(no subject)
Good, an easy way to tell lots of people at once! (I'm getting tired of repeating myself, and I'm not sure who's heard what details, anymore ... ) And I can just copy and paste from elsewhere:
First: I'm OK.
Well, I'm gonna be OK.
Second: Nobody else was involved, and cars are replaceable.
Third: Her name was Jessica (for Jessica Rabbit) and she was a 1995 Buick Regal, Gran Sport Suspension. I've had her since January 2004, and we've covered 40,000 miles together since. She was a good little car, but roofs are like knees, and should not be concave. She was a good little car, and she kept me as safe as she could.
Story: I was driving home to Lansing, MI from the north side of Chicago last night, and at 2:40am, just before Mile 44 on I-94 in MI, the long weekend plus two hours of driving caught up with me, and I nodded off and drifted left. Rumble strip woke me up, I overcorrected and swerved right, fishtailed, fishtailed, and spun around so that I saw oncoming headlights. Momentum took me off the road to the right, but facing backwards. Sliding down the embankment sideways, the car rolled over and went airborne, then landed crunching the front of the passenger side. I hit my head against the roof (things look funny upside down!) and landed right side up again. I turned the car off and found my glasses and got safely out -- glass from the windshield and passenger window everywhere, but I wasn't bleeding; headache already and sore neck, but I could get out and walk. 40 feet off the road, facing off backwards at a 45 degree angle, stopped up against lots of little scrub brush things.
I called 911, Nancy talked to me until the sheriffs arrived, we got AAA to bring a tow truck, and my roommates Moose and Paul both came and picked me up in Paw Paw, MI. The driver gave us time at the lot, so Moose and I used some of the empty boxes sitting in the trunk (when you're getting ready to move, EVERYBODY gives you boxes!) to pack up all of my belongings and get them out of the car, so I don't have to get a ride back there to see her again. I cried then. It was the "I can't bear to think about coming back here again to see the carnage" more than anything else.
I've always said, "She's paid for! I'm driving her till she's dead!" ... but I didn't think I'd be the one holding the knife. I'd kind of hoped for a nice peaceful end, like Alzheimer's, or transmission trouble that's too expensive to work on and brings about a well-deserved retirement.
Anyway, hours and hours later we got home. I napped sideways in the car on the way, called in to say I wouldn't be at work, then I finally slept. I woke up this afternoon and it hurt to move my neck in any way. Paul took me to the ER, where they took 2 round of X-rays of my neck and finally said I'm not broken, just bruised and sore and whiplashed -- the ER Doctor says I'll be fine.
My car, however, was most likely totaled. Insurance adjuster will decide her fate tomorrow or Friday and settle up.
For maximum irony points, I spent more than $125 last week on an oil change and filter and new taillight bulbs and a new serpentine belt (and installation), because of this trip to Chicago.
But, cars are replaceable, and I'm OK, and I didn't involve anyone else in the stupid.
And the Vicodin is making me feel funny.
So I'm gonna say good night here, and respond to some notes down there, and go to bed.
I love you all, and thank you for loving me!
I think I'm gonna be OK.
"I get by with a help from my friends" has been running through my brain for the last however-long-I've-been-typing-this.
Copied from replies:
1. Yes, of course I was wearing my seatbelt.
2. As for the car full of stuff -- I had very carefully put the plastic shoebox full of Magic cards on the floor, rather than the back seat, because I didn't want them to get dumped if I hit the brakes too hard. Later on, I remember noticing that A. the world was upside down and B. I was being pelted in the face by Magic cards! They went EVERYWHERE!
3. I'm actually doing pretty good, considering.
My sense of humor was not injured, thank goodness -- it's what's keeping me going!
And people keep laughing WITH me, so either I'm actually coming through as funny, even outside my head, or they're just taking pity on the poor Vicodin-ed-up hurt girl.
4. I only found out this past weekend that one of her names was "Theresa's Magic Time-Warping Automobile" ... when I made what I had kind of expected to be a 5 hour trip in just over 3 and a half. I divided miles by minutes and figured out that I averaged 71 mph for the entire trip MI to Chicago. I was probably doing 75-80 when I drifted off.
Any questions I didn't answer?
First: I'm OK.
Well, I'm gonna be OK.
Second: Nobody else was involved, and cars are replaceable.
Third: Her name was Jessica (for Jessica Rabbit) and she was a 1995 Buick Regal, Gran Sport Suspension. I've had her since January 2004, and we've covered 40,000 miles together since. She was a good little car, but roofs are like knees, and should not be concave. She was a good little car, and she kept me as safe as she could.
Story: I was driving home to Lansing, MI from the north side of Chicago last night, and at 2:40am, just before Mile 44 on I-94 in MI, the long weekend plus two hours of driving caught up with me, and I nodded off and drifted left. Rumble strip woke me up, I overcorrected and swerved right, fishtailed, fishtailed, and spun around so that I saw oncoming headlights. Momentum took me off the road to the right, but facing backwards. Sliding down the embankment sideways, the car rolled over and went airborne, then landed crunching the front of the passenger side. I hit my head against the roof (things look funny upside down!) and landed right side up again. I turned the car off and found my glasses and got safely out -- glass from the windshield and passenger window everywhere, but I wasn't bleeding; headache already and sore neck, but I could get out and walk. 40 feet off the road, facing off backwards at a 45 degree angle, stopped up against lots of little scrub brush things.
I called 911, Nancy talked to me until the sheriffs arrived, we got AAA to bring a tow truck, and my roommates Moose and Paul both came and picked me up in Paw Paw, MI. The driver gave us time at the lot, so Moose and I used some of the empty boxes sitting in the trunk (when you're getting ready to move, EVERYBODY gives you boxes!) to pack up all of my belongings and get them out of the car, so I don't have to get a ride back there to see her again. I cried then. It was the "I can't bear to think about coming back here again to see the carnage" more than anything else.
I've always said, "She's paid for! I'm driving her till she's dead!" ... but I didn't think I'd be the one holding the knife. I'd kind of hoped for a nice peaceful end, like Alzheimer's, or transmission trouble that's too expensive to work on and brings about a well-deserved retirement.
Anyway, hours and hours later we got home. I napped sideways in the car on the way, called in to say I wouldn't be at work, then I finally slept. I woke up this afternoon and it hurt to move my neck in any way. Paul took me to the ER, where they took 2 round of X-rays of my neck and finally said I'm not broken, just bruised and sore and whiplashed -- the ER Doctor says I'll be fine.
My car, however, was most likely totaled. Insurance adjuster will decide her fate tomorrow or Friday and settle up.
For maximum irony points, I spent more than $125 last week on an oil change and filter and new taillight bulbs and a new serpentine belt (and installation), because of this trip to Chicago.
But, cars are replaceable, and I'm OK, and I didn't involve anyone else in the stupid.
And the Vicodin is making me feel funny.
So I'm gonna say good night here, and respond to some notes down there, and go to bed.
I love you all, and thank you for loving me!
I think I'm gonna be OK.
"I get by with a help from my friends" has been running through my brain for the last however-long-I've-been-typing-this.
Copied from replies:
1. Yes, of course I was wearing my seatbelt.
2. As for the car full of stuff -- I had very carefully put the plastic shoebox full of Magic cards on the floor, rather than the back seat, because I didn't want them to get dumped if I hit the brakes too hard. Later on, I remember noticing that A. the world was upside down and B. I was being pelted in the face by Magic cards! They went EVERYWHERE!
3. I'm actually doing pretty good, considering.
My sense of humor was not injured, thank goodness -- it's what's keeping me going!
And people keep laughing WITH me, so either I'm actually coming through as funny, even outside my head, or they're just taking pity on the poor Vicodin-ed-up hurt girl.
4. I only found out this past weekend that one of her names was "Theresa's Magic Time-Warping Automobile" ... when I made what I had kind of expected to be a 5 hour trip in just over 3 and a half. I divided miles by minutes and figured out that I averaged 71 mph for the entire trip MI to Chicago. I was probably doing 75-80 when I drifted off.
Any questions I didn't answer?