I think I’m about done with these winter ice storms.

Sunday night, I was driving to work after yet another Dallas ice storm (was this number 3 or 4 of the season?). My airline keeps flying whether the Dallas streets are dry or braking action nil, so I refuse to call in chicken to work when the roads are bad. If our Chicago ramp agents can throw bags during a blizzard, I can find a way to make it to work. After my spin-out in December, I decided to drive our gas-guzzling minivan since it carries significantly more heft than our little Honda Fit. You know, just in case anything happens.

Although the street in front of our house was mostly dry, and I’d already criticized Brenden’s school district on Facebook for canceling school AGAIN due to the ice, I quickly found that most of the streets were indeed slick. Maybe I should delete that Facebook comment, I thought. I was in the center lane, driving slowly and carefully. dreading the moment I’d felt three months ago when I could lose traction and begin to slide. But so far, so good. An Accord was ahead of me in the right lane, also driving slowly and carefully.

As we came around a curve, the Accord began to slide as I drew closer. It hit the right curb and bounced off. As I was passing it, the Accord began sliding back to the left. On the ice, I was afraid to make any sudden evasive maneuvers, so I just hoped I could move ahead before it crossed my path.

The Accord hit me on the right rear wheel, sending me spinning clockwise on the ice. I heard a crunching sound and felt a bump when it hit. A similar impact on dry streets probably would have been more dramatic, but the ice allowed my van to start moving more easily, so the damage wasn’t as bad. I know I did one 360-degree spin, maybe two. It happened so fast that I can be sure. I wish I’d had a GoPro recording on my dashboard. After a few seconds, the left rear tire hit a curb, bringing the van to a halt.

Well, this is a bit inconvenient, I thought.

I was wearing my seatbelt as always, and I wasn’t hurt, but I knew the van could be. I pulled over onto a side street and hoped the other driver would do the same. She did. I stepped out to see the damage.

The left rear tire was hissing flat, the rim banged up from hitting the curb. The right rear tire was shredded, which meant I wasn’t going anywhere in this vehicle. The rear fender had popped off on the right side and was hanging off. The right side panel was also dented near the wheel well. Overall, it wasn’t good news, but it could have been much, much worse.

The other driver, a young woman, stayed put, but her boyfriend (?), a young man, climbed out of the passenger seat. We exchanged information and assured each other we were OK. He apologized. Their Accord was drivable but looked worse than my minivan, the front end banged up badly.

I got their insurance card and the driver’s license, taking pics of both with my phone. The insurance card was expired. He seemed surprised at first but assured me that he had renewed it and just hadn’t replaced the card. I suppose I wasn’t thinking clearly because I didn’t remember to record their license plate, photograph their car, or confirm the make/model/color. I didn’t even use my iWrecked app since I was in a hurry to get this resolved so I could get to work. We decided not to call and wait for the police since no one was hurt and both cars were drivable. With ice all over the area, I figured the cops were busy with more serious accidents.

Once we both were satisfied, I cautiously drove the van across the street to a small parking lot outside a self-service car wash. Driving with both rear tires flat felt odd, like I was driving through sand or pulling a trailer. Then I started calling work and Jenny to figure out what to do. I was only a mile or so from home, and Jenny piled the boys into the Fit and drove out to get me. Then I drove her home and set out for work, arriving 30 minutes late and hoping the whole time that I would make it there without wrecking our other car.

Low. Ri. Der. Drives a little slower.

We’ve been dealing with our insurance company (MetLife), renting a car from Enterprise during the week, and talking to the repair shop (Craig’s Collision). So far Enterprise has been great, giving me a sweet Nissan Maxima and billing it to MetLife since I had rental coverage. On the other hand, MetLife and Craig’s both seem stuck in molasses, taking their sweet time to get anything done. I initiate most of the phone calls. I had to call MetLife back Tuesday afternoon just to get them to come tow the van away from the car wash parking lot before someone else had it towed for me. The shop got the car late Tuesday afternoon but didn’t give us an estimate until Saturday morning. So we’ve spent all this week in limbo, wondering whether the damage would be enough to total a 2005 minivan with 90,000 miles.

We looked into both new and used cars just in case we had to buy something fast. Since we’d been considering a replacement for the minivan within the next couple years, we were excited about having a legitimate excuse to move ahead a bit early. However, we haven’t had a car payment in over six years, and financially it would be better to postpone that streak for another year until after we move.

MetLife has determined that the other driver was 100 percent at fault, which I agree with. However, the other insurance company hasn’t made a decision. From my little contact with them, they don’t seem to be the brightest bulbs in the box. The body shop says the repairs will cost $3615, which apparently is too little to total the minivan. I have mixed feelings about that. They estimate the repairs will be done in 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.

Come on, spring!