Car Accident
I now officially hate autumn leaves.
I was headed out to IHOP last night (mostly because it's the only restaurant open after eleven on Saturdays, and it was 10:54 when I finally got out the door) and got into the stupidest accident on the planet. Before I tell you about the accident, though, a bit of background.
There are three ways to get to one of two main roads from my house. One is to drive straight up my street and turn right at the stop sign. I haven't done this since last November, however; my street is not even, thanks to potholes and raised portions with pipes underneath. Two potholes took out my car's transmission right before last Thanksgiving. I haven't driven on that part of my street since.
The second route to a main drag is back out of the driveway, head towards Linbrook, and hang a right, heading toward Bishop's Corner. The problem is that there is a massive hedge on the left-hand side of the street, and it blocks all view of oncoming traffic. Not great.
The third way is to back out of my driveway, head towards Linnard, and either take a left on Middlebrook and then a right onto Fern (which takes me to a four-way intersection) or go all the way down Linnard and hang a right, heading toward Bishop's Corner.
Linnard is easily the best of the three choices. However, it does have one tricky aspect to it...Linnard is on a long sloping hill, and teenagers tend to race up it. It's a two-lane road, and it's made all the narrower by the fact that people tend to park on the street.
So. Back to the accident. I had just turned right onto Linnard when I saw a car zooming right at me over the crest of the hill. He was going incredibly fast, and--knowing the local brats as I do--I knew he had no intention of stopping.
As quickly as I could, I turned out. He started honking and speeding up. I turned out more, trying to pull over to an empty space near the curb.
He shot past me like a blazing white bullet, so close that the windows of my car were rattling.
I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to swing onto the road again. That was when I found out that I was in trouble.
Unknowingly, I had pulled over onto a massive pile of leaves. It was both high and wide--I'd say it took up fully half of the street. The leaves were packed. Layered. They were jammed solid under my car's front end, back end and middle. There was no way that I could move. The car was stuck--like a cork in a bottle.
I tried a number of times to turn the car and pull it off of the pile. I also tried backing up. Nothing worked. The only thing that happened was that the leaves started smoking suspiciously when I turned the car's engine on.
I walked home (about two blocks there and back) and got a shovel to move the leaves. And shovel I did, for the next forty-five minutes. Plenty of cars drove by, but no one stopped and no one offered to help.
I moved as many leaves as I could. By now my back felt shattered, my legs were shaking and my feet were so swollen that I feared I would have to slice my shoes off. I was in deep and abiding pain. And STILL the car would not move.
I walked home again, sobbing with pain and anger and frustration, and not sure what the hell I could do. I found out when the transmission was punctured that AAA does not send out tow trucks or roadside assistance after 10 p.m. They refuse point-blank, and tell you to call them the next morning. I knew damned well that no neighbors were going to help me. And I was afraid to call the cops--what if they took my license? How would I get around?
I staggered up to my room and collapsed into my computer chair. At that point, I really did wish I was dead. Frustration, rage, bone-splintering pain, dread of damage to the car, fear of a repair bill that I cannot afford, fear of the cops...it was just too much, on top of every other problem AND an already-existing depression. I couldn't deal with it.
I talked to Kaltia for a while, crying. I really had reached the end of my rope. Finally, I left to call the cops. It was a simple enough conversation, until he started talking about turning on the emergency lights, or the flashers. He couldn't seem to fathom that I didn't know what he was talking about, much less where such lights might be on my car. (I never did find out.)
He said he would send a cruiser by in a few minutes. So I trooped back to the car, carrying the shovel and two rakes, one big and one small, got back to the car, pushed the shovel and the big rake in the car, and started prying the leaves from under the car with the little rake.
About ten to fifteen minutes later, two cop cars came by--one the guy I had called and the other a cop on regular patrol. The patrol cop was very interested in knowing how this had happened. Fortunately, after talking with Kaltia, I was somewhat calmer and more lucid than I had been, so I explained about the racing car and trying to get out of his way. Then he and the guy I called spotted the bandages on my legs and immediately all questions stopped. Boy, was I grateful.
I had managed to get enough of the car clear of leaves so that I could back up now. They told me to do so fast, and after a few false starts, it worked. I thanked them very much, and a trifle tearfully
So the car is all right, and I am all right. I'm just feeling a bit worn out. So I'm trying to take it easy today.
I was headed out to IHOP last night (mostly because it's the only restaurant open after eleven on Saturdays, and it was 10:54 when I finally got out the door) and got into the stupidest accident on the planet. Before I tell you about the accident, though, a bit of background.
There are three ways to get to one of two main roads from my house. One is to drive straight up my street and turn right at the stop sign. I haven't done this since last November, however; my street is not even, thanks to potholes and raised portions with pipes underneath. Two potholes took out my car's transmission right before last Thanksgiving. I haven't driven on that part of my street since.
The second route to a main drag is back out of the driveway, head towards Linbrook, and hang a right, heading toward Bishop's Corner. The problem is that there is a massive hedge on the left-hand side of the street, and it blocks all view of oncoming traffic. Not great.
The third way is to back out of my driveway, head towards Linnard, and either take a left on Middlebrook and then a right onto Fern (which takes me to a four-way intersection) or go all the way down Linnard and hang a right, heading toward Bishop's Corner.
Linnard is easily the best of the three choices. However, it does have one tricky aspect to it...Linnard is on a long sloping hill, and teenagers tend to race up it. It's a two-lane road, and it's made all the narrower by the fact that people tend to park on the street.
So. Back to the accident. I had just turned right onto Linnard when I saw a car zooming right at me over the crest of the hill. He was going incredibly fast, and--knowing the local brats as I do--I knew he had no intention of stopping.
As quickly as I could, I turned out. He started honking and speeding up. I turned out more, trying to pull over to an empty space near the curb.
He shot past me like a blazing white bullet, so close that the windows of my car were rattling.
I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to swing onto the road again. That was when I found out that I was in trouble.
Unknowingly, I had pulled over onto a massive pile of leaves. It was both high and wide--I'd say it took up fully half of the street. The leaves were packed. Layered. They were jammed solid under my car's front end, back end and middle. There was no way that I could move. The car was stuck--like a cork in a bottle.
I tried a number of times to turn the car and pull it off of the pile. I also tried backing up. Nothing worked. The only thing that happened was that the leaves started smoking suspiciously when I turned the car's engine on.
I walked home (about two blocks there and back) and got a shovel to move the leaves. And shovel I did, for the next forty-five minutes. Plenty of cars drove by, but no one stopped and no one offered to help.
I moved as many leaves as I could. By now my back felt shattered, my legs were shaking and my feet were so swollen that I feared I would have to slice my shoes off. I was in deep and abiding pain. And STILL the car would not move.
I walked home again, sobbing with pain and anger and frustration, and not sure what the hell I could do. I found out when the transmission was punctured that AAA does not send out tow trucks or roadside assistance after 10 p.m. They refuse point-blank, and tell you to call them the next morning. I knew damned well that no neighbors were going to help me. And I was afraid to call the cops--what if they took my license? How would I get around?
I staggered up to my room and collapsed into my computer chair. At that point, I really did wish I was dead. Frustration, rage, bone-splintering pain, dread of damage to the car, fear of a repair bill that I cannot afford, fear of the cops...it was just too much, on top of every other problem AND an already-existing depression. I couldn't deal with it.
I talked to Kaltia for a while, crying. I really had reached the end of my rope. Finally, I left to call the cops. It was a simple enough conversation, until he started talking about turning on the emergency lights, or the flashers. He couldn't seem to fathom that I didn't know what he was talking about, much less where such lights might be on my car. (I never did find out.)
He said he would send a cruiser by in a few minutes. So I trooped back to the car, carrying the shovel and two rakes, one big and one small, got back to the car, pushed the shovel and the big rake in the car, and started prying the leaves from under the car with the little rake.
About ten to fifteen minutes later, two cop cars came by--one the guy I had called and the other a cop on regular patrol. The patrol cop was very interested in knowing how this had happened. Fortunately, after talking with Kaltia, I was somewhat calmer and more lucid than I had been, so I explained about the racing car and trying to get out of his way. Then he and the guy I called spotted the bandages on my legs and immediately all questions stopped. Boy, was I grateful.
I had managed to get enough of the car clear of leaves so that I could back up now. They told me to do so fast, and after a few false starts, it worked. I thanked them very much, and a trifle tearfully
So the car is all right, and I am all right. I'm just feeling a bit worn out. So I'm trying to take it easy today.