Mike's Ramblings

After I scraped the layer of ice off the seat, I was able to back the 'bike down the driveway without any trouble, though I could feel how slippery it was under my boots on the way. Heading down the hill to the main road seemed to be fine too, and I thought my reasoning was justified. But then as I got on the main road, I immediately saw I was wrong... way wrong. It was absolutely covered with a very fine layer of ice... almost a frost. I was extremely ginger as I pulled out on the road and made my way to the freeway, being very gentle on the throttle, shifting as smoothly as possible, and avoiding the use of the brakes if I could. Once I reached the freeway, there was nothing to worry about anymore as the morning traffic had beaten the ice into submission, though it was still waiting to pounce on anyone that foolishly drifted on to the shoulder. So despite a tense (and cold!) ride, I made it to work without any serious incident.

Unfortunately, Sherri wasn't quite so lucky. I did not have a chance to warn her about the conditions even though I left before she did. She took the Camry to work, which was overall a better decision than mine. As she rounded a corner near home, the tires lost all traction and rather than heading to work, Sherri found herself heading right toward a telephone pole. Thank goodness she missed that, but she did twang right into the support cable. Sherri's pride was hurt ("Dang it," she said, "I've driven in snow and ice in Spokane; I should know how drive in it here too!!" Or something to that effect), but otherwise she is fine. The Camry came out a little less well; the cable cut all the way through the plastic bumper (sliced it clean in half!) and crimpled the front edge of the hood. Fortunately, the infrastructure does not seem to be damaged at all, so getting it fixed ought to be relatively straightforward. I think the twanginess of the cable was to our favor.

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In a way, there is a positive to this event, as we were looking at selling the Camry this coming year: both the bumper and the hood had become severely pock marked after 10+ years of driving; now we have no choice but to get a new bumper & hood which will result in a pretty nice looking car once it's all put back together again. Nothing wrong with making lemonade, right?