I'm eating a Curves Strawberries and Cream granola bar. I'm not sure what that says about me. They are pretty good, by the way. I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I hope you got a chance to listen to the NPR story I posted last night. I think it's an important one. I'm listening to the rest of it now. It's 40 minutes long, so make sure you have time. Look at my last post if you want a link to the story.
Yesterday, I came as close as you can to having a wreck without actually having one. I took Jacob to the doctor about 20 minutes outside of town. When we finished there I needed to get to a shop downtown before they closed at 5:00 (which was about 25-30 minutes away.) It was going to be close, but I was going to make it. All was well, then I came to an intersection. At this junction those turning right from the intersecting road merge into the road on which I was driving. I was in the right lane (because I drive like an old woman, except I pay more attention as you will see) and traffic in the left lane was heavy. As I'm moving along watching traffic, I notice a white car turning right from the other road and into the merge lane.
I watched the car closely, waiting for her to stop so I could pass before she merged into traffic. As I moved forward, I realized she was not slowing down. The traffic in the left lane was still thick. I couldn't move over. She kept coming, oblivious to my presence.
I hope you got a chance to listen to the NPR story I posted last night. I think it's an important one. I'm listening to the rest of it now. It's 40 minutes long, so make sure you have time. Look at my last post if you want a link to the story.
Yesterday, I came as close as you can to having a wreck without actually having one. I took Jacob to the doctor about 20 minutes outside of town. When we finished there I needed to get to a shop downtown before they closed at 5:00 (which was about 25-30 minutes away.) It was going to be close, but I was going to make it. All was well, then I came to an intersection. At this junction those turning right from the intersecting road merge into the road on which I was driving. I was in the right lane (because I drive like an old woman, except I pay more attention as you will see) and traffic in the left lane was heavy. As I'm moving along watching traffic, I notice a white car turning right from the other road and into the merge lane.
I watched the car closely, waiting for her to stop so I could pass before she merged into traffic. As I moved forward, I realized she was not slowing down. The traffic in the left lane was still thick. I couldn't move over. She kept coming, oblivious to my presence.
At this point I had a few choices. 1) I could slam on my brakes and probably get rear-ended. 2) I could swerve into the left lane and hope a space opens up for my car. 3) I could give a polite beep of the horn to alert her to my presence. 4) Do nothing, let her hit me. I chose option 3.
I gave a very polite, if lengthy, blast of the horn. Unfortunately, she was past the point of no return. She slammed on her brakes. I swerved as much as I could to the left. The front of my car passed her left fender by mere centimeters. I breathed half of a sigh of relief. Then I heard a noise. THWUMP.
I pulled over in a nearby Dollar General parking lot. She pulled in beside my car. I didn’t expect much damage. It was a tiny little noise. I looked at the back of my car. No damage. I could see a slight rub mark on my bumper. The other driver rolled down her window.
Her: “Are you OK?”
Me: “Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t think there’s any damage at all.”
“I didn’t even think we hit.”
“I just heard a little noise.”
“Are you OK?”
“I’m fine. It looks like there’s just a little rub mark on your paint on the fender.”
About this time she noticed Jacob in the passenger seat.
“Oh my gosh, is your son OK?!?”
“He’s fine. He was asleep.”
“Oh no! I woke him up!”
“He was just dosing a little.”
“Are you sure you’re both OK?”
“We’re fine. Are you OK? Has your heart slowed down yet?”
Then I was back in the car, trying to get to Herald Printing before 5:00. I didn’t make it. When I got home I looked at my bumper again. Right where metal meets plastic I noticed a little gap. I pushed on it with my knee. It popped back into place. A couple of quick raps later, all was well. It was no more than a close call and a decent story.
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