Sigh. Anyway, I kind of forced myself to get over it, because what am I going to do? It's not worth replacing the windshield for, so I'm just gonna have to suck it up.
Fortunately, I was having lunch with a couple friends after Sunday School, and one of them told me that I should seal it. And I was like, "Seal it? What does that mean?" And he said that if I didn't, the chip/crack/dent could expand into a BIG crack along my windshield. So then I Googled windshield repair and read reviews for various companies, which then reminded me about insurance!
Okay I'm getting to condense this multi-faceted story into bullet points:
- Found a mobile company in Houston (as in, they came to me!) called Ace Chip 'n Crack that does windshield repairs--called them and confirmed that my insurance would be accepted
- Called insurance company and found out that this is what it means to file a claim (not necessarily a good thing--even though I didn't do anything wrong, it might increase prices if I tried to switch insurance companies within two years--after two years the claim drops off my record; no problems if I just stay with my current insurance company)
- Got a call back with the okay to get the repair
- Called Ace Chip 'n Crack and scheduled a same-day appointment (so at this point, I would like to comment on the fact that although it may sound sketchy, this company actually has great reviews and is rated a tier-one repair company, which is amazing, since it's actually just a man named Scott who's done this for over 20 years, and who did window tinting before that)
- Here are some photos to break the monotony of the bullet points:
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| Sorry you can't really tell, but you can kind of see the streaks coming from the break. |
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| My baby car, getting fixed up. The yellow thing is a UV blocker, because the acrylic being used to fill the cracks (which appear only when you push down on the windshield--the whole process is a bit counterintuitive, but actually makes sense when explained) reacts with UV rays and hardens. |
- I took an after-photo, but all you can really see is the reflection of the trees in my windshield, and I couldn't even find the site of the rock chip in the photo, so I didn't upload it.
- Scott was super knowledgeable about what he was doing, and also about a ton of other things. He was looking at my car, and informed me that I had three different producers for the glass in my windows. It was true, the stickers on all of them say which producer, and I had one from Germany, Korea, and Japan. Crazy right?? Apparently it's common for that to happen--car companies buy in bulk from whichever glass producer is cheapest at the moment. And then he was like, "Except I've never seen a Mazda have glass from that German company." Me: "So what do Mazdas usually have?" Scott: "Pretty much every company except for that one." lol.
- Since Scott knew cars so well and had done window tinting before, I decided to just ask him questions:
- What's the black thing around the windshield for?
- It's a special type of paint baked into the windshield to block UV rays--windshields used to leak as the car got older because the sun caused damage.
- Why do people usually tint their windows?
- Scott: For several reasons; some of the reasons are never thought of, though. You know your windows are tinted, right?
Me: Haha yes. I got that done.
Scott: Why did you tint your windows?
Me: To block UV rays....and maybe to help keep the car cooler?
Scott: Yeah, that's one of the reasons people get their windows tinted. It's good, it does block UV rays. Did you know that people in the U.S. age on the left side of their face faster? And people in Europe, since they drive on the opposite side, age on the right side of their face faster.
Me: O.O
Scott: Here are some reasons people never think of to get their windows tinted. Although your windshield is shatter-proof, the other glass will shatter in a collision or impact. Tinting puts a film over the glass, which will keep it from shattering in a collision. [Me, thinking: OMG THAT'S SUCH A GOOD REASON.] When you're driving at night, tinting keeps headlights from blinding you, either from behind or from the side (assuming you have all your windows tinted). At least I find that very helpful.
Me: Whoa!! I was always bothered by that! - So yes, I learned quite a bit from Scott today.
- Nota bene: It's illegal to have your windshield tinted, or so I found out when I told the dealership that I wanted all my windows tinted, and my car came out without it on the windshield lol.
So the rock chip is all sealed up now, and it's barely noticeable from the outside, although you can see it from the inside. This doesn't really bother me anymore--I'm just glad somebody told me to seal it before it became a big crack in my windshield (and Google says rock chips should be sealed immediately).
In other news, I learned some new chokes in BJJ today, and also met someone else who goes to Rice! Yay =].
Aaaaand 2 weeks until I leave for China. Was thinking about what I could do there, since I've already gone to almost all the tourist-y sites, and decided that it'd be nice if I could visit that one mushroom farm again, where they have their own restaurant that serves up all this delicious food, because it's basically every type of mushroom possible cooked in every kind of way. And I am almost one hundred percent sure that even if you hate mushrooms, you would find at least one dish there to be very appetizing. Also xian dou jiang for breakfast. Or, literally, salty soymilk. Which is not AT ALL what it sounds like....the first time I had it, I was very apprehensive until actually seeing it and eating it lol....more like a salty tofu soup. So good.
Okay enough. Must go to bed so I can wake up early enough for work tomorrow....
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