At Last!

So for those of you who have been following the saga of how I made God laugh, today I got some very good news.  After a lot of discussion with the insurance company, we have finally come to a settlement.  All I can say is:

	Etta James - At Last .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Yes, Etta you sing it girl!

It has been a long process, much longer than I thought it would be.  I owe so much thanks to my sister Tamara because without her advice I never would have been able to negotiate the troubled waters that are the insurance agency pitfalls.  I would have felt a lot like this:

So I owe her a lot of thanks for providing me guidance and helping me through this.  I can't yet reveal the settlement but I will say that I learned a lot about negotiating with insurance companies.  I really would have been taken advantage of except I took the time to do the research and, in the words of the instructor who ran our internship seminiars - the incomparable Dr. Schneider, I "asked the people who know."  I had my sister and her supervisor (who so graciously offered his expertise and for that I am incredibly grateful) go over all of the information I had, all of the "offers" the claims adjuster was offering (including all of her arguments as to why I wasn't entitled to what I was asking for as a settlement), and review what I was asking in terms of a settlement.  I even consulted a bicycle injury lawyer who told me I had a case but unless I was asking for extremely high monetary compensation it wasn't worth it for me to retain his services - how is that for the oxymoronic idea of an honest lawyer?   In the end we settled for exactly in the middle of the two numbers we started with in the first place - true negotiation.

On another note, next Wednesday I get to start being not just a written and visual advocate but a  vocal one as well.  I have been invited to speak to the Syosset High School Driver's Education classes on the topic of "Sharing the Road".  I'm thinking about putting together a powerpoint presentation with images of my bike and me from my last accident - I mean it IS before breakfast so maybe the images won't be TOO graphic.

But what I will be sharing with them is the experience that I just settled and also the other two times I've been hit on my bike - almost always by inattentive motorists.  Its a great thing to be able to talk to new drivers and make them aware that if they aren't always attentive to cyclists what the possible consequences can be.  I mean I'm lucky becuase I haven't been "seriously" injured (aside from some stitches) but I have friends who have been and those are some of the stories I can talk about as well.  I'm also hoping that by putting a personal face on cyclists to them they may become a little more aware.  If it saves at least one cyclist from getting hit by a car then it will all be worth it.

And on another note, I have officially given up this year's football season may the 2010 Cowboys Rest In Peace.  Now I'm looking forward to the start of next year's cycling season - at least in the meantime I have Cyclocross!!!!

Oh well, time to get back on the road - I'll see you there.