The Saga of the Car

I just wanted to say that we pretty much wrapped things up with the car today, but that requires some back-story. So here's the saga.


Last week, the hood of our car broke the windshield of our car. UN peace negotiators were called in, making the situation much worse. Sorry, I'll try to keep that in check. Right, so one of the ladies in the car with me very kindly called my insurance company and all of the phone numbers they gave her, a guy passing by stopped and tied down the hood for me (and told me to drive to the checkpoint and wait there, as opposed to staying on the side of the road), and Shimon of A.A. Glass (real name and company) was the nicest person ever: he acted just like Abba would in that situation, keeping everyone calmed, informed, and hydrated.

The net results of my conversation with Shimon were (a) I became completely calm and (b) we decided not to fix the car windshield, since doing so was predicated on fixing the car hood, and that would cost around 2000₪. (Have I blogged about our car? I think so. I love it. But even before the whole Hood versus Windshield conflict, we had decided not to invest the 1500₪ in yearly registration fees that will come due in August, so pouring thousands of shekel into the car now is just plain silly.) It works out well that we have a good reason not to fix the windshield, because between my talking things over with Shimon, the lady at the office (also really nice) tells me that the car registration we have is in Husbinator's cousin's name, and she's tried, but there is no way she can get money from the insurance company unless we can produce something called the "transfer of registration," proving that this is, in fact, our car. And that is a tiny slip of paper we know full well we are never going to find.

Enter a guy who lives on our street. Call him Oved. He's a wheeler-and-dealer type, and he's been offering to fix stuff about our car for a while, now. Naturally, when he sees the smashed windshield, we talk. The net result of talking to Oved is... we decide to fix the windshield, after all. After all, Oved points out, insurance covers the windshield, and if we get that fixed, we can sell the car as a car as opposed to selling it for parts. It's an investment. Also, he wants to buy the car from us if we fix the windshield. Also also, he has a friend who can replace the hood for about 150₪. Also also also, it's really easy to get the missing paperwork: just go to the DMV in Talpiyot (the same neighborhood that the glass shop is in), ask for a "duplicate registration," fork over about 30₪, and be done with it. Okay, fine then.

We planned to go Sunday, but that was Yom Yerushalyaim, so Husbinator and I went back to Talpiyot today. I dropped Husbinator off at the DMV, figuring that I'd put cash on the table at A.A. Glass, and when Husbinator got the registration in a few hours, A.A. Glass would get authorization from our insurance company, and we'd get our money back. We switch places, I get directions to the glass shop, I make a U-turn and pass the DMV again. Just then, Husbinator calls. He's done, registration in hand, let's go together. Wow. I'll say it again, louder this time: WOW.
Good, so we drop off the car, wander around Talpiyot, and drive back to the Yishuv a few hours later. Finished. Oh, and Husbinator got them to Close the Jammed Driver's Side Window as long as they were at it. (No extra charge.) Doneskies! (Dikla let me leave BSM at her house until 4 today, so we could get all of this done. BSM was not at all phased that I didn't show up at 1:30, and did not miss us at all. This is good, I guess, but also kind of sad. I missed him!)

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Addendum: 15 minutes after we got home, the guy from the attic store called me to say he could come by in half an hour and install folding steps to our attic. This has been another saga, but I'm drained by all this epic storytelling. Suffice it to say that not only do we once again have a reasonably working car, we also have a viable way to get to our attic, at last. Coolness.