You just never know what's going to happen when you're driving. You might be convinced that everything is going to go the way it should, but it can be so full of surprises!
Late last fall, a few months before I retired, I was driving myself home on the same street, at the same time of day as I had for the previous 10 years. As I looked down the street at oncoming traffic, I saw a car swerve in and out of their lane and into mine. I recall thinking to myself, "I'd better keep an eye on that car." As the car got closer to me, I thought I was in the clear. However, instead of passing me, the young girl who was driving smashed her car into the side of mine. I think she panicked and stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Thank God no one was hurt. Shaken--yes...stirred--yes...but hurt--no.
Yesterday, while driving on Highway 23, a 2 lane highway going west, we encountered a car coming at us from the opposite direction. I quickly put my hand out of the window in a forceful STOP! (I didn't realize that I could stop the weight of a vehicle and the determination of a total stranger with this simple gesture.) The car came to a slow stop, albeit momentarily. The driver was an elderly and confused man. I felt sorry for him. As he kept driving and stopping, I kept using my hand in the STOP! position. He would stop, then drive ahead. Meantime, traffic was collecting behind us and I feared rear end collisions, or worse. My husband had exited our truck and had rushed over to offer to drive him to safety, but the man refused, while at the same time fiddling with his windshield wipers and radio knobs, as he tried to find reverse gear to back up his car and out of harm's way. My husband did manage to talk him through backing up and getting out of the way. Finally, the police arrived and we were able to continue on our way. This, too, could have been a tragedy. Thankfully, no one was hurt, no vehicles were rear ended, and people behaved civilly. A few drivers even thanked us as they drove by.
One day we will be old, surely, we will get confused at one time or another. Perhaps we, too, will try to drive on the wrong side of the road. I hope there is someone there to guide us if this should happen. I hope we have the wisdom to realize that, without those special angels that come along when we need them most, things could turn out a whole lot worse. I hope that yesterday we created some good will, or karma, that will bounce back to us and guide us safely home when we need it most. You just never know.
I work at the library and it can be a funny place. Granted, I only work there three afternoons a week but it seems to be just enough.
The library can be a haven for many people, especially now when it is so incredibly hot and humid that your makeup can melt off, or your hair can get frizzy in seconds. However, just because it is HOT does not preclude one from washing oneself and wearing deodorant!
Yesterday, there was a patron so smelly that he could be detected at least half a room away. When me and my trusty book cart entered the elevator his scent lay heavy in the small box of elevatorness. (I tried to hold my breath for at least one floor.) When I emerged, with a grimace I might add, I could only hope that the next person using it would not think it was me that had left a trail behind!
I had two rather strange things occur to me recently. Strange enough that one of my fellow workers said I should have purchased a lottery ticket.
Let me explain. Because we handle so many items, at times things can get misplaced. We excel at finding them and putting them in right order. In this case I was searching in the adult section for an "I Love Lucy" DVD that was on hold. With no success, I then proceeded to search for a different DVD in the children's section. While in the children's section I found myself at the heels of a patron. I apologized to her for seemingly stalking her. She said it was no problem and, as we were in the DVD section, she pointed to a DVD on the shelf and said, "Shouldn't this be in the adult section?" You guessed it, IT WAS THE DVD THAT I HAD BEEN SEARCHING FOR in the adult section. Now! I ask you what are the odds of that happening! Out of all of the thousands of items in the library and BAM! there it was. Needless to say, I thanked her PROFUSELY!
Yesterday, this: One of the clerks (I'm a lowly page, clerks outrank me) asked me if I could go outside and upright a sign that had fallen over. I was happy to do so. As I began to go outside I saw, through the glass doors, that a gentleman was walking up to the library...when he reached the point where the sign was laying, without any hesitation, he bent over, uprighted the sign, looked it over, and continued inside. Again, what are the odds that, at this moment all things would align themselves perfectly together, so that this would occur? (A rhetorical question.) I waited until he was inside, where it was cool (of course), and thanked him for doing this. He blinked at me and said, "You're welcome."
Darn! I should have bought a lottery ticket...must be the heat!
I apologize to those who have had to ask me what the latest is on the test that my husband had to take. Well, he had a cat scan and it took a week and a half to hear any kind of word from the doctor's office. Apparently, they don't understand what it is like to be sitting on real pins and needles!
The doctor's office called to advise that they could see nothing on the scan, BUT, (that "but" can be so scary!) now they want to proceed to a more invasive type of test. Needless to say my husband is not looking forward to the next test and I believe, if you happen to be a man, you'd probably cringe and inadvertently cross your legs. He'll be doing this test next month.
In the meantime, the weather here has been horrendously HOT. Wisconsin hasn't seen temps in the 100's for over a decade and a half. Not much going on outdoors when it is this hot. Add to that, that we have not had much rain and it makes one wonder why they would hold the fireworks display as it might have sparked a whole different type of fire works to be displayed!
We had a couple of free movie tickets so we went to see the movie SAVAGES. I admit I had to avert my eyes a few times. It was rather violent and bloody. For being a new release the movie was in one of the smaller theatres and not a lot of patrons were in the seats. But, all in all, I have to say it was a pretty good movie.
Again, thank you for your voices of concern. I'll try and do better in letting you know how things are coming about. Sometimes my head and heart are so removed that writing does not come easy, I think you understand.
Yesterday, while driving on Highway 23, a 2 lane highway going west, we encountered a car coming at us from the opposite direction. I quickly put my hand out of the window in a forceful STOP! (I didn't realize that I could stop the weight of a vehicle and the determination of a total stranger with this simple gesture.) The car came to a slow stop, albeit momentarily. The driver was an elderly and confused man. I felt sorry for him. As he kept driving and stopping, I kept using my hand in the STOP! position. He would stop, then drive ahead. Meantime, traffic was collecting behind us and I feared rear end collisions, or worse. My husband had exited our truck and had rushed over to offer to drive him to safety, but the man refused, while at the same time fiddling with his windshield wipers and radio knobs, as he tried to find reverse gear to back up his car and out of harm's way. My husband did manage to talk him through backing up and getting out of the way. Finally, the police arrived and we were able to continue on our way. This, too, could have been a tragedy. Thankfully, no one was hurt, no vehicles were rear ended, and people behaved civilly. A few drivers even thanked us as they drove by.
