SMASHY SMASHY

posted Saturday, 10 December 2005

Today was my ZS holiday party in NYC. Before the party, I thought it would be nice to take Otis out to the dog park to get some exercise and hopefully play with some other pups. I was almost there... I looked up to find the park entrance, as I had only been there once before and noticed that it was at the next traffic light. What I did not notice... was the SUV sitting in my lane, waiting to make a left hand turn, with no blinker or brake lights on. At the very last minute, I saw him. I looked up to see if there was oncoming traffic, noticed it was clear and swerved hard to my left to try to avoid him.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting in the car, which was full of smoke... and a man was yelling to me to get out of the car. I was stunned. He kept yelling and I managed to get out of the car. Otis, however, was frozen. He had jumped back behind my rear seats, into the storage cubby that the roof folds into when the convertible top is down. He would not get out of the car. I couldn't pick him up and pull him out... he just sat there, terrified and trembling. The people around kept trying to get me away from the car, but I couldn't leave Otis in there. After 10 minutes, he finally jumped out of the car and started running around (obviously/thankfully not injured).

Nobody in either car was hurt. It could have been a lot worse (if there had been cars coming in the opposite direction, etc). It still really blows. I consider myself a very safe, attentive driver. I can't understand how I didn't see him. It really is unbelievable. Looking at my car, I can't believe that I stood up and walked away from the car. Both front airbags deployed, the window was smashed, the passenger door won't open, the hood is crunched all the way up to the windshield & parts of the engine are missing.... once again, I feel lucky to be alive... (enough already! I get the point! I am thankful for all that I have - my family, friends, puppy, talents and health!)

The accident happened near my house. Of course, nearly all my friends live 30-45 minutes north. Charlene & Jeremy were in Florida. Crash was in Virginia. Crash called Jim, my friend Cindy's boyfriend, who I met very briefly once before. He lives nearby and he graciously came and picked me up. Thank you Jim!

The car is totalled. I guess it was time for a new car anyways... I've always liked the Subaru Outback Sport, but 3 of my friends have nixed that (what's wrong with the subaru?)... I am also thinking about a small SUV (mileage is actually not terrible in the small SUVs or a hybrid... maybe even the Ford Escape Hybrid)... I'd really like to splurge on a navigation system. Any thoughts/ideas/comments?