good weekend, bad weekend

Last weekend was excellent. It marked two months of being with Dianna. We celebrated the event with a wonderful dinner at Mi Piace. Great food, fantastic deserts. In a small exchange of gifts she gave me a couple nice teas and a tea ball. Thus begins my journey into loose leaf teas. Sunday evening Dianna helped me give the house a thorough cleaning. In fact, she did the bulk of the work. Am I lucky or what? Today's picture is one that Shane took of us at Magic Mountain.

In contrast with last weekend, this weekend has started of quite badly. First, the rent was raised by $75. When I first moved in the landlords said they would only raise it every 3 or 4 years, but the've raised it 4 times in less than 4 years. Then today I got a call from the motorcycle driver who broadsided me last February along the Angeles Crest highway. Here are the basic facts according to me, my passenegers, an outside witness, and the police report:

• I was on HW2 northbound and slowed down as I approached the Charlton Flats parking lot.
• I signaled and began to turn left into the lot.
• When the car was about into the lot and half in the southbound lane it was struck in back, driver's side door by a sporty red motorcycle.
• The motorcycle driver is a flaming asshole.

Ok, the last one didn't really make it into the police report. Anyway, the police report states that the motorcycle guy was at fault. He was going to fast to realize I was turning and decided to pass on the left in a no passing zone. In addition he was uninsured and was probably racing with his friend who fled the scene as soon as the police showed up. He has spent the last year recovering from a broken leg and thinking up ways to get other people to pay for the damage he caused. I'm still not quite sure why he called me today other than to harass me and intimidate me. He threatened to tell the DMV that I was uninsured (which isn't true), to sue me and my insurance company, and to take me to small claims court. Then he tried to "remind" me of the events of that day and gave some entirely fabricated story something like this:

• He was driving very slowly and I passed him.
• I was driving along the shoulder on the left side of the road.
• I needed to stop to relieve my bladder.
• I threw the car into reverse and backed up onto the road.

And while this is complete bullshit it still doesn't explain what he was doing in the wrong lane. I can't imagine that he would get away with suing me or the insurance company. But, still, this is a pain. More than anything he sounds angry. And he wants to take it out on me. He has nothing to lose at this point. He's racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses and might as well be in debt to a lawyer too. In case he calls me back to harass me further, does anyone know how to record conversations on one's cell phone?