck would be that it would cost like $531, my deductable is $500. You can imagine my surprise when the insurance adjuster showed me the estimate which showed $1350 worth of damage. I learn that the biggest dent would require that section of the car to be painted. I put off getting my car fixed right away. I figured that everyone would rush to get their cars fixed and it would be best to wait a bit to get my car in. I knew that I would have a rental for a couple of days. I decided to take my car to the Kia dealership to get fixed even though it is in Odessa. I figured they would do a good job on the painting and if anything was messed up they would fix it. So, last week I brought my car in to get fixed. My insurance doesn’t cover rentals. I used Dan Lowe’s employee discount, THANKS DAN!, to get a cheap rental. It was a Toyota Yaris. After having the car for about a day I decided that I really didn’t care for the car. It did get amazing gas mileage. But the thing looks like an EGG! After 5 days my car was ready. Luckily I was in Odessa to see the Asthma/Allergy specialist. I was extremely happy to have my car!!!

The EGG!