Big Bang Baby, It's A Crash Crash Crash

I should have just written about this here instead of posting a provocative "status update" on Facebook. The power of Facebook! Instant sympathy with no details needed!

Yesterday I had to drive to the town an hour away to pick up Tonks. Beau and I have been in Auckland for over 4 days, and there are only 2 two-hour windows each day to pick her up which is kind of impossible to make when road tripping by night. I picked her up, she went SUPER spazzo like I expected (she's still a puppy, she's still a puppy), and put her in the back on the car and we were off.

It was a great day. I got to stop at the pottery place I love and buy 2 bowls and one coffee container. We are slowly accumulating all our dishware this way, in two's, like Noah's Ark, but at a bit of a slower pace.

I picked up some groceries, got the good dog food from the vet for Tonks, and even filled up the gas tank -- I felt immensely responsible and headed for home after a couple hours. Tonks had her head hanging joyously out the window.

I had only gotten about 10-15 minutes out of town. I was rounding one of 10,000 corners on this road when the car swerved a little. I immediately tried to correct it, and suddenly it was as if car was alive, and I was driving Christine. The car was violently careening back and forth, while I made desperate attempts to control it. With each jerk, out of the corner of my eye I could see Tonks being flung around the car, letting out a sharp howl each time she hit something. It's amazing how in just a few seconds, so many things fly through your head. It's not like they say -- "everything goes in slow motion" -- it didn't. It was so fast, and I was just barely reacting to it all. But it was like my thoughts were matching the lightning speed of the events around me.

I thought about how bad I felt that Tonks was being thrown around like a rag doll. I thought about how I couldn't believe I couldn't get control of this car. I thought about how stupefied I was that the car had gained a life of its own like this, I saw the embankment coming and thought that I was about to be in a lot of trouble... or worse.

Supposedly, I hit the embankment full on (about 12 feet high) and then spun 360 degrees to hit it head on again. The seatbelt locked in and the airbags deployed. "It's a miracle you didn't flip," said the ambulance worker, "Cars always flip in these situations."

Immediately after the final head-on hit, I stared at the hood, which was now smoking alarmingly. As if I was in a Hollywood movie, all I could think of was, "It's gonna blow! It's gonna blow!" I scrambled to free myself from the car. The seatbelt was stuck. The key (the car was still running) was stuck, the door was stuck. "The car's going to explode!" was all I could think of. I finally got the key to turn off, though it wouldn't come out. I got the seatbelt off and the door open. I turned and grabbed Tonks's leash (still attached to her collar) and led her out with me. I staggered away from the car...my hips and chest aching, my neck and arms burning.

Within seconds, people started appearing. A large Maori man with his eyes like saucers stared at me. It was his large place that I had crashed near. "It was so loud," he kept saying. Others started pulling over, including a woman who had just minutes ago annoyed me in the grocery store. *blush*

The trunk had blown open and all the groceries were strewn across the road, including the expensive bag of dog food. I just stood there, holding onto Tonks's leash, stunned, shocked. "Beau's going to kill me!" I thought over and over. He always thinks that I go too fast and I had no idea why it might have happened except for the fact that maybe I had come around the corner too quickly. It all just seemed too weird though.

A young girl had called the police and ambulance, and they arrived from town rather quickly. There was now quite a crowd, and I was feeling a little awkward. The girl let me use her phone, and for the second time in as many months, I called the school and told the woman who answered, "Get Beau, it's an emergency."

Everyone was very nice, and what was left of my groceries and dog food was picked up off the highway and placed on the side of the road. The onlookers, police, and ambulance workers unanimously stated that the back tire had blown out and been the cause of the accident. I felt immensely relieved by this. I knew I hadn't been going over the speed limit (100kph), but I was wrong. Sort of.

It seems awhile back there had been a 30kph sign posted. About 3 feet in front of my accident sight was the 100kph sign. The 30kph signs are used for construction which is frequent on the highway between our place and town. Usually this involves a group of burly and burnt men standing on the side of the road while we drive by at a crawl, gravel crackling and popping around us. In the area I had been in there were a couple of cones on the side of the road, but no construction. This had annoyed the police officer at the scene who grumbled that construction crews often left their signs around when there was no real work in the area anymore.

I felt Tonks all over her body, pressing into her muscles and feeling her legs, but besides a little shock, she seemed totally fine. I couldn't believe it, especially since she had been thrown around the car like a rag doll.

I was then led into the back of an ambulance by a very nice EMT lady, and Tonks was allowed too! I was quickly checked, and after several "tsk's" at the sight of the seatbelt marks across my neck and chest and some mysterious welts in other places, it was determined that I was merely banged to shit, and had nothing broken. "You're very lucky, you know," she said, "Air bags don't deploy without quite an impact."

I have no memory of the air bag, none at all, though it's shriveled afterbirth is still stuck to the steering wheel.

The police officer took my statement, and after investigating a bit, determined it wasn't my fault *phew* He looked up and chuckled. "They sure clear out fast, don't they?" he said. The onlookers, ambulance workers, fire truck, other police officer, and tow truck (with totaled car attached), had all vanished. It was just the two of us now. He let Tonks and I sit in the back of his air-conditioned car (it's still the edge of summer here) and wait for Beau to arrive.

Then, after what seemed FOREVER, Beau pulled up in our now only remaining vehicle -- a beat-up ol' 1987 truck. Seeing him emerge and walk toward us was a wonderful moment.

I know I'm lucky. My injuries, though painful and colorful, are all superficial. The biggest reason though? Just a few miles further up is when this "coastal highway" does just that -- hugs the coast. The view is impressive, not just for its beauty, but for its drop-off that makes your stomach somersault with just a glance. I had no control over that car whatsoever. If it had been just 5 more minutes into my drive, I'd probably be dead.

This morning I feel like total shit. My entire body is stiff and the few remaining places that didn't hurt yesterday are screaming in protest and pain today. I walk around like I'm wearing a neck brace and do the Playboy bunny squat when trying to pick things up. The most amusing though is literally rolling out of bed and then pushing myself up from all fours until I can stand. My entire torso is too sore to pull myself up from any kind of position.

And so today I putter around the house like an old woman, and soon the call to the insurance agency. Hopefully, I'll have as much luck with them as I did with my crash.