Damage!

Yesterday, on my drive home, something struck the car.

I was on I-95 northbound through the city, watching the road diligently, when I heard--and felt--something violently strike the front end of the car. The something, which was probably 6" - 8" long, then shot up and to the left. It looked like plastic, but could have been a retread chunk.

I drove the rest of the way home highly self-conscious, worried that the front end of my car was hanging in tatters, and that the engine was somehow damaged (radiator leak or some other such issue), so I took her in slowly and carefully.

When I got home, I walked around to the front of the car and had to actually hunt for the damage (I knew it would be there--the impact was brutal). Then I found it: a 4" tall "Z" chopped into the bumper, license-plate frame, and lower grille. At some points, the gouge is 1/4" deep and seems to have gone completely through the plastic.

The only good news is that the car is so filthy it's not readily noticable, but I was absolutely crestfallen. I moped around at home for over an hour before I even tried to install our...

NEW TIVO!!!

It arrived yesterday, and after a lot of time spent wondering why I couldn't get things to work (plugging in the phone line killed the DSL because I forgot to use a filter, then the server crashed because the router was freaking out, and then a couple of Tivo calls got interrupted...), we had joined the "tivolution". We haven't used any features yet, but watch out, Academy Awards!

Now we'll be able to put Alastair to bed, get a good night's sleep, and still watch figure-skating, Lost, or anything else that comes on at/after 9pm.

w00t!