Sunday, August 31, 2025

Shake Shake Shake, Shake and Tooty

Errand day was like any other on Thursday. Almost. My rumpus/leg is pretty much back to normal, with only an occasional twinge. The Pony had been accompanying me for a couple weeks, while I was using my cane. I was planning to go without it, but The Pony had to cancel, due to a cold coming on, and not wanting to sicken me.

Anyhoo... not picking up The Pony altered my time schedule a bit. I left home later. I didn't want to stop at Casey's for gas during the school-let-out time, so I went on to the bank. I was tooling along in T-Hoe, glad to be out and about without a shooting leg pain. As I was coming up on the Save A Lot plaza, 

A CAR PULLED OUT IN FRONT OF ME!

There is no center lane. Just two lanes. Mine, and the oncoming one. This 4-door black sedan was going my way. I have no idea what the driver was thinking. I didn't even notice the driver. It could have been a burly redneck, or a little old grandma. I didn't have time to look or think. Reflexes took over. That car was coming into my lane, and not slowing. Just pulling out of the lot and gassing it, crossing one lane of traffic to get into my lane.

I jammed on T-Hoe's brakes, veered right onto a thin sliver (as opposed to a fat sliver, heh, heh) of gravel that acts as a shoulder, hoping not to run down the little hill of grass. Good thing T-Hoe has a large triangle area within the middle of the steering wheel that is the horn. I managed to push on it without losing control of the steering.

The black sedan floored the gas pedal then, and sped off. I'd say it was within ONE INCH of hitting T-Hoe when that happened.

Actually, T-Hoe would have been doing the hitting. The front left bumper corner would have hit the black sedan on the passenger door crack. That area at the front of the front passenger door. If I had NOT slammed on the brakes and veered right, that black sedan would have hit T-Hoe on the driver's door. You know, where I WAS SITTING! 

T-Hoe is pretty sturdy. I don't think I would have been hurt. Much. But that would have damaged the door to where I couldn't open it, and I would have needed to be extracted over the giant console, onto the passenger seat, trying to get my knees bent enough to get out the passenger door. Not something I was keen to attempt.

The adrenaline from that near-catastrophe set my hands to shaking. When I got to the bank, about a half mile up the road, I could hardly get the canister out of the vacuum tube thingy to open it.

From the bank I went to Save A Lot, entering on the other end of the plaza as usual. At least I could work off some of that adrenaline by walking at a snail's pace with a cart/walker. I was still wobbly at my next stop, Casey's. Good thing I had my cane with me as I walked in to pay for gas.

I called The Pony later to share details of the missed adventure.

"You either put me in harm's way, or saved me from a worse fate! I'd like to think it was the latter, since I survived with only an adrenaline rush."

You never know what The Universe has in store...

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