Parked in a lot.
July 9, 2015 7:00 am
My dear wife Karen’s beautiful red Mazda just turned one.
It should be a time to celebrate. It’s fast. Dependable. Big enough. Oh, the way it ferried us back and forth from Cape Cod last month, loaded with a week’s worth of us and Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle to fill the Happy Cottage with no problems.
Low mileage, too, what with most of her driving concentrated around the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood and her commute to the job 3.5 miles downtown at SMG.
Knock on wood to it all.
Parked in a lot.
I took that shot with my iPhone 6 in a nearby lot after we’d had a discussion about the Mazda. Yes, my pretty wife is in the driver’s seat. You are correct if you note a hint of displeasure in her countenance.
Damn ding.
One parking lot prior to this stop, loading in our packages from our cart, Karen had noticed a deep mark in the bottom left rear of her Mazda.
We’ve been gouged.
It must have happened when she was food shopping a few days ago in the supermarket lot, my dear wife figures. It looks like it was left there by an errant shopping cart to us both.
Doesn’t it figure?
I will be shopping the auto parts stores this week, asking the help there what might be best to purchase from them to self-address this issue. I’ll have these photos on my phone. The car insurance co-pay is mighty high, you know.
Have you had your car dinged in a parking lot, and if so, what were the circumstances? Were you able to work on a scratch like this yourself, and if so, what did you buy and how did it work? Would you like to scream along with us to let out some steam?
Posted by markbialczak
Tags: Car dings, Car dings in parking lots, Car scratches, Cars, Parking lots, Syracuse
Mobile Site | Full Site
Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.
Oh, that stinks! I’m so sorry. I gave up worrying about dings when my son became old enough to drive and treated it like bumper cars. I feel your pain about the copay being too much. I bet YouTube has some good answers about how to treat it yourself. 🙂 Good luck! ❤
LikeLike
By rachelcarrera on July 16, 2015 at 9:43 am
Thanks, Rachel. I will fix it, I swear. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 16, 2015 at 12:15 pm
OH NO!!! NOT THE BELOVED MAZDA! Damn those shopping carts! Mrs. B must be bummed. 😦 It’s like a child, you leave it unattended for a bit and boom, something happens!!
Coming out of hiding to finally catch up with my second Mr. B. 🙂
LikeLike
By brickhousechick on July 14, 2015 at 8:52 am
I hope you’re feeling OK, Mrs. B. Worried here.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 14, 2015 at 9:14 am
Had a dear friend suddenly die of an aneurysm and my father’s 17th year anniversary of his death was yesterday. It’s been a sad couple of days but…it’s all good. Onward. 🙂
LikeLike
By brickhousechick on July 14, 2015 at 9:43 am
Ouch and sorry, dear. Here if you need another ear.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 14, 2015 at 10:40 am
I had a new Dodge Avenger in 2008. Man, was I mad when I got a lower side “ding” the first year. Then, I nearly got totaled in 2010 by a car driven by a teenager who entered out of a side street onto a bust Rte. 42. I saw him not look as I prepared to turn my car towards the rear side of his car I’d I had hit him broadside he would have been seriously injured. I was talking to my good guy friend about our trip to see Felicia who lived in Louisville in her first post grad job. We were going to leave that night. I calmly said, “Bill you know Freshwater Drive I am going to have to hit a car entering traffic. I left phone on speaker and he heard the huge crunch and even called 911 and his friend who is a tow truck driver. We rented a car and went to Kentucky. It was in shop for 6 weeks, all paid for by teen’s parent’s insurance. I still drive it and it is paid off and I now use cheaper white nail polish to cover dings and acratches. The first “nick” hurt but the crash just upset me a little.
LikeLike
By reocochran on July 12, 2015 at 8:06 am
That crash sounds awful, Robin. It really is frightening when you see it coming and know it can’t be avoided. I’m glad nobody got hurt, and that you are still driving the car, my friend. ❤
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 12, 2015 at 10:14 am
I hate it when that happens! We had a car written off. It was parked and the first we knew was going to get in it to drive somewhere. No note. We asked a local builder – there was a big building project going on near where we used to live. We wondered if they had seen anything. Turns out they had done the damage. It took ages to sort out the Insurance claim. The day after the accident they put up a new sign ‘Considerate Construction’. Nowadays we have a driveway and I love it 🙂
LikeLike
By lundygirl on July 10, 2015 at 1:41 pm
Yes, driveways are so important, Rachel. Considerate Construction. Ha. That’ll be the day.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 10, 2015 at 3:32 pm
The first scratch on a car is always painful – and especially on a beautiful car like that!
LikeLike
By Kate Loveton on July 10, 2015 at 9:51 am
It is a woeful moment, Kate. Ouch and oy.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 10, 2015 at 10:33 am
Screaming!!!! And….done. Okay. We have a new car and I know it’s going to happen. So I’ll scream with you guys so when it happens to me it will already feel like it happened. And I won’t be stressed!!!!! 😉 I hope they can help you fix it. We had a scratch once and my neighbor came over and rubbed some stuff (on a different car) and the scratch disappeared. But it wasn’t as deep as DWK’s. 😦
LikeLike
By Chatter Master on July 10, 2015 at 7:49 am
I still need to research and find something. I found the small scratch stuff you mention, MBC, but this one appears too deep. Oy. Yes, I hope you get a very long stretch on your newbie without a scratch. Knock on wood.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 10, 2015 at 10:28 am
Knocking…. I hope there’s something out there MBM.
LikeLike
By Chatter Master on July 12, 2015 at 7:44 pm
Mark, I just love the color of Karens car!
Enjoy your weekend and say hi to K!
/anna
LikeLike
By inte fan gör det det on July 10, 2015 at 3:50 am
Thank you, Anna, and I will pass along your greetings. Have a great weekend in Stockholm, my friend. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 10, 2015 at 7:26 am
Doesnt it seems as if time passes quicker and quicker…..
Another monday!
have a good one!
LikeLike
By inte fan gör det det on July 13, 2015 at 3:38 am
Too quickly on the weekend, Anna. 😦 Have a great Monday, my friend.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 13, 2015 at 8:40 am
Mark- soon weekend again!!!!
( today its pouring down here….WHERE IS SUMMER??? )
LikeLike
By inte fan gör det det on July 14, 2015 at 12:46 pm
Hot and humid after a rainy start in Syracuse, Anna. We have your summer!
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 14, 2015 at 12:53 pm
Please, send some over! 😉
LikeLike
By inte fan gör det det on July 14, 2015 at 12:56 pm
Boo Hoo for your dear wife Karen. But I have no idea what to do for the ding or how it gets fixed. But tell her she will still look snazzy!!
LikeLike
By Nancy on July 9, 2015 at 3:10 pm
I know, Nancy. There’s no holding MDW back. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 3:48 pm
How long have we had Bonnie Blue? Two, maybe three weeks? Uh, yeah. First day we visited my parents they had a hail storm! No damage. Then on the drive through Tallahassee we ran over debris several times (unavoidable!) No damage. We got home and had that crazy rain Sunday and Moo came in to announce, “A big branch fell on your car, but it’s okay, I looked.” No damage. It’s only a matter of time. Meanwhile, I won’t park it in the shade of our big maple anymore, lol!
LikeLike
By joey on July 9, 2015 at 1:14 pm
May the Creator Cruze Control in the Sky continue to smile upon you, my dear Joey. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 1:34 pm
How annoying to find a scratch like that. I feel the pain!
LikeLike
By passion through poetry on July 9, 2015 at 1:04 pm
Such a downer, Vonita. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 1:35 pm
That’s a great looking car Mark. Love the color. If you check with an auto body shop, I am sure they will be able to suggest a product that will make the ding disappear. All will be well. 😀
LikeLike
By Paul on July 9, 2015 at 11:52 am
I’ll get it outta there, Paul. Thanks, my friend!
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 11:57 am
I park so far away to avoid such inconveniences to my vehicles!!! It angers me at other people and their laziness with regards to shopping carts!
LikeLike
By Cheryl "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser on July 9, 2015 at 11:26 am
My car is obviously in a parking lot full of shopping carts (and rude and lazy shoppers) 5 nights a week, so it is no stranger to dents and scratches. Heck, the first weekend I had my beloved Neon, a cart blown around by a windstorm took out the front drivers side reflector. At least I got over caring about it’s appearance early thanks to that…
I’m always adamant when I’m shopping with someone that the shopping carts get returned to the corral when we’re done. Everyone seems to think I’m just trying to make the job of one of my brethren easier, which just goes to show how people don’t realize the consequence of leaving their carts tucked between parking spaces is adding to the possibility someone is going to get dented or dinged by your unwillingness to walk a few extra feet and put the cart away….
LikeLike
By evilsquirrel13 on July 9, 2015 at 10:35 am
You’re a good teacher, Bill, but of course most people just don’t care. And we all get dinged for laziness and ignorance, both.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 11:01 am
So sorry to hear about the scratch. I know the feeling.
It was my first new car, a Ford Fiesta bought to celebrate my first professional job. I parked it on the street outside my apartment in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. I’d had the car for all of one day and was just running upstairs to get one last package before heading to the post office to ship off a carfull of holiday presents. Not ten minutes later, I came down to find the side of the car bashed in, and every package gone. There was a note on the windshield: “I’m only writing this because someone is looking at me. Ho, ho.”
My insurance fixed the car and paid for the presents, but I just never felt the same way about it after that.
LikeLike
By barbtaub on July 9, 2015 at 10:20 am
Now that is a f….in idiot, Barb. Sorry you had to share your neighborhood with that asshat. You managed to take my mind off the car and put it on the vandal. Grrrrrrrr. Yeah, that would ruin the Fiesta, for sure.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 11:00 am
OMG! So if you remember, my Chevy Cruz brother, I just got my Cruz back in February and already got a some scratches that must have occurred while my car was parked in the lot at work. Not only that, but a couple of weeks ago, while I was getting off the freeway, some sort of debris his my car and left an unbelievably deep scratch. My husband doesn’t even believe that the debris did this kind of thing and is convinced I got into some kind of accident but no way because of where the scratch is positioned. Anyway, if your wife is feeling badly, just tell her my sob story!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By Marissa Bergen on July 9, 2015 at 10:10 am
I’ll tell her about your Cruze bad luck, Marissa. I hate to hear it. That sucks bad. Sob.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:57 am
Yeah, well, what can you do? My mother had a new car that got banged up pretty badly pretty quickly. This Cruz was slightly used and still in great condition. That being said, it was the ‘newest’ car I’ve ever owned. Usually I like to get them with a few dents and scratches in advance. That way I don’t have to worry!
LikeLike
By Marissa Bergen on July 9, 2015 at 12:22 pm
New means I’ve never had it before. Always, Marissa. ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 1:39 pm
My back doors are dinged, mainly from years of M and his friends not looking before opening doors in parking garages and near other structures.
Your wife’s car is pretty snazzy looking, I like!
LikeLike
By NotAPunkRocker on July 9, 2015 at 9:45 am
Yeah, the open-into is another car-beware, J, that I worry about every time I am a passenger in or drive this red beauty.
Thanks for the compliment of Karen’s ride, my friend.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:56 am
I remember when my brand new Mini Cooper was just a few months old- I came out of the supermarket to find a dent in the passenger side door from a cart on the loose. I was heartbroken. But then I put it in perspective and said there are worse things. The Mini is gone, my red scion (I love red too) fell victim to something that left 3 dents and scraped the paint off a door, a few years into my owning it. I bought some paint, covered it up, and try not to look at it!
LikeLike
By DailyMusings on July 9, 2015 at 9:38 am
Good work at the paint job and the eye aversion, Lisa. Sigh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:54 am
I feel your pain 🙂
LikeLike
By DailyMusings on July 9, 2015 at 11:32 am
Oh, no…Hate that. Love the red. It reaffirms why I park so far away from the crowd no matter where I go. That…plus, I’ll go out of my way to find shade, if there is one sad little tree to be found, and it is a few stores over, no matter…I’m walking here !! ☺
LikeLike
By vanbytheriver on July 9, 2015 at 9:30 am
Yeah, far-away parking is my wont, too, Van, but my reasoning is that I refuse to circle or fight for in-close spots. I’d rather just take the first available and hoof it. Shade is good, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:53 am
it is such a pretty car, that makes it all the worse. i guess it’s like getting your first scar in a way, a rite of passage, but not something that every makes you happy none the less –
LikeLike
By ksbeth on July 9, 2015 at 9:11 am
Yeah, sad day, Beth. I hope SS has not gotten dinged yet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:47 am
It is – and yes, Sylvia the silver Subaru has 2 deep scratches on the front bumper , no doubt from a parking lot incident, that need fixing (
LikeLike
By ksbeth on July 9, 2015 at 10:54 am
Dagnabbit! You, too. 😦
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 11:02 am
It took a whole year for that to happen? That’s pretty good. Celebrate your good fortune.
LikeLike
By snoozing on the sofa on July 9, 2015 at 9:09 am
Yes, what a year it was, too, Scott. Good angle, my friend.
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:45 am
Mark, this is a most calamitous event. Unfortunately, when you take such a beautiful shiny red car out into the world swarming with inconsiderate buttholes, these things occur. Do not despair. I am sure you will be able to fix it and everything will be right in the world once again. Please give your wife my condolences.
LikeLike
By SD Gates on July 9, 2015 at 8:49 am
Thanks, S.D. Yeah, you know?!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:45 am
Beautiful car and color. Doesn’t that sort of thing just infuriate the heck out of you? Good luck.
LikeLike
By Benson on July 9, 2015 at 7:52 am
Thanks, Benson. Appreciate the wishes and kind words. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:40 am
Luckily, they build cars strong enough to withstand such dings. Back in my day, cars would be totaled if a cat jumped up on the hood to take a nap… 🙂
LikeLike
By Austin on July 9, 2015 at 7:50 am
Yes, Austin. Back in my day, they were tanks. Then, not. Now better again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:39 am
Those were the days…
LikeLike
By Austin on July 9, 2015 at 6:02 pm
That first ding on the car or on the piano – a heart breaking rite of passage. Just don’t get caught up in the depression that comes with once again being overwhelmed by realizing the impermanence of all things. Scratching and dings are most devastating things.
LikeLike
By Carl D'Agostino on July 9, 2015 at 7:31 am
You’re right, Carl. Rite of passage for the vehicle. But I must try to make my wife’s ride right. 🙂
LikeLike
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:37 am
People are so careless with those carts!
LikeLike
By lbeth1950 on July 9, 2015 at 7:18 am
Yeah, you’d think they’d know about cart karma, llbeth!
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 7:26 am
Right, everybody gets it sometime.
LikeLike
By lbeth1950 on July 9, 2015 at 11:13 am
Love the color! I have no idea how to fix scratches but I hope whatever you find works!
LikeLike
By hollie on July 9, 2015 at 7:17 am
Thanks, Hollie. I’ll find something. I hope! And isn’t that a great color?
LikeLiked by 1 person
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 7:25 am
Red is my favorite! My car, Betty Gray-ble is gray but red is always a good choice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
By hollie on July 9, 2015 at 8:02 am
You picked the best name for your wheels, Hollie! Betty Gray-ble is a classic. ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
By markbialczak on July 9, 2015 at 10:41 am