captmojo wrote:Earlier this year, we lost a good friend of the family. She was about as close as she could get without sharing DNA.
Her widower is already hot to trot. He's in his 70's. Oh yeah. I should mention his son's ex-wife is his live-in housekeeper now.
Freaky, huh?
Father-in-law gets weaker daily.
My Mother gets weaker daily.
My boss still bites the big one. He's the one that tried to fire me last year for driving a company vehicle two (yeah...2) blocks, out of route , in order to vote.
It gets better. The story continues. This could take a while. Pull up a comfy chair. Join me, won't you?
devildeac wrote:Bad: January, our youngest daughter was hit from behind (I'd say rear-ended but I know the minds here... :roll: ) just before the I-40/Derm Freeway split with over $2K damage done to her car.
Good: No personal injuries and the repairs were completed in a timely fashion with little argument from the offending party/ins. co. We have yet to see if it will affect the trade value of the car.
I had absolutely nothing, whatsoever, to do with this accident. I had one of my own. Thank you very much.
I returned from a trip to Sanford NC, around 6PM today. I had been there to visit with an attorney.
On June 10, I was involved in an accident there. Anyone familiar with US421 (Horner Blvd) through that fair city? Particularly, the portion that runs past the downtown area? Between Wicker St. and the railroad overpass? A very dangerous area if I must say so, and I must. All here should be alert to the dangers. They are: far too much traffic; too fast of a posted speed limit; travel lanes too narrow for modern vehicles; too much camber to the road surface. I could go on and on yet will not.
On to the sorry details. As I was traveling south to Fayetteville that morning, I passed across Wicker St. intersection with no traffic before me. There was a car on my right. I was in the left lane. After passing across, my eyes scanned the mirrors, right first, then driver's side. As my eyes scan back toward the front, there were two ladies on the sidewalk, in front of a pet store, on my left. One lady was placing a small brown dog down onto the ground and, of course, this captured my attention. My thoughts were "Is this dog going to run out in the street? (it was unleashed) If so, will anyone try to chase it?" "Holy shit!" MY eyes scanned back ahead, 12 O'Clock. Problem is, the road makes right turn thereand now, ahead is more like 2 O'Clock. OMG! There's a pickup truck with a left turn signal on. I only have 125 feet to get stopped at the speed of 34mph. The limit is 35. It should have been 25. I wish it were 25. Maybe, no left turns should be allowed between the hours of 9AM and 6PM.
The guy wasn't there 200 feet ago. Where the hell did he come from. Brakes were stomped. Prayers were muttered. Nothing worked. I tagged his right rear bumper. Due to the fact that he was in a right-hand curve, my impact pushed him across the lane of travel into oncoming traffic. A young lady, going northbound, hit his right front bumper. He was OK. She was not. Ugly injury to her right foot. She ended up being air-lifted to Chapel Hole. I ended up with a citation from the local authorities for failure to reduce speed in order to avoid collision with a vehicle. The language used on the ticket form I cannot disagree with. However, the ticket says nothing about my possible ability to stop. I did everything I could do to try to get stopped. I did not have the time and distance. My vehicle weighed 80,000lbs and at 34mph, with a fair coefficient of drag, 34mph speed, I needed probably at least 200 feet to get stopped.
I was drug tested upon my return home. Negative. Alcohol testing-again negative. I don't chit-chat on the cell phone. I only carry one in cases of emergency. No distractions of any nature other than what hazards were before me. My boss did me the favor of "discharging" me upon my return from drug testing. I say favor because his rush to judgment will likely be his undoing. Proper attitude should have been suspension during investigation. All his investigation was performed after the discharge. I have attended one union/company hearing in Ocean City MD. The committee there never heard the case of the accident. They ruled that no evidence received after the time discharge was announced, would be admitted. They ruled 3 to 3 that I had been unduly discharged, automatically kicking the case up to another committee at the national level. Negotiations are underway to arrive at an out-of-arbitration settlement. I hope they are favorable. The next level meets in Providence RI soon. I want not to have to go, but I do want to return to my job, as bad as it can be. I have 17 years invested with this company and I'm too old to start anew elsewhere. I'd be the most unlikely to have a recurrence. Experience is a great teacher. Also, far too many living under my roof are dependent on me.
A virtual drive can be made through this stretch of road by
Googling, 202 S Horner Sanford NC. Click on the "Street view" inside the pop-up balloon that will appear over the map. Click the arrowheads to travel southward toward the intersection of Pearl St. Coincidentally, a white pickup truck will appear at the intersection point of impact, where Pearl St shows up on the left, just past a small parking lot. These photos are out of sequence for one photo. If you click ahead , one more arrow spot, the truck will magically back up to the impact point. The last building on the left, before the truck, is the pet shop.
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. But, I do have great co-workers, who took up a collection for me to finance my trip to Ocean City. They have full understanding of the dangers all those face when passing through this area. Their vote of confidence in me is quite uplifting. I pray for more.
Bloody bastards. 
, missing the rest of the season for cheering. 
