RIP KIA

Here is one picture of our car, along with that building that pulled out in front of Mommy without using a signal.  Seriously, look how that wall just simple crumped there like a sheet of paper.  You can see one place where the brick/wallpaper is folded, still hanging on to the bricks above it.  In the old days, bricks sort of stood one upon the other.  But in Alpharetta, bricks are more like a nice sheet of wrapping paper to go around a building.

Today we said goodbye to the KIA.  It was in fact totaled, as the damage to the vehicle itself was greater than the actual worth of the car.  Which is sad, because the car itself was a tank.  It could have leveled that building if Mommy wanted to keep driving through the thing.  The only damage was surface strikes to the hood and windshield.  But make that front portion bullet-proof, and you can possibly use it for military functions.  The speed control problem is just a bonus feature, as enemy combatants AND the driver of these cars will always be in for a bit of the unexpected!

In a way, it's a pretty heavy loss on our end.  The car had more value than what the book value actually is.  That is to say, it was a high-end sort of vehicle that offered protection, comfort, and reliability.  So to that extent, we've taken a pretty substantial hit. 

However, the lurking issue of a speed control problem is just crazy to think about.  You send your wife and kid off thinking that the car they are in is the safest option, and that everything is okay.  And yet a flaw in the 2005 Kia Amanti - one we've since read about from other drivers - is simply frightening to contemplate.  It isn't a stuck accelerator pedal - it is a flaw in the engine that gives the car a completely random burst of speed. One moment, you're in a parking lot, and the next, you're in an office building.  

Not good.  Needless to say, the next vehicle we get just might not be a Kia.  

Today, Mommy and Daddy went to the place where the Kia was being kept, in order to collect any things inside it - and say goodbye to the car.  While we had it, things went well.  We took the car on a few trips to Florida, and there were some fun memories with the car.  But that lurking issue inside it was the determining factor when it came to paying for the repairs.

Speaking of bad customer service, our insurance hasn't been exactly stellar.  Zena has never had to use them before.  In fact, Daddy and Zena have been both paying for car insurance for over twenty years or more - and never once having to have them pay anything.  We could have used that monthly payment to buy a couple cars by this point.  Anyway, the communication at Allstate is horrible.  So, it might be time for a change-up there as well.  

Madison was at school when we paid our last respects to the KIA.  She had a good day - things are pretty routine at this point with school.  She doesn't need much prompting to go.  This morning, she was up before Mommy and Daddy - and the alarm.  She just wanted to make sure we didn't forget to get up extra early this morning!  Daylight Savings Time is still making us a little groggy in the morning, even with the going to bed early.  In fact, Mommy and Daddy sometimes go right back to bed after Madison is dropped off at school.

Madison still wants to hear make-up stories on the way to school.  This morning, her favorite character "Flower Girl from the Future" was still with the X-Men, and they were assisting the Easter Bunny with hiding eggs, and playing pranks on one another along the way.  She cannot wait for April Fool's Day.  That sort of thing just tickles her.

So Spring is here, pretty much.  Although the temperatures are supposed to chill out a tiny bit beforehand.  Still, the trees are convinced that the weather will turn around.  Including our lovely Bradford Pear trees.  The blooms on these trees are nice.  We have three of them in our front yard, and they look fine when coming home - those blooms and more give you that 'spring is here' sort of feeling when you pull up in the driveway.

Only... they STINK.  Seriously, Bradford Pear trees stink.  Literally.  They smell awful.  I'm not sure what God was thinking there.  I know there is a master plan in place, but for about a week or so each year, Bradford Pear trees stink up the whole world.  

I remember a death metal band from the 90's named Pungent Stench.  The name stuck with me because it was just a great rock band name (along with Pulsating Protoplasm).  Anyway, I can almost guarantee you that the guys who were in that band were first trying to think of a band name as they sat on their front porch one spring afternoon, just like today.  And as they looked out at the Bradford Pear trees in their front yard, one guy said to the others, "Just what is that pungent stench?"  And then there was this glow in all of their eyes:  we know what to call ourselves now!  Initially, they were going to put a picture of a Bradford Pear tree on the cover of their first album, but calmer heads prevailed when they instead opted for the more conservative imagery of guys with gas masks, glowing eyes, and blood letters.

Madison smells the pungent stench.  Not the band, but the pear trees.  And she loves the flowers blooming everywhere too.  She had to write a paper about being a daffodil, about emerging from the ground for the first time and looking around at the new world. And now, she's seeing daffodils in her travels wherever we go.  When we drive from place to place, she'll call them out.  There's a daffodil!

The pollen is affecting her, of course.  But here in the South, it affects all of us.  Fortunately, the rain has been such - on and off - that we're blessed with a count that isn't too high.  Not yet, anyway.  But still, Madison takes medication each morning to help with that raspy morning throat we all get.  And the cough too.

We wrapped up homework tonight, and a LOT of piano practice as well.  Madison is just about caught up there.  There was just enough time to get to play some games, so we did a bit of Disney Infinity again.  Daddy and Madison are working on a new Condorman-themed playset that is going to be epic.  We are artists, and this game of late has been our medium.

Bedtime was time for reading Bible adventures, and other stories as well.  We're all getting a good night's rest this evening.  Lots of busy stuff coming up soon!