Des Événements Malchanceux
It snowed again today. No, I didn't get any pictures; oddly enough I did stare at the snow for 4 hours. Yes, you read that right. Unfortunately I'll have to back up a little...
My class went to Indy today to do an observation. (Yes, we knew about the oncoming snow storm. Yes, we're all apparently crazy for going anyway. And yes, Mari wasn't all that happy about it beforehand. And, no, cancelling was not that simple. There were 10 of us, after all.) The observation itself was fine, went well, and then the school announces that they're going to be dismissing a bit early. Do we leave? No, why would we do that? We hang around and observe one more class before heading out (we had to move so that the buses could get the kids). There was at least 3 inches of snow on the ground when we came out. That was a lot more than when we entered only 2 hrs before. I was so glad I had taken precautions to keep the wiper blades from freezing to the windshields. That made getting on the road a bit faster.
Here's where it gets interesting...
It took us 30 minutes to get back to the interstate (a trip that only 2 hours before had taken 5 minutes). On the interstate, we start to have trouble w/ snow & ice on the windshield wipers. Usual stuff. Then the driver's side one breaks off. I'm staring at its sad, lifeless form, my friend desperately turns to me. What am I supposed to do?? We pull off the highway under an overpass (at least it's not snowing as hard there), and I jump out to attempt a magical fix of the wiper. Unfortunately, it was hopelessly mangled. We were wiperless. At that moment, I see the other car in our group begin to pull over...from the middle lane. A semi was coming down this lane, with no time to stop. Needless to say, I bolted away from the car. The semi kept calm and didn't swerve towards us, amazingly enough just missing the other car. Only some oddly shaped plastic was bumped off of the side of the semi.
After we get back on the road, we drove from approximately Interstate 74 to the Pilot on Harding Street with only the passenger wiper blade. It took both our fearless driver and I watching traffic and the road to keep up on course. Yes, we were crawling along, but so was everyone else. The radio was full of talk of accidents and road closings. Kathy and I were totally on edge. At one point we were in the middle of traffic and the blade was freezing up. No good. So I lean out the window as far as I dare, scraper at the ready, and attack the ice as best I could. It helped. Of course, so did the defrost, which was on full blast the entire trip. Yes, we had to crack windows. No, I don't know how we made it.
Once at the Pilot this wonderful man helped me fix the wiper blade. I may have been able to do it myself, but he was stronger and so more able to fight the frozen remnants of the mangled one from the arm. I'm not sure I would have been able to do that. It took 30 minutes to get this accomplished, and all I could think of was all that snow coming down while we were sitting there messing with a wiper blade!! Thankfully, when we set off again, the snow slowed. Of course, right? But I have to admit we all felt a bit calmer with the car fixed. The ride down to Bloomington was mostly uneventful. The roads were a mess, but there was a lot less traffic, which made things actually easier for us. Lots of cars off the road everywhere, but we just took it slow...very slow.
Obviously, God's watching over me. There's really no other explanation. But staring at the snow on a 4 hr long trip home sure does make one sleepy. That's why this is only getting posted today. I was exhausted. Thanks to Mari for having supper ready when I got home!! I am sooo blessed. I had kept in touch with him throughout the trip, but needless to say did not regale him with the Semi Story until I was safely home and he was feeding me. You should have seen the look on his face. He was glad I'd waited, too.
And, no, I do not ever plan to travel any further than the other side of town the next time they call for 5 inches of snow. Ever.
My class went to Indy today to do an observation. (Yes, we knew about the oncoming snow storm. Yes, we're all apparently crazy for going anyway. And yes, Mari wasn't all that happy about it beforehand. And, no, cancelling was not that simple. There were 10 of us, after all.) The observation itself was fine, went well, and then the school announces that they're going to be dismissing a bit early. Do we leave? No, why would we do that? We hang around and observe one more class before heading out (we had to move so that the buses could get the kids). There was at least 3 inches of snow on the ground when we came out. That was a lot more than when we entered only 2 hrs before. I was so glad I had taken precautions to keep the wiper blades from freezing to the windshields. That made getting on the road a bit faster.
Here's where it gets interesting...
It took us 30 minutes to get back to the interstate (a trip that only 2 hours before had taken 5 minutes). On the interstate, we start to have trouble w/ snow & ice on the windshield wipers. Usual stuff. Then the driver's side one breaks off. I'm staring at its sad, lifeless form, my friend desperately turns to me. What am I supposed to do?? We pull off the highway under an overpass (at least it's not snowing as hard there), and I jump out to attempt a magical fix of the wiper. Unfortunately, it was hopelessly mangled. We were wiperless. At that moment, I see the other car in our group begin to pull over...from the middle lane. A semi was coming down this lane, with no time to stop. Needless to say, I bolted away from the car. The semi kept calm and didn't swerve towards us, amazingly enough just missing the other car. Only some oddly shaped plastic was bumped off of the side of the semi.
After we get back on the road, we drove from approximately Interstate 74 to the Pilot on Harding Street with only the passenger wiper blade. It took both our fearless driver and I watching traffic and the road to keep up on course. Yes, we were crawling along, but so was everyone else. The radio was full of talk of accidents and road closings. Kathy and I were totally on edge. At one point we were in the middle of traffic and the blade was freezing up. No good. So I lean out the window as far as I dare, scraper at the ready, and attack the ice as best I could. It helped. Of course, so did the defrost, which was on full blast the entire trip. Yes, we had to crack windows. No, I don't know how we made it.
Once at the Pilot this wonderful man helped me fix the wiper blade. I may have been able to do it myself, but he was stronger and so more able to fight the frozen remnants of the mangled one from the arm. I'm not sure I would have been able to do that. It took 30 minutes to get this accomplished, and all I could think of was all that snow coming down while we were sitting there messing with a wiper blade!! Thankfully, when we set off again, the snow slowed. Of course, right? But I have to admit we all felt a bit calmer with the car fixed. The ride down to Bloomington was mostly uneventful. The roads were a mess, but there was a lot less traffic, which made things actually easier for us. Lots of cars off the road everywhere, but we just took it slow...very slow.
Obviously, God's watching over me. There's really no other explanation. But staring at the snow on a 4 hr long trip home sure does make one sleepy. That's why this is only getting posted today. I was exhausted. Thanks to Mari for having supper ready when I got home!! I am sooo blessed. I had kept in touch with him throughout the trip, but needless to say did not regale him with the Semi Story until I was safely home and he was feeding me. You should have seen the look on his face. He was glad I'd waited, too.
And, no, I do not ever plan to travel any further than the other side of town the next time they call for 5 inches of snow. Ever.
affiché par petite américaine à 19:53
Thank God you're safe! Glad windshield wiper fixed! :) & home safe.
wow! what a story. and i thought it was fun to be abandoned in a warehouse without power and push a car out of a foot of snow in our storm when i went to the studio this past weekend! glad you are safe...
Well, yeah, I guess that story would rival mine. But I can say I've successfully dodged semis and lived to tell about it. :D
(Oh, I totally didn't even mention that I retrieved said semi plastic out of the middle of the road. I thought it was metal and couldn't bear to have the thought of a blown tire out in that snow!)
Yikes, sounds pretty scary! I'm glad you're okay.
glad you're all ok. good call about not wanting to leave metal on the highway, although i do not encourage going into the middle of the road (i trust there was enough visibility to see no cars coming, otherwise you would not be here).
i had an incident with metal on the interstate during rush hour in louisville on a bridge - there was no swerving in any direction by the time i saw it - so i had to keep going. ended up running over it, and it went in my gas tank. started smoking out the tail pipe and watched the tank meter drop steadily and quickly, all the while hearing the scrape of the metal on the road. pulled over at the shoulder after the bridge. I think it was a God thing that i (and everyone around me) survived.
anyway, i'm glad you made it. not good times. love you.
Oooh! Yeah, now I really do feel justified for running out into the near lane. Mari had a look on his face you wouldn't have believed when I told him I did that. Think he's worried about me? ;)