My 03 Yukon XL Denali has some battle scars

[redneckgirl]

It's amazing how quickly a few little mishaps add up....
When I got the Yukon in June of 07, it was in pretty great shape for the amount of miles it had on it. It was nearly perfect. A dime sized dent behind the rear bumper on the edge of the quarter panel, where it was fairly obvious it had been hit and the bumper repaired/replaced without fixing the small spot on the body....and a small crease in the driver's front fender, which was nearly hidden by the body line. My father-in-law, who is a body man for 38+ years, was the one to notice it.

That was it. Then after having it about 2 months or so, she got her first door ding in a Best Buy parking lot. I was pretty upset about it. I figure if I have to drive a family truckster, it can at least be a damn clean one. That was all for about a year...no more mishaps.

Then about 3 months ago, someone hit the driver's mirror, putting a scrape on the painted surface that just wouldn't buff out. GRRR....then just a few days later someone hit the right front corner of the bumper, leaving a scrape down to the plastic about an inch long. GRRR again....

About a week after that, in a moment of pure stupidity on my part, I did as hubby said, and while he was 'resting' on the couch, I had our 13 year old son be my spotter while trying to back the truck and car trailer between the house and a fairly large locust tree and squeeze it in next to a landscape trailer. The tool box on the car trailer is impossible to see, and can best be judged when there is a car on it. I had just unloaded the Comanche off of it, and was trying to park the trailer. I told Robby (the 13 year old) to watch the tool box and let me know if I was getting too close. I felt it hit...then Robby said "oh...you hit it"...gee boy...ya think?? The tool box was easy to hammer back out, but the damage to the bumper made it apparent it had in fact been repaired before....it gouged through the paint and the filler to show the plastic underneath...It will be easily repaired, but it still looks hideous to me. About 1 1/2 inches wide and about 4 inches long, to me it stands out like the Jolly Green Giant at a gathering of the vertically challenged....Double GRRR.....

Now last night, while I was leaving for work, I started backing up, checking my mirrors....but didn't see the OCC Schwinn Stingray that the neighbor kid parked behind it....it was my son's bike, but the little bugger across the street has a habit of coming over and riding it. It was pitch black when I left, so I never saw the thing sitting there. I hit it.....if you have ever seen one of these things, it's tricked out to look like an Orange County Chopper....The kickstand raises the front wheel completely off the ground. By the time I felt it, the oversized front wheel was under my left rear tire, and the big 'chopper style' handlebars had spun around and done a number on the quarterpanel. I got out with a flashlight to assess the damage... A 1/2 inch long dent, and a scuff about 7 inches long....and a black mark about 4 inches long from the rubber handlebar grip....

Now while in the minivan/suv set this is hardly noticeable I'm sure, I was devastated... I have never been one to be pigeonholed in that group. I don't consider it a SUV (I hate that term with a passion) It's a truck...it just holds a lot more people...
I was saying things that would make a sailor blush with shame, while looking at my poor truck... and in the back of my mind I can just hear some guy walking past it, laughing at the 'woman driver'... All these 'little' nicks and scrapes make it look like I drive by sound.....