ArtisticallyChill

So Serena had the day off the day before Xmas Eve and so she decided to finish up her last minute shopping. On her way home, going 10 miles per hour, coming out of a right turn, she hit some black ice. The Echo fishtailed. Serena did her best in evasive maneuvering, and managed to hit only a snowbank. The car was ramped up on the snowbank pretty well so she couldn’t back out. Luckily she wasn’t hurt. As I was making my way to her location, getting a ride from one of the office staff, she called to let me know someone was nice enough to tow her out. She drove the Echo to a nearby parking lot and waited for me.

When I arrived, I was relieved to see that Serena was uninjured. The Echo (aka The Irken Elite) did sustain some bumper damaged but there was more damage underneath. The lining by the right front tire had come off due to the impact. The next morning I took it to a collision repair center in town and got a free estimate. Best case scenario was that I could pay out of pocket if the damage was under $1000. But that scenario quickly faded after the claims coordinator went over the damages with me. The impact apparently nudged the radiator, bending the supports holding it and making the hood hard to open. Total estimate for the repairs is $2700.

I’ve already filed the claim (MY FIRST EVER!) with my auto insurance. The claims rep I talked to was very nice and impressed that this was my first claim. Even the guy at the collision center was impressed with that too. So after a brief call to Serena to get her statement. I opted out of my insurance’s concierge service only because the Toyota Certified Collision Center was highly recommended and I was more concerned about getting a quality repair than a speedy repair. The insurance rep didn’t give me a hassle about not taking the concierge service and will be making his way to the collision center to inspect the damages and negotiate a fair estimate with the claims coordinator sometime this week after I drop off the ECHO tomorrow morning.

Hopefully this won’t put us in too much of financial bind beginning in 2009. I really wanna take Serena to San Diego for the Comic-Con.

~ LoneWolf

Clearly, I’m not heeding my own advice as I seem to be adding more titles to my pull this week. LOL And sadly these are Marvel titles. Surprisingly it was Serena who took an interest in X-Men: Magneto Testament and Deadpool. Yes, Deadpool. The ‘Merc with a Mouth’ is back and unfortunately his new series is debuting with a See-crap Invasion tie-in. What stood out to Serena was the interior art done by Paco Medina. The same goes for Magneto Testament but more on the story side. Secret Invasion is still going on and has yet to impress me. Luckily ECHO #6 is my stack and will be the best that’s saved for last.

• BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL # 21
• CABLE KING-SIZE SPECTACULAR # 1
• DEADPOOL # 1
• FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS # 2 (OF 5)
• GENEXT # 5
• GREEN LANTERN CORPS # 28
• NYX: NO WAY HOME # 2
• SECRET INVASION # 6
• SECRET INVASION: RUNAWAYS/YOUNG AVENGERS # 3
• SECRET INVASION: X-MEN # 2
• TERRY MOORE’S ECHO # 6
• TRINITY # 15
• X-MEN: MAGNETO TESTAMENT # 1

PICK OF THE WEEK: TERRY MOORE’S ECHO # 6

The symbiotic metal suit Julie wears is a fragment of a high-tech nuclear suit. Now she’s determined to keep it away from the military contractors who made it and want it back! On the run with her mentally unstable sister in tow, Julie’s only other allies are Dillon and his dead girlfriend, Annie. Surely Oppenheimer never had this much fun with atoms!

Terry Moore does an acre more straight-up memorable storytelling in one black & white issue of ECHO than either of the two comics ‘giants’ in a year’s-worth of their prolix, boring, barren crossover ‘events.’ This, ECHO, is what we long for, would die for. ~ Harlan Ellison

Couldn’t have said it better myself. The ECHO trade paperback, entitled MOON LAKE, collecting the first 5 issues, is on shelves now.

~ LoneWolf