You know the nearer your destination the more you’re slip slidin’ away

I had probably the scariest moment of my life at my house this morning. My heart is still pounding just thinking about “what could have happened.”

I bought my house almost 2 years ago, and I have loved just about every moment of being a home owner. Even when the gas was shut off when it was found that the pipes were leaking, at least I learned quickly how to solve some house problems that I didn’t know I could do. However…

I live on a very busy road, a 4 lane road that is the major artery, Route 30, from the Parkway to the southeastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, with a speed limit of 40. That only means most people only go 60 mph on it (including myself when I drive past my own house at times) most of the time. My driveway is 65 feet, downhill, onto Route 30. And it is a blind driveway, built out of the hill, so my yard on my left, and I can’t see the cars coming from the left until about the last 4-5 feet. My driveway is about 8 feet wide, and the retaining wall is about 2 -2 ½ feet high. Seriously, it is tough to see anything until you are almost on top of the traffic.

I had shoveled snow last night when I got home at about 6:45 pm. Then, when I checked right before I went to bed, it had snowed a little bit more, so I went out and snowed, put down more salt & sand (for traction) and went to bed around 10 pm.

In the past, when the driveway has been slick, I’ve been able to drive down it slowly, slide a little bit and stop. I survived last winter with no problems. My car is 69 inches wide, so the 8 feet driveway has never posed a problem.

This morning, I got in my car, opened the garage door, and made the left down my driveway. I hit the breaks, and I kept going forward. Slowly. In one direction, not even like I was sliding from side to side. I just kept going straight down, barreling forward onto Route 30. With about 10 feet to go, I panicked and decided to turn the steering wheel and hit the retaining wall to stop myself. Nothing. So I screamed. Like a howler monkey as I just kept sliding straight onto the road.

I got very lucky as there were no cars coming towards me. I sat in the middle of the road for about 20 seconds saying “Holy Fuck, Holy Fuck, Holy Fuck” over and over again. Then I turned the car to the right and drive to work. Shaking most of the time, but I made it there.

So tonight, right after work, I am going to Home Depot, buying up all the magnesium chloride, or whatever it is that I normally use, along with some sand, shoveling the driveway, salting & sanding it down, and this might cut into my ability to run tonight. And then doing it again tomorrow morning before I shower. I will NOT live through that sliding hell that I experienced this morning.

I don’t want to be running after 8 or 9 pm, and last night I didn’t get home until after 6:45 pm, shoveled and then ran, and finished around 7:45 pm. That is too late for me to be running. Maybe I can run first, eat, relax, and then shovel at 10 again, cause I’m just going to at the very least salt it down again tomorrow at 5:30 am.