(note: this post is backdated because I'm behind on blogging)

Since August of 2004 I've been driving a 2003 Dodge Ram Quad Cab, with 5.7L Hemi known by it;s license plate, CHEMIGO (See Hemi Go). I've dressed it up, modified it, and taken it to shows. It was a daily driver but it still impressed many. The hundreds of hours of labor and likely thousands that had been spent on babying it and spiffing it up, all went down the drain. A storm drain in this case.

So on the morning of July 21st we had a pretty big rainstorm. I was on my way to work hitting puddles left and right until I came across a large one. I know not to drive into standing water, but this was basically a glorified puddle that occurs everytime it rains, due to poor stormwater management at this intersection. As I approached I passed some vehicles who had just gone through the intersection in the opposite direction and I proceeded through cautiously, making sure the water never got deep enough to reach the underside of the truck or worse. What I could not foresee is that at some point in my drive my passenger side wheel well liner had come loose. Now basically resting upon my tire, it was pushing water up into the engine compartment and on top of the engine. Also unknown to me was the fact that this also likely loosened the air intake, which is above this liner, causing it to come loose where it meets the newly wet intake manifold. So while my air intake and filter never even got damp (keep in mind I use an oil/fiber filter that repels water), this odd chain of events caused water to seep into the intake manifold and kill my engine. Dead.

Fortunately for me, my insurance company covered the incident, although they were not willing to pay enough to make acceptable repairs. It was enough to pay off the remaining loan balance and by selling CHEMIGO for salvage, I was able to get into a used car that is not as testosterone-producing, but gets double the gas mileage.

The day after the accident, I spent a good part of it on the phone with repair shops, insurance companies, and scouting what would become my future ride. That evening I got to forget about it for awhile thanks to a surprise birthday party at my regular restaurant, Joe Momma's, complete with peanut-butter-filled Star Trek cupcakes, created by my wife.