Earlier this summer, Mr. College Bound's car was rear-ended as he stopped for a red light.  Cosmetic damage was minimal, and he could drive the car, but the CHECK ENGINE light was on and the muffler sounded like it belonged on a Harley, not a Hyundai.

We waited (forever) for the police report to be completed, then contacted the other driver's insurance company and filed a claim.  They told us that we had to bring the car to their inspection facility and then the adjuster would be in touch.  The address they gave was a street I've crossed often, though I've never been down that road.   So I left the GPS at home.  Not a smart move.

The building number was 1000, but in my pre-caffeinated state that morning, I turned in at the driveway for 10000.  How often do you see addresses with that many zeroes, anyway?

Walking into the lobby, I checked the directory and found that the office for Suite 200 belonged to a company with "Auto" in its name, so I figured I was in the right place.  That lasted for as long as it took for me to find the door to Suite 200.  The door was open.  The lights were on, but nobody was home.  And neither was their furniture.

I dug out my cell phone and called the adjuster so I could check to see if I was in the right place.  She was absolutely rude, telling me that it was not uncommon for these offices to be empty and brushing me off when I informed her that I didn't expect the office to be empty of furniture too.  I got nowhere with that call, and disgustedly headed back to my son's damaged car to figure out how I'd spot an insurance adjuster coming into the parking lot.

That's when I saw the sign that said "10000."  I'd been off by an order of magnitude.  Quickly, I started the car and got back on the road until I found the right building, where the very friendly receptionist and inspector told me that there was no need for me to apologize for my tardiness--people made the same mistake a few times a day.

Maybe if they included a comma in the signage, it would have been easier to note that I was in the wrong parking lot.

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