Pluses (+) and minuses (−) of this day

[RaypersonNikol]

+ Drinking chocolate milk. Love me some Borden Dutch Chocolate Milk.
- We had to stop drinking Promised Land Midnight Chocolate Milk because they changed the formula. It tastes awful and has this weird aftertaste that the previous formula never had. It's a shame.

[Kiza/Raybox]

+ I had proper meal after a long while, finally
+ I had so much fun with my plushies
- I had to starve for 4 hours (I like food btw)

[Reese Riverson]

I'm just going to use this to cover how things went yesterday, since it was quite... the day, with both a big minus and a big plus, so it's quite the combination.

So yesterday, I left in the morning to go visit a friend I went to school with in another town, which is a 45 minute drive. He runs his own sign/print shop, so I've been also getting prints of my OC's from him. Which that's usually a good positive note.

I get there, and the first negative of the day was when he asks "What happened to your car?" when we met outside his shop. I'm like, "What do you mean what happened to my car?" - Something bumped up against the front bumper/driver side fender of my car, and I know it wasn't like that when I left work Friday and got home Friday. I didn't walk in front of my car yesterday morning to notice, so I looked up on our security cameras and it was from my brother, in dad's truck, packing up a large 2-car hauler box trailer. No one told me this happened.


Though as annoyed as I was, I know dad's insurance will take care of this so no big deal. So my friend and I proceeded onward, and we did the prints with his large format machine and got some material cut for it. Signs made for a couple of my characters. So that's a good positive note.

So our plans was to let things dry and go to his church so I can figure out some audio equipment issues, but he first needed to go to the bank since the day before was a holiday, and the banks were closed. No big deal, it would just be quick stop so we can get his errand done before heading over to the church, tend to that, go eat lunch and come back to finish off the art. So instead of taking my car or his big truck, we get into his father-in-law's 2000 Toyota Rav4, and make our way towards the bank which is just a few minutes away...

This is where things get really negative quick... We're on the southbound lane, which is the right side of the road, and the bank is on the left side of the road. He turns on his turn signal in a good advanced notice, as we should, and begin to slow down to start making our turn. This is when I began hearing tires squealing... I think to myself... "I know I've heard this happen to some cars, but this seem too aggressive....

Before I know it? Chaos. It would seem the car spin 360 degrees and landed on the passenger side, which is the right side of the vehicle, where I was at, and it lands back on all four wheels, me trying to process what happened.

What happened? Some guy in a white van rear-ended us. Now in that area, the speed limit is 35MPH, there's no way he was going 35MPH at any given point, period. That kind of impact on that car with us in it? No way. Especially when there's 20 feet of black tire mark's prior to the point of collision.

I was very blessed to not have hit my head on anything, the seat belt held on well, I do feel sore in spots, my neck included, I did get a cut on my arm from the door, but over all? The biggest positive of the day was I'm alive and mostly unharmed. Sore sure, but I'll take that over what could have been worse.

The fire department was only down a block so they heard it and immediately came with their EMS team.

It's been a wild day for sure, but the next big negative was the fact the driver at fault was claiming we turned suddenly, but the State Troopers didn't buy it, especially given the tire marks on the road, and even if we HAD, the guy was still at fault for speeding and/or being too close.

But I remember sitting there at first, trying to process what happened.



Then I was like... "Wait, where's my hat and my glasses?"

But yeah, in the end I found both and we're doing okay.

So the big positive is being alive and being off as well as I am.

[Fifo]

– Sorry to hear this happened to you Reese. Some people are inconsiderate pricks like that.
+ At least you’re unharmed.

[The Jonster]

Why didn't they just go around and pass you if they were that much in a hurry? Is that not a thing there? Based on your description, my guess is that they were most definitely speeding, and well above the speed limit. They probably thought braking hard would prevent them from hitting you, but my dad has always that doing such a thing so often would cause to brakes to fail. Further reinforcing my driver's ed's thoughts, assume all drivers are idiots.

But all in all, it sucks that this happened to you Reese. But I'm glad you are alright.

+ Actually had a good time at the party last night. Met an old family friend I haven't seen in like, 9 years.

[Fifo]

– I can’t stand the heat (around the 30s in °C)

[Reese Riverson]

Why didn't they just go around and pass you if they were that much in a hurry? Is that not a thing there? Based on your description, my guess is that they were most definitely speeding, and well above the speed limit. They probably thought braking hard would prevent them from hitting you, but my dad has always that doing such a thing so often would cause to brakes to fail. Further reinforcing my driver's ed's thoughts, assume all drivers are idiots.

But all in all, it sucks that this happened to you Reese. But I'm glad you are alright.

They couldn't just go around, since they'd be either in the wrong lane or a non-existent shoulder.

[Steo]

Glad you and your friend are safe Reese. The audacity of the lying prick to say you guys turned suddenly with all evidence there. Why would you turn suddenly way before the turn even came up (based on his tyre tracks)? The moron was probably texting or something else, and there is absolutely no way he was only going 35MPH if this happened. Cheeky bastard trying to lie to cover his ass. I'd say he was easily doing 50 or more for this to happen. 20 foot of tyre marks at only 35MPH, I am sure he'd have managed to only rear-end the car and push you guys forward. To end up spinning you and flipping the thing onto the passenger side. there is no way.

[The Jonster]

They couldn't just go around, since they'd be either in the wrong lane or a non-existent shoulder.

Oh, a one-lane road two ways with no shoulder? If there was anyone coming from the other direction then yeah changing lanes would not be an option, and neither would turning into the shoulder since there is none.

Yeah I agree with Steo though, the other driver was definitely trying to cover their ass, there's no way they were going slower than 20 miles over the speed limit, and they were most certainly not paying attention. I've always been told to signal a good distance before turning. The fact that this person is giving the excuse that you turned suddenly gives me the impression that they were planning to cut into the other lane to try and pass you guys, which is dangerous in itself since another car could be coming from the opposite direction.

– I can’t stand the heat (around the 30s in °C)

Yuck! 30 degree weather is awful. I wonder how hot temps are there in the summer?
I can take up to 25 degree weather before it becomes too much. In high humidity that goes down to 21. Sadly it tends to be 25+ with high humidity this time of year. It's like an inferno already even though it can (and usually is) be hotter especially in the outside. I know there's people out there who have it worse than me but it's still a terrible combination (high heat and humidity) to deal with.

[Reese Riverson]

Here, I grabbed a screenshot of part of the road with Google street view for you to see.

The left road is literally the one to get to the bank's parking lot. We were in the right lane going to make a left turn. This entire area is also a no-passing zone, hence the double yellow line. (I'm explaining it out so anyone who reads this, that aren't in the US, since I don't know what other countries do.)

Plus as you can see, zero shoulder.


Anyway, today's negative? I'm still sore, I feel it more in my neck still. I think it's all muscle related, since the very back of my neck where my spine is doesn't hurt, nor is it sore.

[Hunchman801]

Most importantly, glad you're safe, Reese! While the muscle pain must be annoying, it's a huge relief that it wasn't much worse. It's unbelievable how reckless some people can be... and to try to pin it on you on top of that! Let's hope they are held accountable and kept off the roads.

+ On a different note, I fled Paris's scorching 38°C today for a much cooler 21°C in Dublin. And it's still sunny!

[Fifo]

+ Hope you’ll enjoy your stay in Dublin!

[Steo]

+ On a different note, I fled Paris's scorching 38°C today for a much cooler 21°C in Dublin. And it's still sunny!

You got lucky with the timing. It's been raining most of the time for the past few weeks haha. I'm still not looking forward to Thursday, where it should be 31C here. It's mostly how hunid it is that makes it hard to bear, especially indoors.

[The Jonster]

With all the talk of weather and humidity lately, I’m kind of curious what everybody’s dew points are.

I have the unfortunate combination of high everything: high temps, moderately high humidity and high dew points. The result? A 91 degree Fahrenheit moment feels more like 106-107 degrees Fahrenheit instead.

[DaveRattlehead]

Here, I grabbed a screenshot of part of the road with Google street view for you to see.

road.png

The left road is literally the one to get to the bank's parking lot. We were in the right lane going to make a left turn. This entire area is also a no-passing zone, hence the double yellow line. (I'm explaining it out so anyone who reads this, that aren't in the US, since I don't know what other countries do.)

Plus as you can see, zero shoulder.


Anyway, today's negative? I'm still sore, I feel it more in my neck still. I think it's all muscle related, since the very back of my neck where my spine is doesn't hurt, nor is it sore.

I'm really sorry about what happened in the crash, Reese! From what you've described, it sounds like it was a pretty serious accident. Judging by the wheel marks, he must have been doing around 100 km/h (over 60 mph). That's fucking insane, almost twice the speed limit.

The other driver is clearly clutching at straws. Even if, hypothetically, what he's claiming was true, it would still be his fault because you're always supposed to leave enough following distance to avoid rear-ending the car in front.

People like that really piss me off. They think driving fast automatically means they're good drivers, like they've got some race driver complex, when in reality they don't know what the fuck they're doing. I honestly think more people should learn the lesson we were taught on track... We were always told to drive at around 60% of both the car's capability and our own ability, whether you're on a blind circuit or out on public roads, so you'd always have something in reserve if things went wrong.

Most importantly, glad you're safe, Reese! While the muscle pain must be annoying, it's a huge relief that it wasn't much worse. It's unbelievable how reckless some people can be... and to try to pin it on you on top of that! Let's hope they are held accountable and kept off the roads.

+ On a different note, I fled Paris's scorching 38°C today for a much cooler 21°C in Dublin. And it's still sunny!

Lucky you! Enjoy the trip, and try not to work too much there...

Today it was around 34ºC (93ºF), and with the humidity it definitely felt much hotter. Tomorrow will be even worse, with temperatures expected to reach 39ºC (102ºF). With that kind of humidity, it must feel like absolute hell... but I might actually be getting lucky because...

+ I won't be in my hometown on Tuesday! I took a few days off because I'm going to Madrid to see Linkin Park. It'll be my first time going to a concert like that, and I'm really excited to see what the atmosphere is like.