Driving in your car, I never never want to go home
I was almost the victim of a hit & run on Friday. I say almost because I had to semi-chase the woman down who hit my car.
It was an annoying and rainy morning Friday, and I was driving up a hill in Oakland, taking my grandfather to the VA Hospital. At the top of the hill is a traffic light with two lanes for only about 4-5 car lengths, and there is an extended green light for people turning left. Obviously, cars in the left lane can only turn left, and cars in the right lane can go straight through the light or turn right.
The problem with this road is that it is narrow before it opens into the two lanes at the top, but people decide well before the two lanes to create a second lane and drive very close to you, basically squeezing two cars into a space only meant for one car. I understand this, and there is a chance I have done this myself in the past. The extended green light only allows a few cars through, and if you want to turn left at the top of the hill, but you are stuck back further, you end up having to wait a light cycle or two extra, even when the left turn lane has only one or two cars or is even empty because you have to wait to actually get into the left turn lane.
So on Friday, I’m in the right lane about ten cars back from the light, where there is only one lane, and the car pulls out behind me and starts to come up on the left. I notice she is close, and then her passenger side mirror hits my driver side mirror and lops it off, my mirror just dangling by the electrical cables. I pull on my parking break, but then realize that she just kept driving up to the left turn lane with her turn signal on.
I do recognize that there is no where to stop, but this robs me of the ability to talk to the people behind me and get witness statements and didn’t get the chance to take a picture showing exactly where this happened. I know it was rush hour and this would have slowed down the traffic coming up that road, which is a main road into the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, where University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are located, where many of our top hospitals and physician offices are located.
I pull out and go behind her, honking my horn. She ignores me, as far as I can tell. So I turn left and follow her, we pass up a parking lot on the left. I honk again as we get up to the next light. After I fake dial so she can see me, she pulls over to the right and after a hesitation, she pulls into the hotel parking lot. She took my name and phone number, and I took her name & phone number, her passenger’s name and phone number, her NY Driver’s License #, the license plate #, the car insurance policy # and the owner of the car (who was the father of the passenger.) I made a claim with the insurance company (we have the same insurance carrier) and this should be resolved quickly.
But part of me feels I should have just got her license plate # and called the police; let them deal with all that crap. I really hate getting this involved, and would rather in the future just not get my car hit by someone else. And I just know that the two college girls in the car are going to lie to the insurance company and I will get screwed in the deal. I don’t know how, but it will all happen.
And so, I used that as an excuse to eat horribly all weekend. I couldn’t even start to write down everything I ate, but it started on Friday with me getting liquored up and eating several plates of fries with Holly, who is back from Peru so I got to hear all the cool stories of Mount Machu Picchu, Lake Titikaka and the Inca ruins there ( I am so jealous that I didn’t go), and went on to yesterdays kielbasa and sauerkraut fest at my grandfather’s house with two of my brothers and my 2 year old nephew.
I ran on Thursday & Saturday, but didn’t on Friday since I was waiting around for the insurance company to call. At least that is my excuse. The good news is that this morning I was at 222 lbs, whereas many of my weekends eating binges have ended with me at 225 or a bit above.
Why can’t I put together a couple of good weeks here leading up to my trip to London? I just can’t seem to get into the same commitment that I had earlier this year. I need to find this again, as I feel I have more to go to get healthier for my future.
It was an annoying and rainy morning Friday, and I was driving up a hill in Oakland, taking my grandfather to the VA Hospital. At the top of the hill is a traffic light with two lanes for only about 4-5 car lengths, and there is an extended green light for people turning left. Obviously, cars in the left lane can only turn left, and cars in the right lane can go straight through the light or turn right.
The problem with this road is that it is narrow before it opens into the two lanes at the top, but people decide well before the two lanes to create a second lane and drive very close to you, basically squeezing two cars into a space only meant for one car. I understand this, and there is a chance I have done this myself in the past. The extended green light only allows a few cars through, and if you want to turn left at the top of the hill, but you are stuck back further, you end up having to wait a light cycle or two extra, even when the left turn lane has only one or two cars or is even empty because you have to wait to actually get into the left turn lane.
So on Friday, I’m in the right lane about ten cars back from the light, where there is only one lane, and the car pulls out behind me and starts to come up on the left. I notice she is close, and then her passenger side mirror hits my driver side mirror and lops it off, my mirror just dangling by the electrical cables. I pull on my parking break, but then realize that she just kept driving up to the left turn lane with her turn signal on.
I do recognize that there is no where to stop, but this robs me of the ability to talk to the people behind me and get witness statements and didn’t get the chance to take a picture showing exactly where this happened. I know it was rush hour and this would have slowed down the traffic coming up that road, which is a main road into the Oakland section of Pittsburgh, where University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are located, where many of our top hospitals and physician offices are located.
I pull out and go behind her, honking my horn. She ignores me, as far as I can tell. So I turn left and follow her, we pass up a parking lot on the left. I honk again as we get up to the next light. After I fake dial so she can see me, she pulls over to the right and after a hesitation, she pulls into the hotel parking lot. She took my name and phone number, and I took her name & phone number, her passenger’s name and phone number, her NY Driver’s License #, the license plate #, the car insurance policy # and the owner of the car (who was the father of the passenger.) I made a claim with the insurance company (we have the same insurance carrier) and this should be resolved quickly.
But part of me feels I should have just got her license plate # and called the police; let them deal with all that crap. I really hate getting this involved, and would rather in the future just not get my car hit by someone else. And I just know that the two college girls in the car are going to lie to the insurance company and I will get screwed in the deal. I don’t know how, but it will all happen.
And so, I used that as an excuse to eat horribly all weekend. I couldn’t even start to write down everything I ate, but it started on Friday with me getting liquored up and eating several plates of fries with Holly, who is back from Peru so I got to hear all the cool stories of Mount Machu Picchu, Lake Titikaka and the Inca ruins there ( I am so jealous that I didn’t go), and went on to yesterdays kielbasa and sauerkraut fest at my grandfather’s house with two of my brothers and my 2 year old nephew.
I ran on Thursday & Saturday, but didn’t on Friday since I was waiting around for the insurance company to call. At least that is my excuse. The good news is that this morning I was at 222 lbs, whereas many of my weekends eating binges have ended with me at 225 or a bit above.
Why can’t I put together a couple of good weeks here leading up to my trip to London? I just can’t seem to get into the same commitment that I had earlier this year. I need to find this again, as I feel I have more to go to get healthier for my future.
posted by Mike at 6:04 AM
2 Comments:
wow i thought i had a bad weekend!
And mine ended with the Steelers loss! It just didn't get any better.
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