A Sunday sad saga

...or a sad Sunday saga! Whatever, it was pretty upsetting to me. I am getting quite good at being upset, it seems.

My car got torn, and torn up, as the Southerners like to say. Here's the story:

As I drove merrily along on the way to church, getting closer and closer to Blanding, I saw the car in front of me swerve around something but I failed to miss the debris entirely, catching the bag with my right rear wheel. This happened between the entrances to Home Depot, across from the Mall, near the light to HD/Target. Rats!

There was a horrible BANG! BANG! BANG! as I pulled to the curb, expecting some of the rocks were caught or something. Oh no, no rocks---but a steel rod was sticking out from my tire, extending out from the tire and striking my car in the rear panel, tearing it. I could not pull the rod out, which was about 24" long, with four inches of it in the tire. 

Frantic (there's that word again!) I tried to dial 9-1-1 as  my car was sitting in the lane of traffic on what would normally be a very busy road. It took me a couple tries to push the right buttons and finally connected with dispatch. I explained my situation and she said someone would come. In the meanwhile, I stood on the sidewalk and waved people around my disabled car. Fortunately people did not have a good head of steam up after leaving the stop light and allowed others to merge over to avoid hitting my car. Not like anyone could miss me in my purple top, arms flailing in the air....

A young man from the cell phone business near where I was sitting came up to try and help me but he could not manage to pull it out. We both felt it would cause more damage to move the car so he said he was going to look for more tools. In the meanwhile, a wrecker pulled up behind my car. Nice!

I thought this must be what the police do in cases such as this, have a wrecker come to remove the offending vehicle in the roadway. He pulled the rod out and immediately the tire went flat. "Mike" directed me to very slowly pull into the parking lot ahead of us and he would change the tire for me. Great!

In the meanwhile, I had called Justin to tell him and also let Judy C. know what was going on. After I spoke to Judy, she called me back to see if she should come and get me. I was fine, just save me a seat in church! In order to access the spare tire, I had to relocate six 12-packs of soda to the back seat. Fortunately, there was little else to move. Mike informed me he was on call, normally works out of a shop on Old Kings Road, which is far away, but he lives in OP. 

He took care of changing the tire, first filling the spare with more air as it was low, and then replacing it. He put the flat one in the back of the car, and basically sent me on my way. "No charge, Ma'am" but he did find himself on the receiving end of a hug and a smooch on the cheek. He told a story about how he helped a young lady on Blanding once, and three years later she saw him out somehere, giving him a giant hug and extra thank you for helping her. I thought this was very nice of the police dept. to have this guy come to my rescue!

I went up to church, so glad to be there. As I walked across the parking lot, my phone went off. It was Clay County Sheriff's department, wanting to know where I was, as their officer was now on the scene. It was nearly an hour after I called them and I thought I was done. I explained all this to the nice lady and she was dumbfounded that this wrecker came along. "I thought you guys sent him!" "Well, did he charge you, ma'am?" and when I said he did not, she was astonished along  with me. I did have to go back to the parking lot at Target in order to get the paperwork filled out for insurance purposes. 

He was waiting for me, a nice young CCSO guy, who took care of my paperwork after I showed him what happened. He said he could see the remains of the bag and its contents 'throwing up dust' as cars drove over it yet. I said to him, "Somebody's going to be missing a bag of landscape rocks when they get home..." and he looked at me, and asked, "Are you from WI?" I swear he did! Evidently the way I said 'bag' tipped him, because I don't think he saw my Packer license plate frame, since the trunk was opened by me. Funny!

He was so nice about it all, and was also surprised by the man who just showed up to rescue me. I told him, "Mike told me he was on call, but God must have sent him!" Usually that means he is on call via telephone or radio, but Mike had a direct line from God...When I told the officer that Mike did not charge me, he was stunned also. The officer told me this was no one's fault, except for not securing the load, it would seem, but not my fault. 

He also told me about his friend who recently got into the FBI and was sent to MN to work. I joked about what in the world there was for the FBI to do in Bemidji, but it seems he supports the Indian reservation law enforcement. Imagine that! His biggest gripe so far was that "they don't drink sweet tea up here!" How funny is that?

Once again, I was sent on my way and got to church in time for taking attendance. Justin got there a bit late, singing was underway but I was yet at the podium when he came in. He found us a seat on the left side and I joined him. At one point, we were invited to offer our private petitions but I hope that the Lord won't mind my prayers of thanksgiving that this car incident was not worse, and no one was hurt. The questions or concerns in regard as to whether or not to replace my tires has been answered---at least two of them being done today!

Now, the insurance will have to get involved and hopefully my rate won't go up. If I need the entire bumper replaced, all one piece, it seems, certainly that will be more than $500, my deductible. My one tire might be covered by the road hazard coverage that came with the tires, but I am not holding my breath on that one. At first I was going right away this morning, but now decided to go after lunch. They had to order them anyway which made my decision the right one. 
*****
My sainted grandmother, Lily, liked to rain on our parades. My sisters and family would laugh and have a good time, get silly and all that. Her caution would be, "Laugh today and tomorrow you will be crying..." Talk about a downer! 

Well, I find myself feeling like this more and more often. Not to that degree, of course, but I remember coming up in the elevator recently with my neighbors and answering their inquiring as to my well-being with "fantastic!" Then, I thought to myself, "don't let your guard down, something terrible will happen." Sure enough, the next day was the flood from the 5th floor. 

When I was in the process of buying this place, my friends came over to see it. Christine, who is now a partner in real estate with Joanne, stood at the railing and looked out over the river, and said, "No!" She didn't want me to move in here because "you will become a recluse for sure!" Everyone pooh-poohed her for that, but truly, it has gradually come closer and closer to being true. Not that being a recluse is a bad thing, but I see being content where I am, and in my own company, as a positive thing.

And, if I leave my home, there might be a leak and I won't know about it. Or, if I am driving, I might hit another bag of rocks! I know this feeling is a reaction to the incidents and also know that 'tomorrow you may be crying' is no way to live. But I am also just as content having people come to me instead of me leaving my recluse! Tomorrow, might be different....