Tuesday 14 May 2013

Why you should open both gates...

You know that opening scene from Four Weddings and a Funeral where the first words uttered were different intonations of the F word? Well that kind of describes my weekend.

Saturday morning was going to be a busy chock-a-block day. I had lots of jobs to do, places to go and people to see. I walked down the driveway to the front fence and opened  the right-hand side gate. I checked to see if there was anything in the mail box and was momentarily distracted by the frangipani tree, which was still in flower...I smiled and picked a small bud for my hair...because it was so pretty...

Then I walked back to the car, started the ignition, put the car in reverse and 

BANG! 

I slammed straight into the gate that I had forgotten to open. Yep, the left-hand side gate was still closed when I was reversing.  I was on complete autopilot and didn't check my mirrors. If I had, I would have seen the gate in the rear view mirror.

F@#$!

Jason checking the busted fence post
So, the damage: a split fence post, crumpled bumper bar and loss of face with the boys. The actual gate itself is still intact, although the gate bolt did fall off. The fact it is a relatively brand new fence just breaks my heart.

The boys are giving me heaps of flack over the flower picking...the most expensive flower I have ever picked I would hazard a  guess. My brunette hair colour is even being questioned! Nooooo!

damage to the back bumper bar

It's not like we don't have enough to do around here already...but when I'm responsible for creating more work for poor old Jason to fix up...it can really suck.

He was really good about it and set about fixing the fence post straight away. I don't feel so much like a loser, now that I can't see the damage to the fence. And I've booked the car to be repaired as soon as possible.

All I can say is, thank goodness it wasn't the French car. Phew!

22 comments:

  1. Ooops. It's SO easy to do..
    I backed into a concrete pillar in a car park. Even though the car was one of those that peeps to warn you when you're about to hit something..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very easy. Too easy. If only these things didn't happen!

      Delete
  2. Oh nuts! Are you even allowed to drive the French car???

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm...not without a raised eyebrow and some friendly advice about not picking flowers for my hair...

      Delete
  3. oh dear...looks like they all may get some mileage out of this one. I took out my side mirror on our carport post.....as I was looking in it!...not my finest hour x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, lots of mileage. Oh no about your side mirror ....it is such an easy thing to do!

      Delete
  4. Oh, what a shame, Anita! I feel your pain. I have a story that might make you feel a little less like a loser.

    For ages, I had planned to use my retirement bonus to pay cash for a new car. About a month before I retired, someone rear-ended my vehicle, but luckily it was repaired as good as new. The big day of my retirement came. I stopped at the cashier's office to pick up my bonus check. All I had to do was take it to the bank and then head to the car dealership to get my cool new ride.

    Leaving the bank, I got distracted...and, yep, you guessed it...backed right into a pole. So I drove my wrecked car to the dealership, got several thousand less as a trade-in and ended up only able to afford a base model in an ugly color instead of the fancy one I had planned to buy. That was 11 years ago, and I just traded that crappy car for a new one in January! Talk about feeling like an idiot!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OH NO! I bumped the side of our car on a pole 3 years ago-the scratch buffed out, it was no big deal, but I still hear about it. You would think I wrote off the car!!

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! Just imagine the grief you'd get if you really did some damage!! I'll never live this one down I suspect...unless there is a next time which is more spectacular! xx

      Delete
  6. Firstly, I'm sure you were multitasking seven other important things while you were reversing and secondly if there is too much flak, hasn't that french car cost a fair bit in repairs over the years?? mel x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry Anita, but I did have a bit of a chuckle with the flower picking part... As the other comments have said this kind of thing is pretty common. A couple of weeks ago I had a new oven fitted and the old one was put at the back of the garage ready to sell. It was 5 years old and a fancy Italian steam one so would have been worth a few dollars. Anyhow, hubs drives into the garage one evening and straight into it smashing the triple glazed glass front! No excuses, he even put the oven in that 'safe' spot himself! One good thing - you won't do it again!
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh noooo! Your poor hubby. I know precisely how he feels...it only takes a split second and then the damage is done. I really hope I never do that again. xx

      Delete
  8. My husband did the same thing...to our Peugeot...10 minutes before the new owners were coming to pick it up. Knocked the driver's side mirror clean off. $1000 later...

    mrsbrennan07

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not the Peugeot! It's so expensive getting it repaired too. xx

      Delete
  9. We have a family friend who has 6 children needless to say her morning school trip must be mind numbing most mornings - after finally getting everyone in the car all in different morning moods she started to reverse trouble was she forgot to open the garage door took it right off the hinges!!!! She has actuallyi done this twice now

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment Natalia. Your poor friend! Seriously, having to bundle up three kids in the car does my head in so I think she is perfectly excused for those accidents!! xx

      Delete
  10. Those damn intoxicating flowers! I backed into another car in a car park years ago,and she backed into me. We were both watching for cars either side of us and not directly behind. How embarrasing, luckily no damage done, but made me feel sick at the time though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bloody frangipanis. It's such an awful feeling when you back into something. Glad you had no damage. lucky! xx

      Delete
  11. Don't worry, I've done worse. Backing into a closed garage door, totally on auto-pilot too. And another time, into Voyt's jeep after the tree-loppers asked me to move it. Still backed out on auto-pilot. I've learnt my lesson now and back out with caution and paranoia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no Thea! Glad I'm not the only one who operates on auto-pilot. It is a really bad habit and I hope I never ever do it again. xx

      Delete
  12. Oh no - feel your pain! Husband backed out of garage with rear passenger door open. $600 excess and one week after collecting car from smash repairer I side swiped a car whilst parking at school pick up! 28 years of driving - two insurance claims in the same month! To think of all the things I could have spent that $1200 excess on.......

    ReplyDelete

Love to read your comments

Related Posts with Thumbnails