Bits Of Babbling

My Guardian Angel Works Overtime

Usually I leave the on-the-road adventures to Mr MadMup, but sometimes I like to get in trouble of my own as you may recall. If you don't recall then I just reminded you, so you've no further excuse for your lack of recollection.

The mishap in question happened on the way to my parent's place at approximately 4:24 in the PM just outide the little ol' town of Splendora, Texas.

Well first things first, here is a view of the area in which our story takes place, click for larger version

I was driving along in the fast lane a bit above the speed limit for the area (Not much, no more than 5 miles over the limit) seeking to pass a U-Haul truck which had a green SUV in tow behind it. Well, I slowed down a couple miles per hour and he must have sped up because he started to advance on me. Soon he was pulling ahead, and as he did I looked at the trailer, right where the wheel of the car fit into the indentation of its captor, right at the chains which bound the wheel's free spirit. I looked at them and without any real cause I thought, "Wouldn't it be weird if that SUV came right off?" There wasn't any strange noises, no visible signs of anything loose, nothing was out of the ordinary. The thought just popped in.

The thought lingered only briefly and as the U-Haul pulled ahead, I pulled in behind him. Generally I'm no fan of being behind large trucks because I like to keep plenty of visibility on the road - trucks towing potentially loose cargo I'm even more leery of following as the last thing I need is for a piece of lumber to redecorate my windshield. But since he was going at a decent clip faster than I was I didn't have a problem trailing him and letting other, speedier types, make use of the fast lane.

Well, it couldn't have been more than 60 seconds, and probably not more than 30 before my mind's flight of whimsy came to fruitation. One second I was behind a U-Haul truck which had a car in tow. The next second the car decided it preferred being un-towed and ventured off to seek its own destiny. With a cry of glee it broke free of its shackles completely and jumped into the fast lane. Unfortunately the car was so used to being driven by a human that it wasn't quite sure what to do when there was no driver present. The car slammed into the cement barrier you see in the picture, shattering the back window and showering my truck with bits of glass.

It's really funny, you see a giant, heavy hunk of steel free itself onto the open road, slam into a concrete barrier, and not for a second do you feel a bit of fear. You don't slam on your brakes, you don't slam on the gas, you don't even feel that you are in danger. You just feel a sense of wonderment as you watch it in awe. I don't mean to sound as though I was being careless, but I didn't feel at risk in the least. The momentum propelled the car in a vector which was mostly forward and slightly away from myself and even still I watched it like a hawk lest its wheels turn their eyes to me. But this is something you don't see every day and on some weird, wacky level of aesthetics is almost beautiful to watch.

So anyway, with their SUV making friends with a giant stretch of cement, the U-Haul folks decided it might be prudent to pull over onto the side of the road. Interestingly enough it was right about here that the concrete barriers on either side disappeared and allowed them to pull over on the right between some construction barrells. I followed suit a good 50 feet past them. By this time the SUV had also found the end of the concrete on the left and made a left-turn into the trees like you see in the picture.

I sat there for a second, trying to take in what just happened. It didn't seem as though it could be real, I mean what are the odds of my randomly thinking "What if that came off?" and it actually happening shortly after? Perhaps I have overlooked the potential I could have super powers. What powers you ask? Well how about the power to kill a yak from 200 yards away - with mind bullets... Next I should work on the power to move you.

Er sorry, Tenacious D moment. Won't happen again.

But as I sat there a bit shaken, more-so from the unlikely prediction than any post-trauma "I can't believe I survived that, what if it had hit me!?" stress, I began to wonder what obligations I had. Was it my duty to call 911 and wait for the police to arrive and ask me questions? I wasn't entirely sure what the protocol was for fantastical accidents which involve no injuries might be and figured it might be best to phone a friend. So I called my dad.

Of course my mom answered and didn't quite seem to grasp my story and declared my duty was to wait for the police. Ugh. "But lets see what your dad thinks" - So she put my dad on the phone and I relayed the story for a second time. He didn't figure I needed to stay around, especially since I mentioned that the line of cars which had pulled over before had all seemed to have been waived on by the U-Haul driver (I was still watching the scene unfold from my rear view mirror) and nobody had gotten hurt.

So thus ended my highway adventure in which I nearly got hit by a SUV on a joyride. I hope the owner made sure to ground it until it learns to drive on its own. I'm quite glad that I got out of the fast lane when I did, had I still been there then there is probably a 90% chance I would have gotten hit by the loose SUV. Had I not been pseudo-expecting it to come off, I probably would have been a lot more freaked out by the freewheeling ferrous monstrosity and perhaps done something silly like jerk the wheel or slam on my brakes without first checking to see of there was somebody right on my tail. The feeling I had the whole time was one of peace, one that somebody was watching over me, one exactly like the feeling I had during the tire incident. My guardian angel definitely does a bang-up job, I don't think I can thank him enough.

Excuse me

Could you please message me via an appropriate medium and remind me (Read: Badger) me to make a new post when you see this? It has been over a month - and nearly a month since Meags posted a happy birthday to me!

Thanks in advance!