How Gary Thornbaum ruined my joy.

I love peaches. LOVE THEM. They are on my top five list of favorite fruits. I love how sweet and juicy they are. I love that when you bite into a fresh, ripe peach the taste is so overwhelmingly delicious that you don't even mind that there is juice running down your face, and down your arm and dripping onto your shirt. I love fresh peaches, I love canned peaches, I love peach jam, and peach pie, and peach leather, and pretty much anything peach I have ever tasted. I live in Peach City USA (I'm not kidding, people really call my town that) We are famous for our peaches here. In fact this weekend is "Peach Days". It is huge here. It is actually the oldest festival in Utah, and the second oldest in the country. I have to tell you, I am kind of in heaven. One of the best things about Peach Days is that peaches are on sale for a really good price all over town. I love to go get a box or two and take them home, and eat them and dry them and freeze them and can them to my little heart's content.

Yesterday after I dropped Adia off at school (Freedom, Yay!) I was supposed to go to Ethan's school to volunteer. When I got there they said that they didn't need me for another hour because the kids were listening to a special message from President Obama. As I left, wondering what to do with myself for an hour I got the great idea to head out to my favorite farmer's market and get a load of peaches before everyone had a chance to pick them over. I went there and got my peaches, and also a bunch of Bear Lake Raspberries to make a batch of my favorite Peach Raspberry jam. (It's so good, I can't get enough of it. I even made it without sugar this time in order to fit into Ethan's diet, and it's still so perfect it made me want to eat a PB&J for dinner last night) So I loaded my goodies into the back of my car and got in. I was in the process of buckling my seat belt when I looked up an saw a truck backing toward me really fast. Before I could do anything he hit me in the front passenger side tire, and scooted my big SUV about three feet. I got out of the car and the guy who hit me came running over to me. His name was Gary Thornbaum. He wrote down his name and phone number, and told me who his insurance company was, then he ran over to his truck and jumped in. I thought he was going to get his insurance information, but was surprised to see him speed out of the parking lot. At first I thought, wow, everywhere Gary Thornbaum goes he goes fast, but then it clicked that he had just left! That was rude. I didn't really know what was going on, but he had given me his phone number, so I whipped out my cell phone and gave him a call to ask if he was coming back. It was busy. I waited around for a while, and when I didn't see Gary Thornbaum speeding over to me I decided to go home. Then I called my mom who told me that I should call the cops just to be on the safe side. So I did. Apparently what Gary Thornbaum knew that I didn't is that if you are on private property and the damage is less than $1000 (It wasn't, it turns out that it is almost three times that much, but I didn't know it at the time)you don't need to call the cops. But the officer did make a note of it just to be on the safe side. He gave me a case number and said that if I ever talk to Gary Thornbaum again I should tell him that it isn't nice to just drive away like that, and leave a crazy girl alone wondering what to do next. (Those weren't his exact words, but that was the gist) I said that I had Gary Thornbaum's number if he wanted to call him and tell him that for me. He said he just might, and actually took down the number:) (I love the cops in our little town. I have had more experiences with them than you might think, and each time I have found them to be just delightful! That could be because I have never been getting a ticket or anything when I have talked to them... but either way - nice people) So I tried my dear Friend Gary Thornbaum again, and got a hold of him this time. He said that he was in from out of town for the festival, and didn't have his insurance information with him, but if I called him back the next morning he would have it for me. I told him it wasn't nice to just leave me there, and that he better not be messing with me with this whole insurance thing. He assured me that he wasn't, and said that he was embarrassed, and that's why he left. So I went on with my day. I volunteered at Ethan's school, and then picked Adia up from school, and thats when I noticed these awful grinding and squeaking sounds each time the tire turned. I parked the car and checked it out, and sure enough, you can see that my tire is cocked at a crazy angle. GRRR!
So today I called My friend Gary Thornbaum to get his insurance information. He wasn't there but his wife gave me the agent's name and number, and said that she would have Gary Thornbaum call me with the policy number when he got there. So I called the agent with a ridiculously imposable name to pronounce. (Really, his name is Ajit Kundanani, say that five times fast.) and equally impossible to understand. He found a policy for Gary Thornbaum, and his big white truck, but wouldn't help me because I couldn't confirm his state of residence. (His area code wasn't one from Utah, and I didn't recognise where it was from) He actually yelled at me "How can you have been in an accident with someone and not know where he lives?" I don't know. I didn't get much of a chance to talk to him, and if I had it wouldn't have been "Hey Gary Thornbaum where ya from?" No, If I had been given half a chance to say anything it would have been more along the lines of "Hey Gary Thornbaum, just where are you driving to now?" or "Gary Thornbaum, please come back and give me proper insurance information!" or even "Slow down Gary Thornbaum, you drive to fast!" Anyway, I will know for next time. Finally I found out the right information, and got things figured out. I am just waiting for the adjuster to okay the body shop to begin work, and then I will be enjoying a rental car for the next few weeks on Gary Thornbaum's dime until my car is up and running.
So, where am I going with this story you might ask. The peaches. They no longer bring me the joy I once felt for them. I am so sore from being jerked around in my car (I hadn't quite fastened the seat belt before Gary Thornbaum knocked me for a loop.) that I'm not even enjoying all the canning and other stuff. I even tried a nice big bowl of fresh sliced peaches for lunch, and nothing. Every time I look at a peach I think of Gary Thornbaum, and totally lose my appetite. Grrr, stinkin' Gary Thornbaum stealing my joy, Grrr...