The Bruised Thumb-- 2/27/02
Feb. 27th, 2002 02:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kilroyToday was a climactic day. I had triumphantly defeated the weather driving up to Chicago yesterday to teach my class, and was driving back early today to meet an appointment at our local Toyota retailer for my long-overdue 25000 mile checkup. This is key irony, so pay attention.
Due to the fairly shitty weather conditions yesterday and today (snow, wind, ice, wetness in just the wrong combinations for driving) I decided to take it fairly slow on the roads. I'm frequently a fairly fast driver, and this has never gotten me into trouble; but today I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and took things nice and easy. This is also key irony.
Most of the way home, I spot one of the road signs and do a quick mental calculation-- should be back in town within an hour, a good twenty minutes ahead of schedule. I started to relax and plan the rest of my day.
At this point my car begins to skid off the road just a tiny bit. I don't panic, try to turn into the skid a little to regain some control. No dice, and I'm now pointed at one of the poles that periodically lines the road. In the split second that I had, I decided that given my previous driving experiences, crashing into it would be bad-- so I turn the car a little further off the road, hoping to crash fairly lightly into a snowdrift.
At this point cue the special effects sequence reminiscent of Luke crashing his snowspeeder in The Empire Strikes Back. The next thing I know I'm hanging upside down from my seatbelt (also reminding me of Empire), unable to see out the front windshield for all the white. The cd-player is still cranking out the Collective Soul album I'd been listening to, and the engine is still running contentedly. No warning lights flashed on my console.
Since it seemed like the logical thing to do, I reached out, turned off the engine (not forgetting to put the car in park), and pocketed the keys. After hanging there for a moment I release my seat belt and try my door. Nope, I'm snowed in. Looking out the other car windows I decide the right rear door is my best bet, and sure enough it opens without significant issue. I find out when I emerge that the reason for this is that the rear of my car is sticking up from the median snowbank at a fairly steep angle.
I notice that a car has pulled over a little ways down the road, and I wave to them and make my way over to the car. Inside is a very nice concerned citizen who shall remain nameless, who offers me a ride home to Champaign since he was going to Rantoul anyway. At which point a trucker pulls up on the other side of the road and calls in the accident for me. He suggests that I go to the state trooper headquarters in Pontiac just two miles down the road, and my friendly citizen obliges.
After a very short time (like five minutes) a trooper has already been to the site and gotten to the headquarters to ask me a few questions. Ten minutes later I have my forms filled out and get back in the car with my concerned citizen. We have a cordial conversation about the differences between Chicago and Champaign as we drive past the literally several dozen other cars in various states of wreck on the road. Of special note was the full-on cargo truck that had somehow planted itself so that the cab was sticking straight up in the air like some kind of animal raising its head.
I get home (my concerned citizen won't even let me pay for his gas), and start calling people. Miraculously, within half an hour I have everything sorted out. Apparently practice really does make perfect in these situations.
Everything's pretty much okay now. The business end is taken care of, and I seem remarkably calm considering the circumstances. Literally the worst injury I sustained was a bruise about the size of a pinhead under my right thumb.
Further details as events warrant. Just thought you all should know.
Due to the fairly shitty weather conditions yesterday and today (snow, wind, ice, wetness in just the wrong combinations for driving) I decided to take it fairly slow on the roads. I'm frequently a fairly fast driver, and this has never gotten me into trouble; but today I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, and took things nice and easy. This is also key irony.
Most of the way home, I spot one of the road signs and do a quick mental calculation-- should be back in town within an hour, a good twenty minutes ahead of schedule. I started to relax and plan the rest of my day.
At this point my car begins to skid off the road just a tiny bit. I don't panic, try to turn into the skid a little to regain some control. No dice, and I'm now pointed at one of the poles that periodically lines the road. In the split second that I had, I decided that given my previous driving experiences, crashing into it would be bad-- so I turn the car a little further off the road, hoping to crash fairly lightly into a snowdrift.
At this point cue the special effects sequence reminiscent of Luke crashing his snowspeeder in The Empire Strikes Back. The next thing I know I'm hanging upside down from my seatbelt (also reminding me of Empire), unable to see out the front windshield for all the white. The cd-player is still cranking out the Collective Soul album I'd been listening to, and the engine is still running contentedly. No warning lights flashed on my console.
Since it seemed like the logical thing to do, I reached out, turned off the engine (not forgetting to put the car in park), and pocketed the keys. After hanging there for a moment I release my seat belt and try my door. Nope, I'm snowed in. Looking out the other car windows I decide the right rear door is my best bet, and sure enough it opens without significant issue. I find out when I emerge that the reason for this is that the rear of my car is sticking up from the median snowbank at a fairly steep angle.
I notice that a car has pulled over a little ways down the road, and I wave to them and make my way over to the car. Inside is a very nice concerned citizen who shall remain nameless, who offers me a ride home to Champaign since he was going to Rantoul anyway. At which point a trucker pulls up on the other side of the road and calls in the accident for me. He suggests that I go to the state trooper headquarters in Pontiac just two miles down the road, and my friendly citizen obliges.
After a very short time (like five minutes) a trooper has already been to the site and gotten to the headquarters to ask me a few questions. Ten minutes later I have my forms filled out and get back in the car with my concerned citizen. We have a cordial conversation about the differences between Chicago and Champaign as we drive past the literally several dozen other cars in various states of wreck on the road. Of special note was the full-on cargo truck that had somehow planted itself so that the cab was sticking straight up in the air like some kind of animal raising its head.
I get home (my concerned citizen won't even let me pay for his gas), and start calling people. Miraculously, within half an hour I have everything sorted out. Apparently practice really does make perfect in these situations.
Everything's pretty much okay now. The business end is taken care of, and I seem remarkably calm considering the circumstances. Literally the worst injury I sustained was a bruise about the size of a pinhead under my right thumb.
Further details as events warrant. Just thought you all should know.