Friday, September 19, 2008

Accidents and Finances

I had recently got into an accident on Interstate 270 in Maryland. I had run into the back of a fucking Subaru, and set off a chain reaction that involved two other cars. Now the two cars were drivable, but I feel guilty about the lady I had run into. She seemed like a nice lady, and she wasn't hurt (which was my primary concern). In fact, nobody was hurt, but I will be fucking pissed if one of them decides to sue me. Anyway, there was a state trooper who eventually showed up. The guy took everyone's story and basically put the fault on me. At least it was a citation and nothing more serious than that. I like to consider myself as a good driver, and I only got into to two accidents in my life. One that I was not at fault for, and one where I had a huge station wagon I was driving and took a turn too wide into a parking lot. I feel like crap at this point. But I'll be really fucking pissed if someone decides to file a lawsuit. Nobody got hurt and the car insurance should be able to pay for their shit. Sure the insurance rates for me are going to go up, but whatever, shit happens. Right now, I'm driving a rental car, and thank god my insurance covers rentals. Maybe State Farm's catchphrase is accurate after all.

At least I'll be able to get a new car. My car may be totaled, but in a crisis, there is always opportunity. I hope that the insurance will be able to give me some money so I can get to use it as a down payment. I'm in the hunt for a Honda Civic Hybrid. Now a friend of mine told me that if the battery goes kaput, it will cost a thousand bucks in order to fix it. I figure it like this, with gas prices going up as it is, and the dollar is going to be further devaluated because of the financial crisis, it would probably be better off for me if I don't have to spend a shitload of money for gasoline. I mean, when a car can get 40 miles per gallon in the city and 45 on the highway, it may cost a pretty penny, but I save money in the long run. It would have to depend on the capacity of the gas tank. If the tank is 15.4 gallons, I'm good to go. I am trying to aim for 400 dollars per month as the car payment, with a 3% APR. People will eventually have to buy hybrids eventually so I hope I can get ahead of the game and get one now. I want to get one by this weekend. Hopefully, I can be able to drive. With my eventual entrance into the pharmacy field, I figure I'll be able to afford this thing. I mean, when the lowest starting pay is around $85,000 (and I think that is for a clinical pharmacist), I'll be able to definitely afford it. Now I'll have to find an apartment and some other things, but I have a feeling this is my wake-up call for the real world. I'll have to get Quicken or one of those other financial programs.

Let's see what happens.