24 hours ago we were leaving Carl’s baseball game. He pitched 6 innings I think. That would be 17 innings over 5 days, before his knee “wobbled out.” They were ahead when he left, but lost 11-8. It wasn’t the relief pitcher’s fault, but more that the fielding went downhill after the temperature and the sun dropped.
Carl is currently at the Mariner’s game. I think he is sitting with former major leaguer Jim Lewis. I don’t know where, or if for sure, but they were meeting before the game.
I am currently watching said game on TV.
This all seems relatively normal, for us, but the last 24 hours were not.
Warning: This is partly to download my mind, and allow it to rest. I will be rambling.
At approximately 9:10 PM we were driving south on Meridian Ave N, crossing NE 145th St on the green light. Unfortunately, a woman driving north on Meridian decided to turn left, without factoring our car also being in the intersection.
I remember seeing her car really close to ours, as I made some sound of surprise, and then the airbags went off. Speeds were not that high, and the safety equipment appeared to do its job.
The 2010 Corolla is likely totaled. Carl’s was fine and I was not completely sure. I definitely ached immediately, but it was an ache, not sharp pain.
Carl got out of the driver’s side and asked me to call the police. That’s when I realized I didn’t have my glasses on any longer, and set about trying to locate them.
When an airbag deploys it fills the space. Not just with the airbag, but something in the air. The windows were all covered with a mist or dust, obscuring outside. And my door wouldn’t open.
I pushed the airbag in, and finally found my glasses between the center console and my seat. And called 911. After describing the situation from my perspective she finally let me off the phone. Since I had a bag at my feet, I started emptying the glove box (lots of CDs) into the bag. And finally climbed out through the driver’s side door.
And then all of the accident scene stuff. The woman driving the other car seemed okay. She was calling either the police or insurance, but we were eventually able to exchange information by taking pictures of documents (so much easier than writing it all down).
The driver of the car behind us stayed too, as a witness, so kind. We were mucking up the intersection, and a City of Seattle police came by. Literally, she wasn’t dispatched, just happened on the scene, and started assessing the situation. After that 2 State Patrol cars arrived that were dispatched. I think 145th may be the boundary between Seattle and Shoreline, or it’s a state road, whatever, they took over.
To clear the road we both drove our cars into one lane. I didn’t think that was possible with the bumper basically on the ground. Calling friends for a ride, unloading the car onto the sidewalk, and answering questions from the police filled the next bit of time. Two car seats, baseball equipment, something else in a long bag, a box of hot wheels tracks, 3 or 4 bags of toys, emergency kit, food cooler (dinner), backpack, the second glove box contents and assorted other detritus.
Throughout this latter part I was also on the phone with our insurance company. They were patient, asking questions and then more questions. It was helpful they were on the phone when the tow truck driver arrived as they spoke directly to each other instead of me translating. When they started telling me about coverage and rental cars I finally begged off the line, figuring those details could wait.
Our ride (Kevin) arrived, loaded our pile off the sidewalk and we drove home.
Made my lunch for Friday as Carl iced his body. He was sore, but it was all pretty normal after pitching, with the possible exception of a sore foot. Possibly from jamming the brake pedal? I was still sore on the right side of my chest. We finally headed to bed, but not really to sleep. Brains don’t slow down that quickly. Carl woke up remembering the parking zone sticker on the windshield. I realized there was probably a CD in the player.
Morning dawned as usual, and I was off to work. And I did some work for the first hour or so, but then I started following up on the details. Another hour with the insurance folks. And the rental car folks. And eventually with the consulting nurse. Other folks thought I should get checked out, even though the likely diagnosis would have no real treatment.
So, as expected, I have bruised ribs/chest wall. Ibuprofen and tylenol, and remember to take deep breaths.
While at the clinic I realized I didn’t have my phone with me. Luckily, a co-worker located it on my desk and said he would bring it home. I reasoned that I spent several decades negotiating life without a phone/computer in my hand and I should be able to manage.
The other errand on my list was to get to the tow yard and recover said items thought of the night before. I went through my pile of papers and scribbled information from the night before to find an address. When I got to the area it took two trips around the block to find it, and a third trip to find where they had an entrance that didn’t include razor wire. I finally parked in an adjacent hamburger joint and found the entrance. The woman manning the office was quite the character. She said she had been working there 51 years, and her husband had passed a few years earlier. She was working on cleaning up the office with 50 years of running the operation. It sounded like the business would be moving to the next generation, and that the towing companies were essentially extended family. I did manage to get the CD and zone pass, plus 4 more pennies. I do wish I had my phone to take some pictures of the car in the light as well as the place. A place like I had not seen before. And I bid the Corolla farewell.
Finally home at 3:30 I ate lunch, greeted my phone, sent an email to tell the insurance folks the car was ready for them to take possession, and sat down to relax.
At some point I fell asleep watching TV. And woke up with the Mariners game tied in the third inning against the Blue Jays.
Carl is enjoying the game and it looks like he got to visit the broadcast booth!
Tomorrow will arrive early, dental appointments at 7 AM. It always seems like a good idea when we make the appointment. Here’s to a more normal day tomorrow.
I guess I’ll start researching new cars.
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