ACCIDENT!

Poodle had to work today, so we got in the car a bit early and off we went towards her work. She wanted to “do” something, but didn’t have enough time to even stop by our local scrapbook store, so…what to do???

I decided she had enough time to drive down some back streets towards work. Poodle is almost 21, and still hasn’t gotten her license. Mostly it is because she works nights and I work days, and who else is there to teach her?

So, off we go! She’s doing great! I have her turn down a residential street so we can change drivers and I can take her on to work. “Make a u-turn here, Poodle.” Hummmm not-so-much! I knew she was going to hit the curb, so I told her to stop. There was a bit of communication gap between the foot and the brain, I think. She shot forward instead of stopping. Well, she DID stop. On top of a very large boulder! Poodle was in tears! We got out of the car and I gave her a huge hug. Told her that no one was injured, and all would be well. Some very hot boys from down the street came running up to see if we were ok. Poor Poodle was too upset to notice the hotties! That’s upset, in my mind. The neighbor two houses down came over, inspected the damage, and declared that the worst part was getting the car off the boulder. No major car damage in his estimation. He is a retired Colonel in the Army (I think), and gave her a brief hug, then sat her at the car and asked her, “Well, did you learn anything?” That got her laughing. She said, “Yes, no more driving for me!” He laughed, and told her that as long as no one was hurt, the big thing was to look at the experience as to what she could learn from it. What a nice guy. It really helped her put it more in perspective, I think.

The owner of the rock (and the front lawn) came out of the house with some water for us, the next door neighbor gave us each a coke, and I called triple A. The rock’s owner’s wife came home shortly thereafter and gave Poodle a hug, then asked her if she wanted a ride to work. Poodle didn’t want to go to work (too embarrassed, she said), but I told her she needed to be there. RockOwner’s wife took her to work, wasn’t that nice of her?

Triple A called back, and said that since we wound up in a front yard other than our own, they would not come get us until we had clearance from Fresno PD. I had visions of my car sitting as a lawn decoration for a week, since I can only guess how low on the priority list it would be. So I decided to call somebody else. Finding someone open on the 4^th of July is a whole ‘nother story!

The accident happened just before 1:00. The tow truck showed up about 2:15 or so, and he spent 2 ½ hours getting that car off the rock! Keep in mind that the temperature in Fresno is 104 degrees F today! RockOwner supplied him with plenty of water and a cold wet towel. He finally got it off the rock, changed the flat tire, and I was on my way! I really don’t think there is much more damage than a new tire and a realignment—both of which I just had done 3 weeks ago! We will have to see how this all shakes out in the next week or so.

We went to Poodle’s work so we could give her a hug and tell her that her dad wasn’t going to kill Poodle. Happened to stop by close to her lunch hour, so we brought her home for a 15-minute swim. I hope that helps her aching back.