What else could go wrong?
2006-05-10

Ever have one of those days where things are flying along and the at the flip of a switch, it all turns to crap? Me too...
Work was OK, which just being able to say those words means it was a big improvement on everthing related to the last position. I got out on time, another plus. It was raining a bit and even a little rain here in the Northeast means a slow ride home. I'm not sure why they forget how to drive when anything wet falls from the sky, but it is a fact of life and you deal with it.
I've been seening signs on the major highway I need to take to get home about construction. It started on Monday. I tried an alternate route that didn't work well and last night decided to just stick it out. How bad could it be right? Well for 8 miles they had 2 lanes blocked off. They weren't doing any real work of course. It's going to rain all week, but they still blocked the lanes. Perhaps they are optomists?
I drive into the construction, and I'm sitting stopped in the left lane. The person behind me apparently doesn't see the need to stop dispite the 12 mile line of cars in front that did. Oops, BLAM!!!! Dispite the fact that my foot was on the brake I slid a bit. I turned off the car, turned on the flashers and went out to check out the damage.
The car that hit me was a blue Honda driven by this tiny young girl. I'm going to guess she was maybe 20 but one of those 20's that could be 14, you know? She was on the verge of tears and appologizing like crazy. Even though she had just hit me, I immediately felt bad for her and tried to reassure her that everything was going to be OK.
We both pulled our cars off into the median and exchanged information. Her car was a mess. The grill, hood, bumper and radiator were mashed in pretty good. Mine just has damage to the bumper. I was shocked. I figured the whole back end would have been gone fron the sound and feel of the impact.
Christine called her boyfriend and AAA. She didn't want to call the police and I agreed. I told her that I wasn't going to try to gouge her and that if we could fix the damage without insurance it would be OK with me. I'll get it quoted today. I just felt so bad for this kid. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I can live with that.
We said our goodbyes and I left her there with her smashed car in the median. The of couse I felt bad for leaving her like that. I one of the stops in the traffic I called back to check on her. She appologized again about ten times and assured me she was OK and that her boyfriend was on the way. I told her that if she needed help to call me on the cell. And life goes on.
An hour and a half of bumper to bumper traffic I got home. Major highway #2 is also under construction starting yesterday. This one was a surprise. I called M.E. told her what happened and asked if she wanted to eat out. I wasn't in th emood to cook and dispite the diet considerations, I wanted a glass of wine or two.
I got home just before she did, took puppy out and checked for messages. There was one familliar number the YC and one message. The boat had broken a dock line and had smashed into the dock. The had retied thigs as best they could, but I needed to get down there. Great...
I scrounged through the basement looking for line. My best back up piece was being used by a friend in need. Wonderful.... I found about a 100' of heavy duty line and headed down to the boat in the steadily pouring rain.
It was wild at the end of the dock. It was blowing a steady 35 and gusting 40+ dead out of the northeast. Waves were breaking over the dock and the stern was going up and down in 3' girations. The line they had replaced was just about to be sawn in half by the toerail. Wonderful... I grabbed my line, timed my leap and got on board. I realized that if I fell in, one of two things were likely, I'd be crushed by the boat or I'd die of hypothermia before help arrived. I was VERY careful.
I got my rigging knife and cut my line in two pieces being very careful of my footwork on the wet heaving deck. It was like trying to tie up a wild horse while being in the saddle as he jumped up and down. I caught a few good waves and was soaked from the waist down.
I finally got it tied up like a Christmas goose and headed up to the bar for a grapes and to dry off for a bit. And then I went home a little worse for wear but in one piece. And the Sox killed the Yanks. Maybe it wasn't such a bad day after all...

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