"Off the Lift: Reflecting on Our Van's Unexpected Goodbye"

Is it over? I hope so. Since my van fell of the lift at Overtop Truck Repair in Amarillo, Texas, on May 26, 2023 my life has been one of turmoil, stress and shock.

Turmoil because things kept changing. Stress because I didn't know what to do next. And shock because I couldn't believe what was happening to me.

For those of you that might be catching up, my van was totaled when it fell off the lift at Overtop Truck Repair due to the failure of the mechanic and the lift. I live in my van. It is my house and my car and I was now without either. It has been 90 days since it happened and it is still not over yet.

Here is the bottom line because that is the kind of person I am. If you want more specific details, leave me a comment and I will be happy to answer.

I got a different van.

I call her Esther after Queen Esther from the Bible. If you are familiar with the book of Esther, you will know that the most commonly quoted verse is Esther 4:14 which says, "yet who knows whether you have come to this kingdom for such a time as this." If you aren't familiar with the Book of Esther you will want to read it to get the context.

To me, this was appropriate an appropriate name. I call her Queen Esther.

Esther is the same year, make and model as my original van. She has several differences, though. Apparently, she was a CanaDream Rental at one time. I was not familiar with this but they are very popular in Canada. I have had to change things from Celsius to Fahrenheit.

I bought her in California from a private owner. Is she better or worse? I'm still testing that. But it doesn't really make a difference because Esther is all I could afford. I paid $92,000.

My insurance ended up paying because the shop's insurance, Argo, three times appraised my van as a Ford Transit passenger van. Value. $40,000. They totally disregarded the fact that it was a built out house. My insurance was capped at $92,000.

I tried to get help from the shop's owner, Ritchie Casas, but he ghosted me on July 3, 2023.

His insurance did rent me a van until I could get Esther. He didn't. His insurance did.

The day after the van fell of the lift, I was to leave for Alaska. Obviously, that trip didn't happen. I had just put $9400 into my van to be sure everything was ready to go. Nearly $5000 of that was a new generator. The rest was tires, brakes, oil, etc. I never got to enjoy any of those things but I am still paying for them.

People don't think about things like the fact that I could only afford a used van, my insurance premium went up an additional $1300 a year. I was paying $1200 and now it is $2500.

I had a small loan on my van ($25,000) which started at $65,000. I worked very hard to pay it down quickly to keep from paying all of the interest. My rate was 5.75%. My payment was $571 and it would have been paid off in 3 years. I had to get a new loan to replace that one. The rate is`12.25% and my payment is $580. It is a 15 year loan. I will be 85 when I make my last payment.

How long before Esther will need a new generator? I had new tires and brakes. She doesn't.

These are the things that you don't think about. The repercussions will go on for years.

Let's just suffice it to say, that Overtop Truck Repair and Ritchie Casas' failure has cost me literally thousands of dollars. And before you say, "hire a lawyer", that is certainly still on the table. Anyone want to take my case?

My insurance company, Progressive, is going after Argo for my out-of-pocket expenses which includes hotels and U-Hauls and gas to go to California to get Esther. I'm trying to get back the nearly $7000 I had to pay in sales tax, too. These are the final items to be sorted out.

I got back on the road about 3 weeks ago. The trauma and shock is still apparent but getting better every day I am happy to say.

Now we get to move on with our life!! Mostly.

Esther has proven to be reliable and she only has 25,000 miles on her so I look forward to many, many adventures going forward. I am hoping to get to go to Alaska next summer. We will see how that works out. You never know what will happen to change everything!

If you watch my TikToks, you may have noticed that I lost my job in the midst of everything else. Anyone have any remote jobs?

I am just going to keep going with my content creation because I like it and, hopefully, I will start making enough money to keep me comfortably on the road. I am moving a lot of things over to YouTube. I've always wanted to be on that Platform but just never did. Now it is time. I hope you stop over and visit me there. But, I will always love TikTok.

That is the almost final result of this great debacle that I hope none of you ever have to go through!

I love you all and thank you for your kind words, prayers and love you have shown me during the last three months. You have no idea how much it has meant to me.

Until next time......

Pam

Coco and DeeDee

And Esther

PS. I haven't included any pictures in this post. Still makes me cry.

Check out my newest YouTube at https://youtu.be/S9_YcfB02PI