The "Missing Part" Story

It was an ordinary day. We are headed into Marigot for the day. Marigot (the "t" is silent) is the capital of the French side of St. Martin. We are staying at the Alamanda Resort this year and Marigot is about 15 minutes from the Alamanda. If ....... you know the shortcuts. The car we have rented this year is from Thrifty Car Rental. Saw it on a web page and thought I would give it a try. Price was good and they would meet us at the airport and take us to the rental agency. All went smoothly and we ended up with a small 4-door vehicle. Wasn't in the best of shape, but the price was right and all we were going to use it for was transportation, not to enter it in a car show. OK, now we're off to Marigot. No CD player in the car, so we tuned to a local reggae station. We passed by the turnoff to go to Pinel Island, past the turn off to Grand Case, the culinary capital of St. Martin, and past the turn off to Happy Bay. Next up the hill at Rumbard and down the other side towards Marigot. As we approached the round-about on the north end of the city, I took the far right exit from the round-about because it cuts off about 5 minutes of the trip. We were told about this short-cut, but ....... not about the huge 8" high speed bump that was shaded under a gigantic tree about 200 yards from the round-about. No sign telling it was coming. Not painted yellow or with white stripes. Blended in very well with the road. And, with no other cars in sight to help us identify where the speed bumps may be in the road. We hit it going about 35 MPH! Hit it maybe isn't the best word for it. Smashed into it and flew over it. As we came down we scraped the bottom of the car on the bump and heard something fly off the back of the car. I pulled over and by now everyone nearby was looking at me and laughing. Looked all over for ...... maybe a bumper; nope, have both of them. How about the hubcaps; nope, car didn't have them to start with I remembered. All doors and trunk lid are accounted for. OK, got back in the car and continued on. Car was still running with no steam or smoke so I knew it wasn't part of the engine. Then we realized what fell off. Seems we lost our reggae station. The aerial on the top of the car was missing. Now there was a big hole on the roof. On our way home from our trip to Marigot I stopped and searched everywhere for it. No luck. Someone had a new aerial for their car. Put some duct tape over the hole and when we returned it asked it there was an aerial when we left the rental place. They weren't sure, so they told us not to worry about it. No problem, mon! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photo shows the tree where the bump is located. We approached it from the opposite direction and at a time of day when the tree shaded the road. Hard to see it, isn't it?