Random item from the news

See also ABC News Online for more.

Police are trying to find the owner of a motorbike who assaulted a 39-year-old man after he stole and crashed his Harley-Davidson.

Police say the man stole the bike at Greenwell Point near Nowra on the New South Wales south coast yesterday afternoon and was taking it for a ride around the township when he lost control of it.

Police say the accident caused the bike to cartwheel down the street, while the rider ended up in a garden bed with a stake embedded through his right arm and out of his back.

Police say the owner of the bike found the man a short time later and took his bike back, but not before punching him in the face and pulling the stake out of his torso.

Ambulance paramedics arrived shortly after to treat him.

He was then airlifted to Sydney's St George Hospital with a broken nose and internal injuries.

I hate to admit I have a bit of sympathy for the guy who had his bike stolen. That may have been excessive, but I can understand to a degree how he'd be that pissed off.

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Damnit!

So, lesson learned by me: call your insurance company if your car is stolen. Progressive apparently doesn't drop a stolen car (that they bought) from your policy, so you keep paying for it.

D'oh!

The operator was helpful, but not enough. I overpaid a bit for a car they bought from me? Sphere: Related Content

Moving on...

So, my car is done. Bio-hazard total'd et al. So, go to my site for, well, I dunno. Or my blog for more. Or Cascadia Times for something else I'm working with. Sphere: Related Content

Picked up the check

So, I got my check for my car, and the car is now deceased. Bloody hell.

Anyway, I learned a few useful things from this. First of all, don't ever leave the title in the car. It's a very bad idea. Second, if you have a club, use it. Third, don't leave anything in the trunk. I disabled the trunk release (Civic's have a valet-blocker thing), yet the thieves still got in.

Basically, it's a pain in the ass to have your car stolen. I didn't lose anything of real value (that insurance didn't cover), but it's still kind of crappy to be out some tools and other things.

Progressive did treat me well in the end, but I'm still really glad I asked them to check the first offer. Sphere: Related Content

Settlement

So, Progressive came through, and they're now offering a fair-market rate for what I lost. I really appreciate that they're being honest about the whole thing.

Trevor, my rep from Progressive, thank you. I know I asked for a bit, but you never flinched and took great care of me. Thank you very much.

I have to drop off a little more paperwork, but then I can get the check to cover my Civic. 4NPR307, or 400CSZ, depending on the state, you were a great car.

It is with a heavy heart I say goodnight sweet prince, and regret that we had to part ways so soon. 114,000 miles is too soon for any machine. Sphere: Related Content

Want to go bowling?

So, the car is totaled, and the valuation seemed a little low. I'm waiting for Progressive to get back to me with some dealer quotes, but it seems a good amount of their total was figured from CraigsList.

I like CraigsList, I found my car there! Even if I didn't buy it there, because I did buy a car there. Once. A pickup truck. I had to replace the brakes, and it still managed to get itself bent in half due to poor repairs I paid for.

It's unfortunate though that they're basing the value of my Civic on some anonymous CraigsList posters who may or may not have sold their cars. With or without listing mileage, just features. I really have to doubt a car selling for $3000 on CL is comparable to a very similar car (to what I had) listed for $6900 by a repuatable dealer.

Hopefully I'll have a happier post soon, but the first offer wasn't quite what I was expecting. I expect Progressive will do better once they take another look. Sphere: Related Content