Today I played SAHM

Well, sort of.

The babysitter's boy has been running fever the past few days, and she was taking him in today to see what the matter was. I kept Little AM myself, because my usual backup (Amanda) is having headaches and nausea from her concussion.

(Oh, and she went to see a friend play basketball last night, and then went to the ER. She got home about daybreak, after a CT scan and a shot for the nausea. Which isn't working.)

So, we got up, ate our cereal, and got on with our day.

We went to the auction where Jason and mom work for lunch. They were having an "Irish" themed day - corned beef and cabbage, and beef stew. And, for those who like neither, baked chicken with apples.

Little AM discovered that she likes corned beef, very much.

Afterwards, we went to Target (where I spent what I would've paid the babysitter on new clothes for the kid, but they were SO worth it) and back down to our neck of the woods so I could take Amanda to clean her car out.

The damage was so much worse in the light of day than her nighttime pictures had shown. The back wheel was indeed gone, and the metal that had held it was badly bent. The sheet metal was peeled away from the frame, like a SPAM can. The trim was gone from the driver's side, along with the back door handle. The driver's side rearview mirror was broken out. And of the three remaining tires, two were flat.

Her insurance adjuster had left just as we were getting to the body shop, and told her that the car was totalled and they'd be taking ownership. She doesn't know yet how much she'll be getting. (By the way, Progressive has been great to her, and she only had liability. This is all for uninsured motorist, because we still don't know if the other guy had insurance or not.)

Speaking of the other guy -

I took Amanda over to the Sheriff's Department, where I got Sheila the Clerk (and a mighty nice gal, by the way) to help us find out exactly what this bozo was charged with.

We're still waiting on the accident report, because the troopers sometimes take up to 10 days to get them in. But, the guy was taken to county lockup, so we went there today.

Let's see - DUI, driving with a suspended license, and leaving the scene of an accident.

Did you get that second one? HE HAD NO LICENSE. He's been to this party before, folks. That's why he called his girlfriend after the wreck to come get him and/or pretend she was driving.

He was too drunk to know he'd hit Amanda, but sober enough to realize that he was in big trouble when the law came.

The best part: it wasn't even his car! He's drunk, no license, and driving someone else's car! Sheila told us the name of the owner, and I spied his name on his file as she held it. I'm thinking maybe it's his mama's car.

And, it isn't paid for yet. It's a '98 Lexus, bought from one of the used car lots down here. Sheila said the lot had a lien against it (that's how we know it isn't paid for), and that lots of people buy their cars at this lot thinking they have insurance when they don't - they've only purchased credit life insurance, not auto coverage.

So, if I understand things correctly, it's the car's owner who will be held liable if Amanda and/or her insurance company files a claim in this case.

I'd really, really hate to think that the person whose car this is knew that he wasn't supposed to be out there in the first place. And I don't know about you, but when I borrow something, I'm extra special careful with it.

Like, too careful to get drunk and hit someone on the interstate.

And then try to run, only to get stopped half a mile down the road by a flat tire.

Jerk. Too bad there isn't a charge like "blithering idiot."

But I see at least one silver lining to this cloud: my dad had come to despise the "German engineering" in that car. To change the water pump, he had to take the engine nearly completely out! At least this idiot has saved him the trouble of having to work on the VW anymore.

(On another, unrelated note, about the layout - it's courtesy of Zoot. Thanks to Lissete for the heads up!)