Author: gfox (old content)

Driving Witnesses

do not drive here

WTF is wrong with people anyway? Driving along Esquimalt Ave tonight, while on my way to pick up Sue I see someone in the oncoming lane enter the parking lot by the Esqumalt Inn very quickly. Like 50 KM/H quick. Next thing I know traffic around me is stopping quickly. The guy that left the road, after entering the parking lot, then hooked left across a sidewalk, just missed a telephone pole (but taking out a guy wire), and struck a metal lamp post. He hit with so much force that he pushed in the front of his Explorer about a foot.

I never actually saw the impact (other cars were in the way), but the after effects were something else. Bits of the truck were thrown 10 feet away. Coolant and other liquids drained onto the sidewalk. Parts dangled off the crumpled front end. A used air bag slowly delfated from around the steering wheel.

Other actual witnesses rushed over to see if the driver needed help. He seemed coherent enough. Very, very strange incident.

I remained on the scene until some police officers showed up. When they had a moment I asked to make sure I could leave. After explaining what I did see, the officer said I could go since there were so many other witnesses that saw more than me.

Thankfully there wasn’t anyone on the sidewalk where that guy drove. Could have been so much more worse.

Ritual Tape

Another blood donation tonight. This one kind of snuck up on me, and I had to consciously remind myself every couple hours that I had to go. Once there everything was smooth sailing like normal. I have this weird thing though. I refuse to try anything different. Similar to a baseball pitchers ritual or something. I always read the pamphlet, use the middle finger of my left hand for the iron test, and always donate from my left arm. I will wait for a bed rather than donate with my right. I am not sure why that is, but I have always done it.

The only downside was the nurse used a lengthy piece of tape to hold the bandage on my arm. I’m talking 8 inches of tape for a 1 by 2 inch piece of gauze. Crazy. I hate that tape.

Accident Space

pretty damn close

On the way home today Sox and I were almost in an accident. Scared me pretty bad. We were just talking about when we are going to pick up our new car while driving our death trap of a Firefly. Seconds later I was making an emergency swerve with full on braking.

What happened? Well, as I was rounding the corner on Esquimalt Road, someone in the left lane decided they didn’t want to wait for the left turner in front of them and decided to change lanes. We were in the right lane passing the stopped cars. With very little room to spare, I managed to hit the brakes (locking up at least one wheel), and swerve right enough to avoid the trans am, but not far enough to hit the curb or sidewalk. I swear that there was less than a foot of space between our car and the other.

I was shaken, but grateful that I had quick enough reactions to avoid everything. Very happy that the contents of the car were safe. Soon we will be getting our new car. I was already looking forward to it, but now even more so.

Cooperating Purchases

old gnarled and dead tree

Yesterday morning I was supposed to get out and shoot pictures with the photo club. That didn’t happen due to the rain. We met at Swan Lake here in Victoria, and thought it looked like an awesome place to shoot, we decided as a group that the rain wasn’t likely to stop, so we passed. Some time soon, when the weather is cooperating, we will go back there.

Instead, and since I was already out I took Yoshi for a walk. I grabbed a coffee, and stopped at the Cedar Hill Golf Course because I have often seen people walking on trails alongside Nrth Dairy. Leashing up the dog, grabbing a jacket, filling pockets with baggies Yoshi and I set out on some new trails. Intersting track around the golf course. Pretty easy walk, but scenic. Changes from tight, dense trees, to open green grass, then to a Garry Oak stand that is now barren of leaves. Just under an hour’s walk, it was very enjoyable, despite the rain.

After getting home, I jumped into the yard work. I had raked the leaves in the back yard last weekend, so it was just a matter of loading the truck, and hauling them away. There were a few extras on the ground, but it was very nice to have them all in one central location (3 spots actually). Plus, since I had raked and tarped them, they had a week to dry. Made for and easier experience loading the truck. In the end I took 2 full truckloads of leaves, branches, twigs and other yard debris to the municipal yard. Nice to get that done, but by the time I was ready to start on the front yard, the wind had kicked up. The front yard is much less protected than the back, so raking and loading the truck would have been much more difficult. I packed it in and got myself cleaned up.

Next up on the day was a Costco trip. Dumb, dumb, dumb idea. It was raining hard, cold, nasty outside, and Costco was crazy busy. It took me forever to cross the store because at steady stream of people with carts prevented me from crossing the aisles. I actually had the thought that I needed a traffic light just to cross the store. Grabbing the few things I wanted I then got in one of the huge lines for a checkout. Yikes. Stupid, stupid store. I knew I should have waited for a weeknight before heading up there, but no, I had to go mid afternoon on a Saturday. I got was I deserved. I perservered though, but then got a shock when I went to pay. The business account my card is under had expired, and they wanted me to pay $220 to re-open it before I could then pay for my items. I explained I wasn’t the business owner, and a manager provided a one time override so I could pay for my items on the expired account. Phew. I would have been very upset if I had had to walk away without my purchases after spending so much time in line.

Busy tiring day. I did a little more house work, ate some dinner, played some PS2 games, then watched a DVD. Great day really. Relaxing, yet I feel like I actually accomplished something too.

Intersection Misfortune

After walking Yoshi Tuesday at lunch, I headed back to wotk. At the intersection of Esquimalt and Catherine St, I saw a large moving truck and trailer parked with its 4way flashers going. As I got closer I saw a cop van behind it with its lights flashing. Immediately I thought that the truck was pulled over for speeding or some other infraction.

A little closer I saw that in between them was a small 4 door sedan. The driver side of the sedan was crumpled from front to rear, and there was a 3 inch high gouge the entire length of the car too. The driver of the car was an older woman who looked like she was having a bad day.

Seems the something happened between the car and the moving truck. Yikes, that would be scary, but as a passerby, you can’t help but laugh at the misfortune of others. I just wonder how it happened. Did the truck swing wide? Did the car sneak up on the inside of the truck as it made a corner? Did the truck sideswipe the car? Who knows. Sucks to be them.

Nutcase Pee

wondering about this guy?

Wondering how Yoshi is doing? He is actually doing quite well. Monday evening after we brought him home from the vet he was not a happy camper. Still on drugs he was very mopey, not very interested in food (yet still ate), and was very quiet. Today he is a nutcase. Well, maybe nutcase is the wrong word, but he is crazy with pent up energy. We have been walking Yoshi 3 times a day for various lengths, and he still wants more. The problem is that he is required to be on leash still. Aaargh.

Wednesday I had a small emergency with him though. I noticed there was some blood on one of his beds. This was caused by one of his incisions bleeding a little. In a hurry I bundled him into the truck and zipped over to the vet to make sure he was fine. He was of course. This was a normal course of action that we hadn’t realized would be normal.

He eats more slowly now. Not sure why, but he takes FOREVER to eat. Yoshi has to wear a cone for another week still, so we have to watch him eat, and cone him when he is done. He was slow before, but seems way slower now. I watched him chew one mouthful of kibble 8 times before swallowing! WTF. What kind of a dog chews. Other dogs I know are done their meal in 8 swallows with no chewing at all.

I think Sox and I have figured out how to give Yoshi pills. He is sneaky sometimes and will keep it in his mouth pretending to have swallowed it. When he is allowed to eat, up comes the pills, down goes some food (slowly).

Letting him pee is hard too. If we just put him out in the yard, he runs around. This is still a no-no for another week, so we have to walk him. I can’t wait for next Monday to arrive.

Notsonutsy Adult

Just got word that nutsy, er notsonutsy, came through with flying colors. They didn’t use very much general anesthesia which is a great, the anal glands are gone now, but the left one did put up a fight on the way out. Testes are gone too. They had to shave a few patches into him for IV’s and the epidural, so he may look a little funny.

Apparently since he was an adult, he is quite swollen, and looks like he is still intact. We retrieve Yoshi tonight after work. I will be glad when this week is over, and our little furball is all healed up.

I’m sure this is all more info than you really need, but, I am not forcing you to read this am I?