UPDATE: OL' BLUE INVOLVED IN HIGHWAY ACCIDENT!!!

Ok, everybody just take a deep breath and try to calm down. I'm fine, Blue still runs (thank God)and I think everything will work out for the best. Allow me to explain what happened and what it could mean for my Cash 4 Clunkers experience.

I spent the weekend over in my hometown of Hayward Wisconsin, also the hometown of Ol' Blue. Coming back early on Monday morning, I got into an accident that really could have been bad, but thankfully didn't end up causing a whole lot of damage to either me or him. I attached a picture of him right there, it's kind of grainy and you can't really see too much damage, but suffice to say, he's seen better days.

I was traveling south on Highway 63 and a lady driving a Blazer was coming from the other direction. She made an abrupt turn in front of me without signaling and using my cat-like reflexes and uncanny speed, I braked and swerved to evade her. She had other ideas though and actually COMPLETED HER TURN right into my left-rear quarter panel and sent me rocketing into a cornfield, taking out a highway sign on my way. I came to a stop and tried to exit my vehicle, but because the frame had bent slightly, the door was a little sticky. I muscled my way out and checked to see that the other driver was ok, and she was. She called the police and we made the necessary reports and so forth.

Ultimately, I was able to drive Ol' Blue out of that corn field and back onto the highway, a true testament to the older vehicles and their high consistency of steel. He's looking a little worse for wear now though and I can't help but feel like he just wants to be put to sleep. I'm hoping that's still possible through the C4C program.

See, if he had got knocked out of commission permanently, I don't think he'd qualify for the program and there's no way I'd get any kind of insurance payout equal to what the U.S. Government is willing to pay. In short, I'd be uber-pissed.

So, now claims have been filed, reports have been made, and it's kind of up to State Farm and Geico to figure out what happens next. I certainly don't want to make any repairs on a truck that's going to get squashed after I turn it in, so if I can squeeze just a few more weeks out of him, I should be gravy.