Car Update

Okay, I admit that my car was not damaged as much as this jeep, but because of how this process has evolved, you would think that we are talking about a lot of damage. I received a phone call today from the appraiser who wanted to drive by and look at my car sometime during the day. I explained that I am at work during the day and that I park at the Metro so getting to my car is quite difficult. So we arranged to meet sometime between 5 - 7 PM, which means I need to leave work early, but hopefully this will get the ball rolling. I mentioned to him that I have the written estimate from the body shop where the work would be done and he did not seem pleased to hear that. The only reason I mentioned it is because the insurance company told me to do so. Ugh the frustration! To my understanding, which may not be correct because the rules seem to be constantly changing, after receiving the estimate, I am supposed to then go to the body shop and have them look at the estimate. If they disagree with the estimate, then the body shop and the appraiser need to come to some form of an agreement. Now why this would occur if I already have the written estimate from the body shop, I do not know and I hope it does not happen, but if it does, you will be the first to know about it.

Searching for Women to Eat Chocolate Every Day!

So, as one of my New Year's resolutions I decided to lose weight. With that in mind, I usually read all these "interesting" health articles and came accross one that I wanted to share. On Monday, CNN reported that for medical research purposes, United Kingdom scientists are trying to find 150 women to eat chocolate every day. I found this statemetnt very troubling. Are scientists in the UK having difficulty in finding women that want to eat chocolate? I understand that the study puts limitations on the participants, namely that they "must be postmenopausal women under the age of 70," but is it really that difficult? The purpose of the study is to determine the impact, if any, that cocoa could have in cutting the risk of heart disease. After thinkning about this, my only question is why are they limiting it to women? I'm sure that men also suffer from type 2 diabetes, and I am also sure that some men would me more than willing to eat chocolate every day.

With chocolate and ice cream being today's posts, I have a feeling that this diet thing is really going to work out.

Ice Cream Week?

So I am not sure what is so special about ice cream this week, but yesterday Ben and Jerry's had their free cone day and today, Baskin and Robbins is having their 31 cent night. It is tonight only from 5 - 10 PM. The interesting thing is, according to their website, they actually allow up to 10 scoops (which are 2.5 oz scoops) per person. That is generous, because normally I feel like they only allow one per person. If you do plan on getting more than one scoop per person, I would encourage you to print out the website. Then, why stop there? Tomorrow, you could head to Carvel (although I truly feel that it is so much better down south then it is up in Virginia), where they are having an ice cream happy hour. From 4 - 6 PM, Carvel is offering a free Arctic Blender or a free Blended Coffee.

Also, you may want to mark your calendars for May 13, which is Haagen-Dazs' New Flavor Day, where they will be providing a free scoop of their new ice cream, Vanilla Honey Bee, from 4 - 8 PM.

The reason why this is so interesting is because National Ice Cream Month is every July and National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday in July. But the way I see it, you can't complain about free or cheap ice cream.

I Have Heard of Downsizing, But Even Matzah?

Even though my car was hit over the weekend, this past Sunday was a very happy day, for it marked the end of Passover. I truly enjoy some elements of Passover, namely the Seder and hanging out with friends, but this year, I noticed something was different with the matzah. No, they haven’t found a way of making matzah taste good, which if anyone wants to make a bazillion dollars, they should find a way of doing that. Rather, the size of the matzah that is being sold has gotten smaller, and the price has continued to get higher. Because we purchased so many boxes of matzah (from regular to egg to grape), I noticed this trend from two of the major matzah manufacturers: Streit’s and Manishevitz. I realize that the economy is tight, but did they really need to shrink the size of the matzah. I highly doubt that changing the size of the matzah is encouraging us, the “afflicted people,” to buy more matzah. So maybe they figure they have less cost and could make more of a profit. The more I think about this, the more I wonder whether my friend’s five-package of matzah, which in fact only contained four full boxes of matzah, was an accident or maybe intentional. As he points out, what are the ramifications of such an action? Are customers really going to call up and demand a new box of matzah, especially after Passover?

The good-natured person in me, which contrary to some people’s opinion does exist, says that this has to be an honest mistake. But then I think about Coca-Cola. Every year Coca-Cola comes out with yellow caps that designate certain bottles of their Coke and Diet Coke as being Kosher for Passover. While I understand the need for Kosher for Passover Coke, because it usually contains corn syrup (which some Jews cannot consumer during Passover), I am unsure of why there has to be a Kosher for Passover Diet Coke. When I was discussing this a few years ago with one of my friends whose relatives once worked at a Coca-Cola factory, they said that Coca-Cola brings someone into the factories where they re-kosher all of the equipment and ban all employees from eating leaven products in the production site. However, this raises a completely new series of questions. Does this mean that employees could generally eat leaven products, or anything for that matter, in the production site any other time during the year? What if they wanted to eat a ham and cheese casserole, is that okay? The older I get and the more I think about it, the more dumbfounded on the explanation. I do understand that there is a need for some that certain products must be certified as Kosher for Passover, and maybe there is an extra piece of mind for products like Diet Coke, which do not normally contain any banned Passover substance. (I admit that I did run out and will in the future run out to purchase Diet Coke with yellow caps.) However, then I wonder why there are products like Kosher for Passover soap? It has been many years since I have been told that my mouth would be washed out with soap, but I guess maybe some adults like the taste? While I say this is in all sincerity, I do realize that there is religious support, namely the statements of Biur Halacha, which provide that chometz items should not be used during Passover, even if they are not consumed. But then, if the economy continues as it is, and people convert their cars to using corn products as gas, does that mean that people should not drive during Passover?

I realize I have digressed from my original point, and I apologize, but you I think these products are examples of a tight economy where people will do anything for a quick buck. As it is, the economy is shrinking. How and when it will turn around is unknown, but I hope that my smaller matzahs have helped. Because while I definitely had my fair share of matzah, and no I do not need any more, I definitely noticed that the portions have gotten smaller.

Day One

What better title than "Day One" to describe my first blog post. Who knows how long this will last or how often I will actually blog, but I figure, why not give this a shot. I was excited to start the blog, because quite a few friends of mine have a blog, but was shocked to see the limited selection that Google has for blog templates. Personally, I am not a fan of the template that I selected, but I think it is a matter of choosing the lesser evils.

Speaking of lesser evils, I am pondering the recent car accident that my car was involved in. I have owned my car since I graduated from college (back in 2000). My car has been with me through a lot and I try to take the best care of it, so whenever something happens to it, it is difficult for me to deal with. Well, with that said, let me describe what happened this past weekend. I parked on the street in front of my house and sometime on Saturday morning, my next door neighbor's brother, who apparently is now staying with my neighbor while he and his wife go house hunting (yeah, good luck with that), backed out of the drive way and hit the front corner of the my car. Upon hitting my car, to my understanding, he told his wife to go to our house and tell us that he hit me, but he had to run to work. His wife said that it was too early to knock on my door and that they would tell me later. It is still unclear why they didn't leave a note on my car to tell me, but such as life. Needless to say, when I went outside on Saturday, I saw what appeared to be a red taillight that was cracked by the front of my car. Therefore, I became suspicious and checked the corner and then I saw the damage: my front bumper and side fender was scraped, and the headlight was cracked. After about 10 minutes of Kara and I looking around to see what had happened, the neighbor's brother's wife ran outside in her pajamas to let us know that her husband hit my car. After talking to her, she called her husband who then spoke to me via cell phone and apologized for hitting my car. (I do have to admit, if there ever were a person that I would want to hit my car, it would be him, because he has been so nice and friendly about the matter. With that said, I NEVER want anyone to hit my car, so that is not an invite.) He wanted to settle this without going through insurance, so I said on Monday, I would go to the body shop and get an estimate and we could settle it then. So on Monday, I went to two different body shops and the result was the same. In addition to the damage I listed above, the insight radiator support was cracked, so the estimated damage was approximately $1,800. When I communicated that to the neighbor's brother, he informed me that he was only willing and able to pay $1,500 to repair my car, without going through insurance, so he said that he would file a claim with his insurance. This is the where the lesser of the two evils comes in. I am truly wondering, would I have been better off just accepting the $1,500 from him in cash and paying the difference out of pocket or am I better off going through his insurance. At this point, it is too late, and we are going through his insurance. However, as this situation continues to unfold, I truly question whether I made the right decision. The insurance company is disregarding the estimates I received and assigned my case to a body shop in Lorton! That is only a 30+ minute drive away, without traffic! So I called the insurance company, who apologized and said they would try to find someone closer. Oh the joys!