The glass was not half full.

I am pretty much "glass is half full" type of guy. However, earlier tonight I thought the glass was pretty much empty. In fact I thought the glass was going to be tipped over, the water spilled all out, and was crushed. In the case earlier, the glass was my truck, and I was the water.

I was cruising down the highway, a mere 2 blocks from my home, when all of a sudden a car pulls out in front of me. I was heading North, they were heading South and made a left turn to go Eastbound. I had an Ace Ventura kind of moment. You know, the scene when Einhorn charges after Ace screaming "DIE ANIMAL BOY!" and Ace says "Quick Decision" then ducks out of the way and puts her into the drink. My choices were to T-Bone the car, veer left into the oncoming traffic, turn right into oncoming traffic, or dodge a stop light pole and head for the ditch. Going around the car was not an option since they were so far into my lane, and since it was dark, I could not see into their car to see if they had even seen me yet. So I headed for the ditch. Brakes squeeling, my self swearing, and my passeneger side wheels coming off the ground, I figured it was not going to end up well. I missed the stop light pole **smiles**, hit the cub at kind of an angle with out flipping **more smiles** and then saw the bottom of the ditch **fear of death look on face**. It was a steep ditch and then a high bank. I cranked the wheel more and I soooo had the whole "life flash before my eyes" feeling. I thought for sure my truck was going to role and I was going to be crushed. Instead, my front tire peeled off the rim and it, along with the back wheel dug, into the ground and stopped me sideways at the bottom of the ditch and just before a culvert. Somehow I didn't roll.

We called the police and Don's Towing. Turns out the driver was a very young girl who just got her temp license. Both she and her mom were very shook up--I was just glad to be alive. She thought I had a red light which was why she didn't even slow down. After the police took a statement from the girl and her mother, they came over a talk to me a bit. They could not believe I did not hit anyone and that I was walking away from it. The intersection is very busy and there are lots of accidents there; most don't turn out so good.

So, I got to see my truck be hauled away on a flat bed truck for the first and hopefully only time. Looks like I will be a commuter for a while. Don's Towing figured I would get my truck back on Friday or Monday, depending on how soon the insurance company checks out the truck and approves the repairs. I am sure I will be offered a rental which I most likely will take since I want to go down to Iowa this weekend. Tomorrow will be interesting. I just hope my body doesn't hurt. The shock to the system will more than likely set in over night.

Rubber side down.