The count down for the 2014 trip is ticking away!
11 days before we depart on a 37 day adventure!
To prepare for the trip, I have been getting in shape. I am below my goal weight and running faster than I ever have before in my adult life. I'm looking forward to staying trim by jogging around the Floridian neighborhood in the morning during our stay.
We tend to be late to everything we want to do. For Father's Day Weekend we planned to see a baseball game. We arrived 30 minutes late, the parking lots were full, and our iphone told us all the seats in all the sections we wanted were sold out. We decided to give up on baseball and just head home. I pulled the van back onto the city street and headed for the express way. In my confusion of the city streets, my disappointment about the game, and my searching for the expressway signs, I missed a red light. Yep, I became one of THOSE people, the kind of people that I always think should turn in their license because they are a menace. Or, more accurately, a typical Floridian driver.
As I crossed into the intersection I quickly sized the approaching traffic and in an instant determined my best course of action was to stop. I dropped the break pedal to the floor. The anti-locks kicked in. The tires smoked. And I laid on the horn to bring attention to the fact that I am an idiot.
A white car was quickly approaching the intersection, saw my van, and took evasive action. He dropped his break pedal and in a fog of smoked tires, avoided hitting the side of the van by swerving around the front of us. This guy had to be a professional driver because just as soon as he missed us, he swerved the other way to miss a guard rail, and then spun the other way such that he was now heading up the off ramp.
I was worried about still sitting in the intersection, so, I gunned the gas and shot onto the expressway, leaving the driver of the white car to wonder what kind of an idiot I was, and hoping that driver realized he was going the wrong way before someone came down the ramp.
In moments we were clear of the scene at which point my family took the opportunity to remind me the importance of good driving skills. I am certain God must have been driving that white car because that is the only way I can explain how we avoided that accident.
God can be an interesting fellow. He probably looked at the situation and asked: why should my family be punished for his poor driving ability? For if that white car hit the passenger side of the van, I would have been OK but I don't know what would have happened to everyone else. God saved my family but had other plans for me.
After Saturday was a bust, we decided to go to the movies on Sunday for Father's Day. We arrived late, the movie had already started, and the theater was packed. We had no choice but to sit down front in the neck bending seats. I lead the family to the seats and didn't realize there was a step down (the step was dimly lit compared to the other walkway lights). I missed the step and fell, but caught myself on the seat. Then, oddly, I found I could walk using my left foot. I sat, look my shoe and sock off, and tried to enjoy the movie while my foot throbbed and swelled.
Today I went to the doctor for xrays and am now wearing an air cast. I have to stay off the foot for three days and wear the cast for 1-4 weeks. No more cardio exercise for a while and I might not be running during our Florida trip. If that is the price I need to pay in exchange for that white car not hitting the van? I'll take it.
To prepare for the trip, I have been getting in shape. I am below my goal weight and running faster than I ever have before in my adult life. I'm looking forward to staying trim by jogging around the Floridian neighborhood in the morning during our stay.
We tend to be late to everything we want to do. For Father's Day Weekend we planned to see a baseball game. We arrived 30 minutes late, the parking lots were full, and our iphone told us all the seats in all the sections we wanted were sold out. We decided to give up on baseball and just head home. I pulled the van back onto the city street and headed for the express way. In my confusion of the city streets, my disappointment about the game, and my searching for the expressway signs, I missed a red light. Yep, I became one of THOSE people, the kind of people that I always think should turn in their license because they are a menace. Or, more accurately, a typical Floridian driver.
As I crossed into the intersection I quickly sized the approaching traffic and in an instant determined my best course of action was to stop. I dropped the break pedal to the floor. The anti-locks kicked in. The tires smoked. And I laid on the horn to bring attention to the fact that I am an idiot.
A white car was quickly approaching the intersection, saw my van, and took evasive action. He dropped his break pedal and in a fog of smoked tires, avoided hitting the side of the van by swerving around the front of us. This guy had to be a professional driver because just as soon as he missed us, he swerved the other way to miss a guard rail, and then spun the other way such that he was now heading up the off ramp.
I was worried about still sitting in the intersection, so, I gunned the gas and shot onto the expressway, leaving the driver of the white car to wonder what kind of an idiot I was, and hoping that driver realized he was going the wrong way before someone came down the ramp.
In moments we were clear of the scene at which point my family took the opportunity to remind me the importance of good driving skills. I am certain God must have been driving that white car because that is the only way I can explain how we avoided that accident.
God can be an interesting fellow. He probably looked at the situation and asked: why should my family be punished for his poor driving ability? For if that white car hit the passenger side of the van, I would have been OK but I don't know what would have happened to everyone else. God saved my family but had other plans for me.
After Saturday was a bust, we decided to go to the movies on Sunday for Father's Day. We arrived late, the movie had already started, and the theater was packed. We had no choice but to sit down front in the neck bending seats. I lead the family to the seats and didn't realize there was a step down (the step was dimly lit compared to the other walkway lights). I missed the step and fell, but caught myself on the seat. Then, oddly, I found I could walk using my left foot. I sat, look my shoe and sock off, and tried to enjoy the movie while my foot throbbed and swelled.
Today I went to the doctor for xrays and am now wearing an air cast. I have to stay off the foot for three days and wear the cast for 1-4 weeks. No more cardio exercise for a while and I might not be running during our Florida trip. If that is the price I need to pay in exchange for that white car not hitting the van? I'll take it.
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