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Showing posts with label car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

An Unlikely Coincidence

So get this: there's pouring rain and a heavy fall thunderstorm Tuesday morning. About a quarter mile from work I see a car, facing the wrong direction, in a ditch. I pull over, pause to regret my decision, then run back to the other car to ask them if anyone is hurt.

There's woman and her two teens in the car. They're fine and there was no accident; she said she pulled over because it's her kids school bus stop but went too far and slid into the ditch.

The rear passenger wheel was a good foot off the ground. I told her she'd need a tow but we could try one time to push it out, thinking maybe she was hung up on something.


Like all teens, her boy wouldn't get out of the car to help until she yelled at him. He was content with sitting and watching. Not that it mattered. Pushing it didn't work. It made things worse, and with the tire now a foot higher I could see the drivers side tires were buried in mud.

But get this . . .the woman says "Are you Dan?"

It was Jackie S--, a friend of Lisa's that I've met a few times, and a former almost-stepmom of my nephew and nieces. 

Small world. Too unbelievable to write down if this was fiction, for sure.

Anyway, a guy pulled over, told us he worked down the road and would return with a chain to pull her out.

Good deed (unsuccessfully) accomplished, I headed to work, completely soaked.

Update - ok so it was simultaneously NOT so unbelievable, but also more so. It turns out she called me by name because she thought I was answering her call for help. Not in a general way, she was literally texting me asking to come help. Apparently she lives out there and Lisa gave her my # and told her to reach out in a pinch. Which was fine, if one of them hadn't transposed two of the digits.

So she thought she was texting me but wasn't. And I happened to pass by and stop randomly. Yes, I know it was the road to work but I was coming from that direction only because of a Pokestop along the way lol
 


Saturday, March 11, 2023

Lisa's Accident and a Heck of a Snowstorm

Thursday a snowstorm hit Milwaukee, starting at about 5pm and going well into the next day. It was heavy, wet stuff that was hard to shovel and very slippery to walk/drive on. Tree limbs were down all over the place. Total accumulation of snow in some areas: 10 inches. 




Unfortunately, Lisa had to drive home from work in that slop. In her own words: 

Spun out on freeway last night and ended up being hit by a semi. Walked away from it. Car, not so much. Now me and Dan are stranded with a flat. The good and back luck lately in our family so interwoven and complex it's mind boggling. Staying positive and reminding one another we are still so blessed.

That casually written post doesn't really hint at the close call she had. Although she refused to go to the hospital, it was clear that Lisa was both in shock and concussed - immediately after being hit she texted the family group chat "Hit by semi, Need Help, 911" rather than call 911 herself. (That was met with screams of horror by the kids)  She also thought an ambulance on the scene was a tow truck, etc.  But other than bruises and aches, and a concussion that has lingered for a few days, she walked away FROM BEING T-BONED ON THE DRIVERS DOOR BY A SEMI ON THE HIGHWAY. 

Thank you Lord. 

She arrived home in the back of a deputy's car, and we sat and talked about what happened. And then, at 12:58 AM. the storm knocked out our power. Over 3000 of our neighbors were affected, and it remained out until almost noon. Even then streetlights along a major road by us were out for literally sixty blocks well into the afternoon. 

And then, when in the AM, when I drove Lisa to a doctor's appointment, my tire went flat. May I point out that it was cold, and snowing, and I was already hours late for work. Oh, and I couldn't find parts of the jack so I had to bite the bullet and call roadside assistance. We pulled into a Hardee's restaurant lot and had breakfast while I waited it utter humiliation of needing another man to change my tire.
  



So, not the greatest 12 hour period. But we ended it alive, in one piece, and thankful for the gifts we have. So there's that. 

Here's to a better start to my birthday weekend next week!

Sunday, October 2, 2022

A Fine Start to the Day

Our Sunday started out with Lisa running over a shard of metal and getting a flat.  Luckily she had a big strong man at home to change it.  Unfortunately Smiley was at work so it was left up to me. 


Friday, February 25, 2022

Congrats!

 Congrats on the purchase of your first car Smiley! May it take you on many adventures! - Lisa



Introducing Hank, a 2005 Ford Explorer


Bought my first car! All that saving finally paid off! - Smiley

Friday, April 24, 2020

YaYa Buys Her First Car

It's a 1999 Volkswagen Beetle - stick shift - and she's justifiably proud of it!

Congrats YaYa!

Saturday, February 9, 2019

Team Slap on Display!

 #TeamSlap (artist rendering lol). Lisa and I have wanted family decals for the cars *forever,* and now we have them!




Monday, August 20, 2018

The Taurus is on the road!

Many thanks to Roy for coming to my house and giving me an honest (and super cheap) fix to a problem that had disabled the Taurus.

Monday, January 22, 2018

Shopping for Cars with our Niece

Today was spent helping our niece find a reliable used car. If you think there is a more exhausting way to spend a day, then you are wrong. Congratulations Caitlin Anne!

Monday, October 9, 2017

Driving with YaYa

I drove solo with YaYa last night. She did fine, but I am not constitutionally suited to driving with any student driver: this fact is so well known that YaYa  actually complimented my performance at the end of the ride, instead of the other way around! 😂

Saturday, September 30, 2017

Goodbye Taurus (#1)

Yesterday I sold my Ford Taurus,  having upgraded to a model a year newer,  with 95k fewer miles.  (see pic). I remain grateful for the two years of service I got from the old Taurus, which Thomas G and Kelly G sold  to me for only $100 at a time when we really needed a second car.

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Goodbye, gentle steed

I've sold our Freestar.  It was a pain in the butt at times,  but it took us to Ohio,  Chicago,  House on the Rock, Cave of the Mounds, work, school, and a thousand dr visits/Scout events/dance classes.  And while it didn't save the hip,  two tons of Ford steel made sure that's all that was lost.  Go in peace my van, and thanks for your service.

Monday, September 18, 2017

Our New Car!

We bought a new (to us) car today, a Ford Flex. It's our eighth Ford in the last 22 years (three of which we still own at this writing. )

Monday, October 31, 2016

Parking at Marquette Sucks

Currently sitting in a parking spot four blocks from the law school debating if I want to make the hike on a hip that's acted up since Saturday. Thank you Marquette, for not only making a tiny parking garage that fills quickly, but for blocking off a heap of parking spots around the school so your window cleaners can entice even more birds to their bitter death.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

A New (to me) car

A friend of mine, Thomas Gr, read my transportation complaints last week and sold me his 2001 Ford Taurus, then en route to the junkyard. I put it in the shop for repairs and got it back Friday That's why Lu and I went to the DMV, to title my new ride. Even with the repairs, which will resume Monday when the shop reopens, it was well worth the cost, and the presence of a second vehicle has already been a blessing, both to our needs and my ego. Thanks Thomas and Kelly G for thinking of us!

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Enough

Still absent a car, Junie and I biked on some errands, hip notwithstanding.

This is ridiculous. Friday morning (tomorrow is too busy) I need to beg a loan off the credit union. We can't make do with one car when putting it in for repairs makes us either grovel for rides or abandon our plans. We're too busy a family.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

A Car Accident

 On the way home from work this morning my van was struck by a car that ran a four way stop at full speed. I saw her coming at the last second and hit the gas, which meant she hit my rear panel and not the driver's door. Two witnesses stopped, and one of them stayed with me until the cops arrived. I was fine at first but my lower back, neck, and elbow are sore now, and somehow the nail on my pointer finger was bent back and burns like heck. The van is drivable. #itcouldbeworse

Monday, January 12, 2015

Ugh

Yeahhhh, so this just happened.

Kudos to Socialist and JJ, both of whom were willing to help us out with rides this morning. The tire is now replaced. The rim was also damaged and cracked from the flat, but Ray Tann Tires patched it. They won't guarantee it'll hold. But since the alternative is a new wheel, I'm happy. Ish.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Our van is acting up again, temporarily stranding #TeamSlap - minus me - and leading Lisa to launch an epic salvo at my inability to keep it roadworthy this week. In fairness, we are T-minus 9 hours until payday and a date at the garage