You do recall, of course, the July accident last summer where I totaled my beloved Mustang that I had owned for all of three months. Believe me - I recall it too; I think about it every day, or at least every workday when I drive past the spot of the accident, or every non-workday when I see a Mustang. Suffice it to say that that rainy morning still crosses my mind a little too often for my liking.
The State of Indiana has been thinking about it too. They've been thinking about it so much that I received this note of well wishes a couple of weeks ago (click to enlarge):
Listen. I know that times are tough. I know that we're cutting funding to schools and whatnot, and our infrastructure is slowly going to rot over the coming decade. We are DOOMED. I get that.
And I also understand that someone, somewhere needs to pay for the sign I so foolishly destroyed* when I totaled Belle last July.
* - even though I have no recollection of hitting the sign. If I had, I would have detailed it in my post about the wreck.
But isn't that part of the compact between the State and the individual? Don't we pay taxes to cover this? Everyone I've spoken with regarding this matter seems to agree, and they concur that this invoice is the stupidest thing they've ever heard of.
All that aside: I called my insurance folks, and they're going to cover it, and that's fine - that's also why we pay for insurance.
But here's the part that gets me. Page 2 of their love letter:
6 man-hours to replace the sign? Talk about bloat. But that's not even the part that gets me. It's this bit of info in the upper right corner:
Nothing too out of the ordinary, except when you drive by the site of the accident and note that THERE IS NO SIGN THERE.
So the "repair" on 8/11/09 - which the state has billed me for - didn't happen. If I were a contractor invoicing the state for work done on a road, and I didn't do the work, wouldn't I land in the pokey or at least penalized to within an inch of my life savings?
Anyway. The state probably has its money now, and now can we FINALLY put this to bed?
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Please note: My policy at Bramble Tamble is to not use real names for private citizens. I hope you will adhere to this policy; hell, it's my only rule here. (But you can use your own real name if you'd like. Cause I'm magnanimous like that.)