Thursday, I sent my Guardian Angel into early retirement......

Somewhere, there's a guardian angel on prozak...... For the record, I'm not making fun, it's a way of dealing with things. I truly believe someone (or multiple someones) was looking after me last Thursday! I went to see my dad to fix his computer, dropped by my oldest sister for lunch and a chat, and returned my other sisters' chairs we borrowed for the races. I'm a little banged up, and won't be able to use my left hand for a while, but I'm afraid I demolished my little aubergine aka my ford Ka.

On the way to my sister, they have a lane divider that consists of cement boulders that sit about 15 inches tall or so and are about a foot and a half wide. Some moron cut me of, I swerved trying to get onto the side road, didn't make it and sailed like a rubberduck on an oceanwave over the bumps...... My little aubergine stopped on the 8th bump. When I looked up, there was one car backing up to get to me, and one car coming the wrong way down the exit to get to me.

When the lady from the car that was backing up got to the passenger door, she had already called the police, ans she was coaxing me out of the car when the lady from the second car came walking up. I didn't want to get out, because I didn't want to see the damage I did, but the smoke coming out from under the hood helped in the decisionmaking process. The odd thing was, that in the back of my mind, I knew the car would have to be towed, so I stuffed as much of the belongings that were all over the place in my purse on my way out. I keep hearing the noise the car made, and I can still feel the shaking of the car, but beyond that, not much.

The first thing asked, was if my neck and/or back hurt, had I hit my head, was I bleeding anywhere, and luckily the answers were all "no". I found my phone, and surprised the ladies that were there, AND my brother in law, when I calmly told him, "I'm all right, I wrecked the car, I'm under the bridge on "Berekuyl", can you come get me" and meanwhile I sat on the side of the road, just talking like I had just parked the car, and was having coffee with the girls! I remember ending the call to Willem, looking down at my hand and thinking, "damn! I broke a nail....... I'm normally not that cool under pressure, so I have no clue what was going on.

The ladies stayed till both the police and my brother in law got there in case the police needed their information. They didn't, so one left and the other gave me her phone number, in case the insurance needed it. I forget which one, but one of them told me I was lucky, because she had witnessed a similar incident a couple of monts ago, and the car flipped and the driver was killed. The first set of policemen mentioned it also. They were not the ones called out, but passing by, so they stopped. They secured the scene, put pilons up and called it in again. It was kind of strange, because they were Marechausee, the Dutch military police, and the people Mike has to call if anything is wrong, but since I was driving, and Mike was not on scene, they had to turn it over to the regular police afterall. Missed part of the conversation/explanation I think.

Anyway, the one thing that sticks in my mind, was the inexpliccable lack of visual damage to the car, and the fact that people were passing by the accident real slow, while taking pictures with their cellphones!

I kept walking over to the car, checking that I had turned off the engine, because there was initially radiator fluid leaking, than I spotted brakefluid, and after that oil... People must have thought I had lost it, but I just kept limping back and forth.. My hand hurt so bad it was making me sick to my stomach, but it moved around just fine, so I figured it wasn't broke, and since I wasn't complaining about anything they luckily didn't call an ambulance. I didn't even plan on seeing a doctor about my hand at that time. The second set of police were talking to Willem, and also told him how lucky I was that the car didn't end up upside down and got me killed. I kept thinking, they're just being nice and trying to make me feel better because I'm upset about the car........

Once the towtruck came, and they hoisted my little rucksack on the flatbed, Willem took me to their place, about 10 minutes away, where I called Mike, still pretty levelheaded, I thought, and asked if he wanted to come up and get me, because I had been in an accident, or if he was ok with Willem taking me home after we cleaned out the car the next morning, but I kinda would like to see him..... He came:-) a little confused why I wasn't driving the car home, a little ticked off because he was tired, and not looking forward to a 3 hour round trip, just to say hi and leave me at my sisters, but he came. After talking to my sister and brother in law, and getting the exact location, he understood why I wasn't bringing the car home. By that time, my hand was hurting so bad, I almost passed out, so up to the hospital we went, after calling ahead so we knew when the best time was to get there, so we didn't have to wait very long. They took xrays, and nothing is broken, just severely, severly bruised. This in not a typo, thats what the doc said. LOL. They wrapped it up tight, and gave me 24 painpills with the understanding that if it didn't feel any better by Monday, to go see our GP. We went back to Nicky's place, where Mike got directons to the nearest gasstation that would be open at midnight ( NOT at all a given to find one open after 10 here) and a cup of coffee to stay awake and he left.

I went to bed and woke up in a flying panic at 9.45! That lasted until I hit the kitchen, and found absolutely no one awake, not even the light in the fishtank was on yet...... My nephew has a hard time being ON time, and has his alarm set ahead 3 hours:-). So, I had a cup of coffee in the back garden, with a slice of bread and a painpill. Mike called my cell a little after that, and said he was going into work, make sure there was coverage, and than he would come up. He sounded worried.

So, after waiting till 9 to call the insurance and the company that had our car, we went to clean it out around 10.30 or so. Mike had called that he was on the way when he left base, and if we could, would we wait going to the car. He knew I was useless in carrying things to and fro, and he didn't want to stick Willem with all the work, so the family had a leasurely breakfast, and right at the end of it, Mike came in, shared a cup of coffee. and off we went.  When we got there, the reality hit of how bad it could have turned out. The engine was sheared off the engine mounts and was laying on the ground, and while clearing behind the backseat, Mike showed me a hump that was about 5 inches high above the drivetrain hump that used to be about 3 inches below it, where the car had hit the boulder, and there were several of those......... The funny part, or at least the part that hit my funny bone, was the sign in the windshield, that read..... "Do not start" with the car key taped to it. I know, my mind does NOT work like everybody elses. LOL

The wheels that had looked pretty normal, except the flat right front, when it was sitting on the side of the road, now looked like they had been sledgehammered sideways, the plastic wheelcovers were bent (not broken though) away from the wheelhub, 3 of the 4 hubcabs were on the floorboard, and what ticked me off, was that there were dents in the doorjam where they had lifted the car. They were not part of the accident. Now, IF by some miracle, they do NOT total the car, we have to fix that. Also, the car is a unibody. Had they left that in good shape, somebody would have had a good body to put in place of a rusted one............. I know it is silly, but that bothers me. Had they taken the time to pull the straps around the bottom, the body itself would still have been ok. But... I'm rambling. :-)  

The really weird part started friday morning right after I got downstairs and before I even started on my coffee. My oldest sister calls around 7.15 asking why I hadn't called my dad to let him know I got home safe, because he called her out of bed at 11.30 the night before, and they just got off the phone again.......... I told her the reason might be that I didn't GET home safe............that I wrecked the car, and had sat at the hospital till after 11.00, I had gotten painpills and had a very unrestful night because of the pain."Nuf said, right?

Now here's the rest of that conversation: Oh, well, are you ok? Yes. Are you in the hospital? No. Are you home, because you should have called dad. No, I'm at Nicky's. Why didn't she call? I will call dad and let him know why you haven't called, than.  

10 minutes later dad calls. Mind you, this is not an abreviated version, but the whole thing:
D:  Why didn't you call? Peet said you wrecked the car, how is Mike getting to work now? Are you at the hospital?
Me: No, I'm at Nicky's.
D: I don't know what to do with that  

At that point, I'm listening to a dead line. I'm also thinking to myself.... Is THIS the reason we moved around the world, so I can be with the family? I had better friends in Iowa. Heck, I had closer aquaintances in Reno! Mind you, besides the fact that there was more fuss made that I hadn't called, and that Mike was without a car.... they totally blow over the fact that I drove around the US for 20+ years, and they wouldn't know where I was, at ANY time!

My REALLY, REALLY big thing, is that I'm "getting-together" close to Nicky again. I did not realise how much I had missed her, until we got together again. Feeling wise, we were never apart, but all the little things we used to do, and didn't and can do again........... yeah, that makes the crazy part of my family tollerable, but not less alarming.  Nicky's whole fammily is awesome, Willem is the big brother I never had, and the kids are like our own. (Without the sleepless nights and the diaperchanges LOL)

After cleaning the car, we went back to my sisters place and spent the day. It was very nice, very relaxing, and very much taking my mind off what could have happen....... I guess that's what sisters do :-) We went to the zoo for a little bit, checked out how big the polarbear cubs had gotten, watched the Malaysian bears get fed, chatted, sat and had icecream, chatted some more, strolled a little more............ H E A V E N!!

I think, since this took me most of yesterday day to type, that I will post it, as is, and keep you updated a little bit at a time. Hand is killing me, so I'm going to look for a nice long movie, glas of milk (Would have liked a tall cold Guiness, but Mike keeps telling me that is NOT a good idea, and I'm letting him be the voice of reason, today. LOL) and see if I can coax our purring, fuzzy roommate to sit with me, instead of on the keyboard Mike is trying to use  :-)  I'll post pictures of my little aubergine in a day or 2, when I can look at them without crying.

Don't forget to hug a loved one and stay safe....

Hugs,
Pauli

A special kind of crazy......

Is what you have to be to do this, in my humble opinion :-)

Would you like an explanation?

We went to the Classic Bike race in Franchorchamps, Belgium over the weekend. Just an overnight. We left after Mike got off work on Saturday and got there right before the last race was run. The one from 8 to midnight..... A friend of a friend was racing in that one, and the main reason for going, but we didn't know the number,or even what bike he rides. Our friend is just getting into motorcycles, and isn't all that clear on things. We don't mind, because it always leaves room for a conversation. He doesn't mind, because he can learn things. But when you're trying to get information, it can get tricky LOL.

We decided we could go (wanting was not an issue!) on Wednesday, so we ran out to get the lawnchairs at my sisters on Friday, I did chores all day Saturday, like making sure there was no garbage, cleaned the fridge so noting would start a lab experiment in our absence, spend time with the fuzzy roommate, and wash the clothes I wanted to take....... Can you see where this is going? YUP! I packed Mikes stuff, because it was on the bag to pack it into, our toilettries, and completely spaced it on the clothes I was going to take! Blondy strikes again. LOL  And I didn't even realise it until Sunday morning, when I wanted to change shirts. Oh well. Both guys happily volunteered a shirt, but.... I had to say no. Wearing one of Mikes shirts to Tai Chi, or around the house is one thing, but to go out in public..... The women here only dress in women's clothing. Most not according to any fashion guidelines I'm familiar with, but still. They don't wear the stuff I used to wear in the States, like baggy shirts and T- and sweatshirts. What they do wear, is spandex, and a mix of flowers, checks and stripes, so maybe I shouldn't be bothered when I wear comfy clothes that match............. Now there's a thought :-)

BUT back to the racing. I'd never been to a road race before, and I swear, it's the scariest thing I've ever seen! They fly by at about 150  miles an hour, one knee almost on the ground in the corner, and passing eachother on the inside line...... creeps me out completely. LOL

The Classics race was cool, because part of it was ran in the dark. The bikes, had headlights, tail and brakelights, and other identifying lights on the bikes, so the announcers could keep track of them. But they never slowed down and I only saw brakelights a couple of times. Some had the numbers lit up, one had a really cool LED strip following the frame, and some just had the numberplates lit. The LED following the frame was freaky, because after a while it looked like some bizar streak of blue lights floating around the part of the course we could see, and sometimes a shimmer of it thru the trees, like fireflies. LOL. There were floodlights on the track, so it wasn't dark-dark don't get me wrong, but the darker it got, the more blurry the bikes got...

Needless to say, with the speeds they were going, distinguishable pictures were hard to find, but I got a couple :-)

Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast, discovered there was a bootsale across the hotel on the city square, and went there till check out time..... They have some really nice buildings and architecture in Spa, but it saddened us to see some of it be in the state it is. Plaster falling down, holes in the roof, black mold on the walls etc. It would be nice to see them use some of the tourist money to fix up their tourist attractions. And believe me... there is A LOT of tourist money to draw from in that area! AND, on the plus side... I got to smell real horses. There were about 10 of them, tied up right next to the hotel, offering pony rides.  I was strong though, and didn't bug Mike if I could go. LOL

So, after check out, back to the racecourse we went :-)

We saw some of the sidecar races............ They were S C A R Y! and oddly enough, a lot louder than the regular and super bikes..... The good thing was, most seem to be two-strokes, by the heavenly smell on the track. I'm not being a smartass....  I love the smell of 2-stroke engines. The "zijspans" as they're called here, are a whole different kind of scary than the classic race we saw Saturday night. The driver has complete control, and to the untrained eye, the sidecar rider gets flopped around like a rag dol. Now, I know, they balance the bike in the corners and on the straight stretch, and I truly believe there is a great deal of skill and guts involved, it just looks painful to me. :-) but, as evidenced by the pictures I took of some of them coming off the track, they seemed happy, be it tired.

It was kind of strange to us, the way they started the races. They would go out on the track and run a lap, and at the "finish" line, they would line up, start, run one lap, and line up again, in the same order. We are used to MotoCross, where every body lines up, and when the starterflag falls, everybody goes like a bat out of hell for 10 minutes, and whoever gets home first, wins the race. LOL At the end of the afternoon, at least for us, they ran the superbikes. To us it looked like the newer models, but it still seemed like every possible CC was on the track at the same time. You could hear the whine of the 125's, the cugging of the bigger engines, and the thumping of the 500+'s It was really a great experience, but for me, I think I enjoy MotorCross better. You  need a whole different kind of crazy for that LOL but there seems to be more action, and you're not pinned down to one spot. You can walk the track, or find a spot and stick with it.........

Besides the races there were acres and acres of bikes. New ones, old ones, and plates from all over. We spend as much time touring the parkinglots as we did at the races. We didn't know any of the riders, rules or what race was going on, so there's only so many times you can see them fly by. Or at least that was my opnion. We kinda picked bikes in the Classics but without knowing who was riding it, you could only keep track of wether they were still in the same cluster of bikes, and even than, we didn't know if they had fallen or upgraded their position. The announcer DID speak 3 languages, but with the bikes going by, I had a heck of a time knitting the bits and peaces together, and give Mike and Richard a short version of what I learned. LOL

Reading back, it sounds like a lot less fun than what we had, but it really WAS GREAT! It was a whole new world of bikes. One I had never experienced before. The whole event reminded me of folkwoods. Tents everywhere. Bikes stuffed in minivans, between the bedding, coolers and tools, vendors with everything "bike" Big motorhomes with a racingteam on the side, right next to a flatbed bikehauler behind a regular car, bikes loaded with tents and campinggear and the smell of campfires,  all sorts of people, and great beer! 

That last statement wasn't my fault! Honestly! When the water bottles are the same price as a beer, and the beer is double the quantity.... you're supposed to drink beer!  I read a rule about that somewhere..... LOL.

All kidding aside. The area was beautifull, and we have plans for short daytrips up there in the near future, especially since going by freeway it's a little over an hour drive to get there. Can't wait for the fall colors to emerge!

Well, I've bent your ear enough for one day, and I have to seriously catch up with things.... scrapping, house, fuzzy roommate, friends, family and the like, so I'll be back later this week, with a whole different story :-)

As always, enjoy the life you have, and don't forget to hug someone you love

Hugs,

Pauli