Gerry: Claim the Sales Tax.

My car was totalled in May 2011. The party who crashed into me, their insurance company was going to write me a check for the KBB value of my car. So I decided to go look for a new car.

When I walked into the dealership and explained my situation, Gerry (who was the salesperson helping me) gave me some pretty useful information:

“When you get that cash-out check from their insurance company, make sure you also claim the sales tax. That’s something that you have to pay when you get your new car, and since they’re buying your totalled car from you, they should pay you too.”

I’m not sure if this is a State of Illinois thing, or a by-insurance-company thing, but when they wrote out a check, I casually asked about it. And guess what they did?

The wrote me another check for the sales tax.

Hey, it never hurts to ask.

Jen: Lost & Found Taxi Cabs.

Jen and I met at some networking/party event in River North last year. When I met her, I was like, “OMG! You’re Jen Chicago! You look just like your Twitter avatar!” (Nerdy.)

Fast forward. I got a call Monday night from a friend who left his wallet in a cab. So, as any good friend would do, I googled “LOST WALLET TAXI CHICAGO.”

The first search result? This post by Jen Chicago: Lost & Found Taxi Cabs.

Pictures of every cab +
Phone numbers to each cab company’s lost and found departments =
Brilliant.

I do not hesitate to acknowledge that without this blog post, I’m sure that my friend’s wallet would have been lost in cab-land for the rest of time.

Thankfully, we called two of the cab companies, and, 2 1/2 hours later, found the lost wallet. Hooray!

So, Jen, thank you for posting this and for making it so easy to track down every single cab company in Chicago. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ever used that post as a resource.

Fabulous.

Tim: Hit the Halfway Point.

I’ve known Tim since my freshman year of college. I remember how he introduced himself. “Hi, I’m Tim Winter. Like Winterfresh. Want a piece of gum?”

We were neighbors our sophomore year, and for some reason, spent a good amount of time driving around together. And one time in the car, he taught me how to parallel park in a way that made more sense to me than anyone else’s explanation.

1. Pull up parallel to the car in front of the open spot. PARALLEL. Not angled at all.
2. Back up slowly.
3. Once you hit the halfway point, turn the wheel sharply and maneuver your way into the spot. Your back tire will probably hit the curb. That’s okay.
4. Turn the other direction and straighten out.
5. Done.

Thanks to Tim, I can parallel park in ANY spot in Chicago, left or right, snowbank-filled or pothole’d – even in front of a $150,000 Maserati (and no, I didn’t even tap it!).

Hey, Tim Winter (like Winterfresh) – next time we hang out, remind me to show you my paralleling skills in action. Then maybe I’ll make you a breakfast burrito to thank you for the many, many dollars you’ve saved me since I don’t ever have to park in an overpriced garage. Deal?