This has turned out to be a nerve-wracking week. After my experience on Monday almost getting hit by a tree in the city, last night I managed to be involved in a car accident and I don't even own a car. My friend is house sitting out in Silver Spring for some friends of hers with some really big dogs and we got together on Friday evening to watch a movie (Topkapi, as a matter of fact). Afterward she was driving me back into the district in the dog-owners' very nice Volkswagen Tuareg. On Connecticut Avenue at the complicated intersection with Florida she was trying to change lanes and there was a taxi in the way, when she turned around from looking over her shoulder at the cab, the light was red, I was shouting "stop", and she was in the intersection. Next thing we know, the SUV sideswiped a small sedan and sent it spinning. Not good. Everyone was physically fine, but something evil happened to the back left wheel of the sedan and the front bumper and grill of the VW were pretty much destroyed. It was, however, a perfect example of what happens when 2.5 tons of SUV hits 1 ton of sedan -- it simply isn't a fair fight. We all agree it could have been a lot worse, but it kept playing in my head all night (an extremely short one after all the hassles and time spent trying to calm down). My friend, of course, feels horrible since she damaged a borrowed car and will have to pay what could be several thousand dollars she doesn't have to get everything fixed. What a very strange week. I certainly hope that is the end of these unsettling events.