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Feb. 8th, 2004 11:18 amI'd intended to update my journal last night. I left C & K's home, en route to pick up Megan at P & L's, planning on settling into my chair and updating with some truly amusing stuff that had been discussed. The trouble is, by the time I'd gotten to P & L's just about everything had been ripped from my mind and replaced with an adrenaline-fired supercharge. And by the time I'd gotten home, that had dropped into the shakes. So the update didn't happen, and I can't remember what was so funny that I'd wanted to put it here.
P & L live, quite literally, back in the woods. There're other houses, but the only ways in involve one-lane-each-way winding twisty little roads without shoulders. I'd been in the northern road yesterday morning to drop Megan off, and there were large patches where the road was completely iced over. We crept in and arrived safe; I chatted for a few with L before I bugged out, departing by the northern road again to hit the convenience store not far from where it rejoined the main road. An uneventful trip, but the amount of ice on the secondary roads concerned me.
I spent the afternoon at C & K's chattering with him about Linux for a while before she joined us, and then the conversation migrated in stages into the financial morass and logic box I'm trapped in. They've both been friends for over a decade, and I trust them... and they're local. They're the ONLY folks I can trust with everything that're local. I laid out the bulk of the problems and hooks I'm trying to cope with, and the lion's share of the afternoon was spent in a question and answer kind of format. I... don't know if on consideration either of them will come up with something feasible, but it was definitely worth a shot. Until then, I guess I'm buying lottery tickets.
I departed there around 21:30, headed back up the road to retrieve Megan. I'd decided to run in via the southern road this time; having seen the northern road, and remembering a couple of sharp bends that had been flooding with what little thawing was going on, it seemed the prudent choice. I kept my speed low and worked my way in, and for the first half was quite pleased with the choice. Around the next bend, though, I got a nasty shock: the entire road was a sheet of ice all the way to the next bend, seeming to stop just past where the road started to curve, and I was already -on- the ice. I've done ice driving before, and there's a definite luck factor involved... but it was a straight shot with a field beyond at the other end. About that time several things occurred in rapid fire:
That's not a very good illustration, but it should get the point across. I was close enough to the van that I could -see- the face of the man behind the wheel, his mouth open in a scream that ... well, it was freaky looking and my mind immediately filled in 'scream' noises. The two vehicles slid past each other in a ballet of ice and metal, and my mind was -still- trying to process the good Lord, I'm /alive/! thought when the tires of the Saturn crunched and finally bit pavement again at the far end. I sat there for a bit; I've no idea how much time elapsed. My brain was howling at me, the panic finally hitting, while a fragment of my brain (the insane part) was screaming YEAH! AGAIN!. I learned a long time ago not to listen to that part. Most of the time. When I finally pulled my wits back together, I managed to finesse my way the rest of the way to get Megan... and departed by the -northern- route, thank you very much. We arrived home without further event, the exultation still pounding in my head.
And when I sat down, it all rushed in on me and I collapsed in a jellied heap for nearly four hours. No update got done, no reading... just me curled up in a ball under blankets, blanked out. Apologies to anyone I may've affronted yesterday with my absence, but... well, sorry. I'm going to go crawl back into bed; hopefully I'll dream of something besides demolition derbies and all those multi-car accidents from CHiPs reruns...
P & L live, quite literally, back in the woods. There're other houses, but the only ways in involve one-lane-each-way winding twisty little roads without shoulders. I'd been in the northern road yesterday morning to drop Megan off, and there were large patches where the road was completely iced over. We crept in and arrived safe; I chatted for a few with L before I bugged out, departing by the northern road again to hit the convenience store not far from where it rejoined the main road. An uneventful trip, but the amount of ice on the secondary roads concerned me.
I spent the afternoon at C & K's chattering with him about Linux for a while before she joined us, and then the conversation migrated in stages into the financial morass and logic box I'm trapped in. They've both been friends for over a decade, and I trust them... and they're local. They're the ONLY folks I can trust with everything that're local. I laid out the bulk of the problems and hooks I'm trying to cope with, and the lion's share of the afternoon was spent in a question and answer kind of format. I... don't know if on consideration either of them will come up with something feasible, but it was definitely worth a shot. Until then, I guess I'm buying lottery tickets.
I departed there around 21:30, headed back up the road to retrieve Megan. I'd decided to run in via the southern road this time; having seen the northern road, and remembering a couple of sharp bends that had been flooding with what little thawing was going on, it seemed the prudent choice. I kept my speed low and worked my way in, and for the first half was quite pleased with the choice. Around the next bend, though, I got a nasty shock: the entire road was a sheet of ice all the way to the next bend, seeming to stop just past where the road started to curve, and I was already -on- the ice. I've done ice driving before, and there's a definite luck factor involved... but it was a straight shot with a field beyond at the other end. About that time several things occurred in rapid fire:
- A white Chevrolet work van slid into view at the far bend, moving -sideways-...
- The rear of the Saturn was jarred loose by a large chunk of ice on the edge of the road...
- The van 'bumped' a tree, shifting his slide pattern and aiming him right at me...
- Both vehicles began the long, looping spins that are not uncommon when on a sheet of ice...
- I got the flash impression of I'm going to die out here on the ice, and bleed out before anyone even realizes there's been an accident
That's not a very good illustration, but it should get the point across. I was close enough to the van that I could -see- the face of the man behind the wheel, his mouth open in a scream that ... well, it was freaky looking and my mind immediately filled in 'scream' noises. The two vehicles slid past each other in a ballet of ice and metal, and my mind was -still- trying to process the good Lord, I'm /alive/! thought when the tires of the Saturn crunched and finally bit pavement again at the far end. I sat there for a bit; I've no idea how much time elapsed. My brain was howling at me, the panic finally hitting, while a fragment of my brain (the insane part) was screaming YEAH! AGAIN!. I learned a long time ago not to listen to that part. Most of the time. When I finally pulled my wits back together, I managed to finesse my way the rest of the way to get Megan... and departed by the -northern- route, thank you very much. We arrived home without further event, the exultation still pounding in my head.
And when I sat down, it all rushed in on me and I collapsed in a jellied heap for nearly four hours. No update got done, no reading... just me curled up in a ball under blankets, blanked out. Apologies to anyone I may've affronted yesterday with my absence, but... well, sorry. I'm going to go crawl back into bed; hopefully I'll dream of something besides demolition derbies and all those multi-car accidents from CHiPs reruns...
