Battered

It's been a funny old few days. After 30+ years of driving without an accident, and an Advanced Motorist to boot, today I managed to run into someone at the traffic lights. We were waiting at the red lights and I was 3rd in the queue. Light changed, front car shot off, 2nd car started to move, so did I. 2nd car stalled, I rammed it. Bummer. The occupant was a pleasant young man from Wales (thank God he wasn't a Scouser) and we exchanged details in the middle of the road while lorries and buses whizzed by. He did say something about it being my fault as I ran into him (probably true, but.. stalled, ahem!) and also said he felt a whiplash injury coming on (I must have been doing about 2 miles an hour and was braking, having travelled a matter of feet). My car suffered a broken numberplate and scuffs and his ancient Clio looked somewhat worse for wear, although the bumper was probably held together with gaffer tape before I dented it. He drove off holding his neck so I expect the insurance will pay him a nice little Christmas bonus...

Actually I do have an accident record: 10 years ago an old lady backed out of a driveway and smashed into my car which was parked, unoccupied, outside the dentist's. The damage was quite extensive, but she tried to drive off until the owner of the local chippy ran out and stopped her, saying "do you know you've just hit a car?". My alarm was going off quite insistently at the time, but she claimed not to have noticed! Later on, when trying to get her insurance to pay for the damage, it seems she was saying it was my fault because as the back of her car was damaged it was obviously my fault as I must have hit her from behind! In the end the insurance companies shared the cost so I lost my no-claims and got an "accident record".

Today's blip has nothing to do with any of this as I wasn't hurt (except for my pride), although a bit shaky later. I have a massive bruise all the way down my inner upper-arm and elbow from where I slipped in the bathroom the other day and cracked it on the sink on the way down. Thought I'd broken it at the time but it's just a great big shiner. Roll on the 12th; according to flowerspirit things will pick up then.