There are a few things in life that I'm very good at
doing. There are a whole lot of things
that I do well, and some that I do well enough to get by okay... and then there's the things that I'm really,
really terrible at. I could elaborate on
some of my talents (or lack of), but hey... it would sound like I'm tooting my
own horn... and besides... this is about a particular deficit in my
make-up.
I can't back up a vehicle....
Okay, I can put the car or truck or whatever in reverse,
apply the gas and move... but the results are never what I'm aiming for.
I've backed up trailers...
do a whole lot of zig-zagging to get the darned thing aligned
right... if I'm really determined I'll
work at it for a LONG time. (Don't even
bother to tell me what turning the wheel to the right... or left... will do... I KNOW that... just
can't seem to do it right)
Once I got out of a truck, unhitched the trailer and
manually parked it ... yeah... I grabbed hold of the hitch and rolled it so
that it exactly lined up with the others.
I'm talking maybe 10' trailers that haul mowers and stuff like
that. No big deal.... I mean, all those ruts can be embarrassing
when you're married to a guy who can park our rig... or anything else...
without anyone directing him in.
I look in back of me...
I check out the rear-view mirror...
the side mirrors... I look for trees, animals and little kids. Nothing there... I back out... WHAM! I smack right into a tree. Bill & Norma can attest to that little
experience when we were in Mexico
one time.
So... why am I writing about this? Well, Rick posted a photo of his trucks dents
after a little incident... it's in the body shop as I write.. and it just so happened that I had a little
incident of my own yesterday.
It went like this...
I'm in the McDonald's parking lot in Carrizo Springs. I don't even eat at McDonalds, but they have
free WiFi with a good signal. I park...
but see that the sun is blinding me... I'll never be able to see the laptop
screen. (Okay... I don't go inside
because I feel I should buy something and I don't even like their coffee) So, I back out to move to a better spot.
I looked! Really, I
did... both ways and behind me. But...
I'm really close to the entrance coming right off the street. Sometime between the time I looked and looked
back at the steering wheel, a truck pulled in off the street. WHAM!
Thank goodness it was a big truck... well, nearly every vehicle you see out here
in this part of Texas
is a truck... and usually a big truck. I
don't mean the 18 wheelers... there's plenty of those, but everyone drives a
pick-up.... often high clearance with
dual wheels on the back.
I drive a little Scion...
it's pretty much manufactured from plastic and tin foil. Okay... not really tinfoil, but it's not very
substantial.
After the "Wham" I get out to see what's
what. I think this truck was a big 4
wheel drive truck because my rear bumper ran right into his front wheel
hub. That hub looked to me like those
spikes you see on those gladiator chariots.
Sounds bad... but that's good.
I'm the only one who sustained any damage.
Oh Wow! No Damage Here!
The young man got out of his truck... said something like
"Looks like you're having a bad Monday as well." Guess his day hadn't been going very good and
I just made it worse.
Now... as bad a backer-upper that I am, this is the first
time it's ever involved another vehicle.
(trees don't usually file claims).
There really wasn't any damage to his truck, and he asks me if I'm going
to report this to my insurance company.
I looked at him and said that no, of course not... my husband is very good at bondo and sanding
(hmmm... wonder if he thought Bill needed to keep a supply on hand?).... and besides, he could see that strip of duct
tape that holds the front bumper on... why not a little matching tape for
the rear?
Ouch!
I called him last night just to check in and
apologise... got his voice mail. Being a Texas gentleman, he called back this
morning... talked to my husband... said his truck was fine and everything was
okay.
So... today I drove
back into Carrizo Springs... would you
believe some guy in a pick-up darned near ran into me when I was in the H.E.B.
parking lot! He wasn't even backing
up... but then, he can probably back up
that truck better than going forward!
That's All For Today!